Brooklyn’s UV Rays are debuting the music video for their song “Existential Dread.” The track is from the band’s recently released debut EP Try and Begin and features beautifully intertwined electric guitars parts that play to the rhythm of a poised drum beat, and accent borderline jazzy pop choruses. The video is filled with extreme wide shots that show the band members playing their instruments, seemingly miniature to the huge backgrounds. The video’s simplicity is eye-catching and suits the track’s avant-pop vibe. The female/male vocal chemistry and the vibrant guitars that accompany it are in the vein of groups like The Pastels, with an added mathy element. Ever the hard-working group, UV Rays are already working on a second EP, and if it is anything like the first, we will be glad to premiere it too.
New The Barren Marys LP Available for Streaming & Purchase
Wired Wrong is the new LP from punk quartet The Barren Marys, and is available via Violated Records/Suicide Bong Records. Sprinting out of the gates, the album meshes an innate, adrenaline-fueled intensity with a light-hearted (at times) lyrical approach. Mirroring daily life, it addresses serious issues, while still finding time to have some fun. The Barren Marys are slated to perform next in Philly on Saturday, July 27 at Connie’s Ric Rac, with The Lot, Conmen, and Mala Vista.
Êmia gets the pop formula right, will headline Knitting Factory 07.05
Êmia offers listeners a pure and potent brand of pop that gets the heart fluttering. The Brooklyn-based artist’s music explores the universal themes of broken relationships, almost-was romances, and identity struggles, but it does so with an opulent elegance. In “Teleprompter” (streaming) the acoustic guitar notes, robust bass, and echoing vocals all help create a song embroidered with messages that resonate, and hooks that captivate. Êmia’s confident delivery and commitment to pop music’s fundamental elements puts her right in the middle of the female pop star resurgence that Ariana Grande has championed. Êmia will be headlining Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on July 5th, with support from Illicit Ghost and Caroline Lazar.
Childspeak Explores Reality
Post-math rock band Childspeak released their latest album Indulgent Endeavors last March, and it’s dreamy instrumentalist really speaks to the ways the band has grown. The album is mature and thoughtful. Indulgent is an apt name, as the band really takes the time to steep in every emotion instrumentals can produce. The band also plays around with the subjectivity that controls these emotions. As guitarist Bri Haber explains, “Reality is sculpted by a person’s individual experience and is intrinsically subjective.” Childspeak makes room in its music, not only for their own individual realities but for the realities of their listeners as well.
Childspeak is playing a show this Friday, June 7th at Sessions Music Lounge. Long Hallways and Gazelle(s) will also be playing.
-By Nick Hartman, photo by Sam Gehrke
Lucy Isabel plays record release show 06.13 at True Music Room
Jersey-born and Nashville-based singer-songwriter Lucy Isabel will release her new LP Rambling Stranger on June 14th, with a performance marking the occasion on June 13th at True Music Room at the Cambria Hotel. Isabel’s lived in many places throughout her life — the Jersey Shore, the Pacific Northwest, and now in the South — and all of her experiences throughout her travels have led her to write the songs on Rambling Stranger. The album has hints of Americana, blues rock, and soul, all molding together to form a powerful heartland sound that channels the feeling of endless exploration, both physical and spiritual. Take a listen to the opener from Rambling Stranger, "How It Goes", below. – Will Sisskind
The Alibis “Bloom”
The folk duo of Daniel Robbins & Eric Quigley, asa known as The Alibis, recently released their debut album Bloom. This is album is gentle, beautiful, and filled with warm harmonies.
The duo received some help from a few friends in recording the album including the talented Nikki Morgan on Nikki Morgan on two of the songs, “To Stay” and “Day To Rise”.
Boy Scouts plays Phono del Sol June 15th
Phono del Sol is a free festival at Potrero del Sol park. This year’s lineup features an Oakland favorite, Boy Scouts, whose folksy bedroom pop-rock is relaxing, charming and damn good. Taylor Vick’s vocals are sweet and pitch perfect, a fine complement to the keys and strums. Boy Scouts’ last release, Spiritual Pickle, is a 2-song sampler. Tracks “Kite” and “My Idiot Brain” are lofi, low pressure and highly pleasing. Catch Boy Scouts at Phono del Sol and wherever else they’re playing comin’ up soon! Stay tuned. – Lucille Faulkner
Krust Toons: “Touring the Northeast” by Tedd Hazard
Krust Toons: "Touring the Northeast" by Tedd Hazard – please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.
