The first few seconds of Near Northeast‘s Indali are ethereal, almost like the sound we imagine people hear when they are approaching the gates of heaven. Slowly creeping through the ambiance are reverb heavy guitar lines, keeping the music somewhere in between shoegaze and indie pop, with the legato feel helping the music steer clear of twee.

A certain seriousness is essential for the song given its subject matter: a mother and child being dragged out to sea by riptide. The video’s visuals underscore the tragedy in the music, with images of playful beachgoers intermingled with footage of people being drowned in tsunamis. As drummer Antonio Skarica put it in an interview with DC Music Download, “The line is so thin between carefree frolicking and complete destruction.”

Near Northeast’s new album True Mirror drops May 3rd.  You can catch the album release show at St Stephen’s church on Newton St this Friday night.

 -Written by Michael Dranove

Shoegazer John Lutkevich of Soft Fangs will play Baby’s All Right on Friday night, opening for Wildhoney from Baltimore and Froth from LA. This will mark Soft Fangs’ second show with both bands; the three of them performed at Boot & Saddle in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Lutkevich will also play to support his latest release, a split EP with fellow Brooklyn bedroom pop band Bellows. You can stream the whole record — which includes Soft Fangs’ tracks "Sugarblood" and "Nine Lives" – below. – Will Sisskind

This debut solo entry by percussionist Sam Sowyrda (also of Brooklyn psychedelic-pop sextet Cloud Becomes Your Hand) is the sound of a well-oiled machine running full efficiency just moments before it breaks down. Its two instrumental tracks—each clocking in over twenty-minutes—recall the trance-inducing Terry Riley of In C and the eremitic Brian Eno of Ambient 1-4. Of his two cuts, the title-track is the more diverse, featuring a spate of maddening, industrial-sounding tones, which transform midway through into wistfulness and end in hints of melodicism. "Occidental Error," instead, remains the more eerie: its layered patterns of minimal vibraphones pushing the limits of the instrument as a lead voice. In all, there is much anguish to behold here; yet there’s also refuge from it, as Sowydra’s primary inclination seems to be both esoteric and ambiguous. Experience his music-of-the-head in a live setting at Trans Pecos, May 13th, where the LP officially launches. Kindred spirits the Hallowed Bells (Philadelphia) and Ashcab Orchestra (Brooklyn) fill out the show. – Brian Chidester

Twiggy Branches plays the kind of rock ‘n’ roll you thought was dead. With snarling vocals and driving instrumentals, the NY-based artist is making a strong argument that it’s worth reviving. The band’s music straddles the line between garage-punk and old-school glam, but it’s the loose, uncalculating "classic rock" grit that really makes their tracks worthy of multiple plays. Check out Twiggy Branches’ "Never Gonna Be Tall" streaming below, and catch them tonight live at The Gateway alongside Plaid Dracula and Better Head. – Olivia Sisinni