Naming your band Debbie Downer immediately suggests a thematic concept.  Comprised of members from other more established local bands amusingly masking their identities in Ramones-style unity (all copping to the surname “downer”), their just released track "I Did It All For You" (streaming below) comes in advance of debut EP ‘You Know You’re Wrong.’ Drawing from iconic 60’s girl group motifs, The Shangri-Las tough-but-sweet boldness is updated to reflect modern day issues.  That era’s call and response background vocals are grounded by a solid bass line and enhanced by free flowing surf guitar parts.  The track’s sweetest moment arrives in the chorus, where the lyrics “you know you’re never gonna be anything at all” confirm the "downer" tendencies that inspired the band’s moniker.  The group has a number of local shows coming up, including this Friday 5/5 at Monty Hall, 5/19 at Sunnyvale and appearances during The Northside Festival in June. – Dave Cromwell

We are not sure what led Dan Goldberg of The Spookfish to record his album "Black Hole" in a studio after spending ten years recording his own music in DIY fashion (according to his Bandcamp profile, the man has recorded 10 full lengths between 2010 and 2014!). Whatever the reason, the music of The Spookfish hasn’t lost one bit of its lo-fi character and charm, developing on often juxtaposed and sometimes blended elements of dream-folk and 8-bit space rock. Single ‘Everything is Moving So Fast,’ one of the few tracks with lyrics, perfectly describes the static and surreal mood of the record: "You’re standing slowly, watching it pass, everything is moving so fast." Echoes of early Flaming Lips and Sebadoh give this track a ’90s flair that is though misleading: the rest of the album is a very personal, mostly instrumental – and often quirky – take on lo-fi.

Minimalism and noise rock are two musical waves NYC has proudly fed and bred over the decades; the latest product of their fusion is GOLD MINE, a project led by drummer and vocalist Andrya Ambro of now defunct noise duo Talk Normal (which made the cover of The Deli in our 2010 Best of NYC issue). The band, performing live as a trio since 2014, will be releasing debut LP ‘Nerve’ on June 2nd, and judging from the preview track ‘Easy’ (streaming below), we are in for a suspenceful, tense, unnervingly sincere record. The record release party is scheduled for June 3rd at Alphaville.

On her 2nd full length release, DC-based Sneaks shows she is a creative tour-de-force. As the minimalist backing tracks drive the music under the oblique spoken-word metaphors, Sneaks somehow manages to make listeners forget the fact that her music has no melody, barely any harmony, a rhythm section consisting almost solely of drum tracks, and lyrics that often don’t even rhyme! There is some serious originality at work in this music, anyone able to take the sound of Devo, strip it to its bare bones and somehow keep the music enticing is worth looking out for.

-Written by Michael Dranove

With creative beats, innovative samplish and lush synth layers Brooklyn-based Prism House crafts electronic bangers that feel a bit brooding if not totally enigmatic. Their music is moody but bewitching, and takes cues from both the dance floor and the found-sound techniques of musique concrete–creating an overall sound that is at once jarringly unstable and sonically irresistable. Check out "False Future," the first track off the band’s 6-track Landfall EP streaming below, and if you are into it don’t miss their upcoming show at Alphaville on 05.04. – Olivia Sisinni