Eastern Souvenirs releases new psych-pop single “Getting There,” plays Sofar Sounds: Boston 07.23
Brian Fisher has been writing songs under the moniker Eastern Souvenirs since 2014, concocting his brand of electronic psych-pop tunes. Synth-driven and guitar heavy the songs of his 2017 debut full-length record Green Valleys had a healthy balance of indie-folktronica as it was, now in his upcoming EP Getting There they are being served with a psych tinge. Both of the singles released for the record so far put the artist’s skills on full display: “Falling” has the surreal sounds of bands like Animal Collective while the title track (streaming) leans more on its cool electric guitar, for a more indie quality. Fisher seems to be blossoming in this upcoming EP, finding a style that incorporates the best of the psych-pop genre, which makes us excited for the release on July 12th. Fisher has recently relocated to Boston and will play Sofar Sounds July 23rd. – Rene Cobar
Poor Calvin “Sleepless Lullaby”
Poor Calvin recently released the first single, “Sleepless Lullaby”, from their forthcoming debut album, Optimism Inc, which is due out July 19th.
This is rock, blues, and Americana of Brian Doherty (Vocals & Guitar), Evan Opitz (Guitar), Jimmy Kowalczyk (Drums), and Kevin McMahon (Bass)
Phoebe Ryan shows the strength of vulnerability in new music video for “A Thousand Ways”
Phoebe Ryan’s vocals have a haunting sharpness to them, greatly showcased in the powerful hooks of her new single “A Thousand Ways.” The track’s music video (streaming below) is gritty shot-for-shot and matches the intensity of the mighty percussion in the choruses. The verses are calm and accompanied by trickling acoustic guitar notes, with Ryan’s vocals commanding the sonic storm that intensifies toward the end of the track. The New Jersey-native’s confidently vulnerable attitude in the song is somewhat reminiscent of Halsey, with whom it shares a magnetic and intense appeal. Check out “A Thousand Ways” to see what we mean. – Rene Cobar
The Deli Philly’s June Record of the Month: Active Listening: Night on Earth – Empath
Active Listening: Night on Earth (Get Better Records), the debut full-length album from the quartet of Empath, immerses the listener in a chaotic, cathartic sonic world. The awakening sounds of birds chirping give way to Emily Shanahan and Randall Coon’s assertively warped combination of electro-bass and synth on album opener, “Soft Shape”. Catherine Elicson’s vocals hover between a restrained hushed tone and a more pronounced power. The instruments weave creating a complex yet streamlined sound, before Garrett Koloski’s drumming is unleashed, stepping to the forefront and bashing away towards the song’s conclusion.
Spring-loaded “Pure Intent” toys with tempo, constructing an exuberant, disorienting environment, with brief, calming, vocal moments of respite. Caught up in that whirlwind, everything becomes so hazy; however, after the storm, reassuring keys and softly strummed guitar conceive a serene backdrop, before the abrupt kick-start of “Hanging Out Of Cars,” with its jagged-guitar rev. Joined by bustling percussion and the contrasting, softer key tones, the track blends a rugged, uncompromising approach that is exuded in the blunt, raw force of the guitar-percussion combination. “Where I take you is where I take myself, an empty is left most I ever felt.” Halfway through, the traffic disappears, and the road opens up as a soothing, electro-reverberating clarity emerges.
“Roses That Cry” appears to mesh theories on learning to accept and deal with the present, (“They say everything aging all the time together/As the clutter comes alive, comes in bed, nowhere to hide/Don’t waste your time judging kindness/“We say hell is forever, and what is the cost? Is this it?”), while also expressing optimism and nostalgia (“Are you coming around?/You’d like to, but you don’t know how/Remember when that tree fell on your car”). There’s a sense of hopeful warmth and memory illuminating the song, amid the swirl of noise. A blitzing, brutal instrumental brightness hits on “Rowing”. There’s no slowing down, as the track races with compact precision, appearing ready to fall off the rails, while still maintaining a melodic connection.
With “Heaven,” there is an impactful interlude into the psyche, as brief thoughts are delivered in a free-flowing manner. “I just want to get to heaven.” Clairvoyant, floating keys form an ethereal atmosphere throughout “IV,” as the rest of the instrumentation provides a more detailed texture. “Decor” marches fantastically forward in an inviting manner. The vocals retain a soft, assuring nature. “Deep down, nothing changes where you’ve been.” The LP returns to form with “Redeo Fever” surging ahead as Elicson sings: “Say a little prayer, the most that I could bear/All I have to glean is the experience.”
Empath’s latest collection of recordings exudes a thoughtful, noise-infused intensity – one that requests an intent ear and rewards the listener in the process. (Photo by Troy Memis) – Michael Colavita