Something very simple happens to bands that are able to keep together for a few years: they get better, their songs get better, their recordings get better, and – if all of the above happens – their fan base slowly starts expanding. In four years, Jersey City’s Long Necks went from humble, ukulele-fueled beginnings to the full folk-pop-rock production of their upcoming LP "Will This Do?," scheduled for a January 26th release. The record is marked by the full and expressive voice of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Lily Mastrodimos, who can play a list of instruments that would make Paul Simon envious. The band will perform live at the Silent Barn on January 5th, just before embarking on a 17-day east coast tour.

Brooklyn’s post-hardcore/metal quartet Husbandry sounded pretty darn heavy on 2016’s debut full length "Fera," but the 2017 EP "Bad Weeds Never Die" takes things to an entirely new level, with metal influences seemingly taking over emo and post-punk ones. Their distorted guitars, in this new record, are a lot more explosive and dynamic, so our friends at Delicious Audio thought about asking them a few questions about it in this Q&A. Check out their video for "Elder Spencer Deery" streaming below.

The last few years have seen a rise in experimental, genre-bending, independently produced music. Perhaps this is due to the internet’s ability to access almost any music instantly, or maybe the breadth of music already created pushes artists towards a disregard for barriers of style. The disappearance of label-driven artist development might be part of it too. Whatever the cause, the NYC scene is producing a lot of incredibly innovative music — and Jelani Sei is part of this phenomenon. The Connecticut/New York group plays soulful, hip-hop and jazz inspired music with a flair for indie and alt rock traditions. Without abandoning the approachable framework of pop music, Jelani Sei has created a complex and intelligent sound. You can hear the group’s idiosyncratic style opening for T-Rextasy on December 23rd at Trans-Pecos. – Cameron Carr

Prawn has never had the sudden rise to widespread success that has graced other bands in the supposed emo revival. They’ve played a long game, touring basements, releasing splits, and slowly building the critical respect they deserve. Which is perhaps a little strange, given their music’s knack for swelling and exploding with post-rock rapture, sometimes gradually but often abruptly. The New Jersey natives make tasteful emo embed with subtle math rock influences and cascading echoes. You can catch Prawn playing Baby’s All Right on December 22nd with an all-star lineup of current and rising, vaguely emo acts: Slingshot Dakota, People Like You, and Queen Moo. – Cameron Car