New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Chore Boy & Brad Kemp are back again with a new album called Stories You Can Tell Yourself. This drops just six months after Exordium and features contributions from femdot., Beloved Gang, Super King Reza, and many more.
The album centers around the idea of our own personal narratives and how they can either help or hurt us and they ways we perceive the world we live in.
Five years have passed since singer-songwriter Audrey Ryan released Let’s go to the Vamp, an indie-folk record heavy on crawling loops and lush harmonies. Ryan’s follow-up Buggy Spell is far more playful and versatile: the Boston-based artist takes full advantage of her multi-instrumental abilities by sprinkling each song with light tambourine rhythms, merry acoustic elements, and cheery vocal melodies that hint at beautiful memories. The elegant sonic layering that Ryan employs is distinctly characteristic of indie-folk music, a genre which continues to blossom as groups like First Aid Kit and The Civil Wars keep going strong. The release show for Buggy Spell is set for Thursday, June 20th at Club Passim in Cambridge, MA. We have "After a While Crocodile" from the new record available to stream below. – Rene Cobar
Worry Records recently released the debut EP from radio host, music journalist, and musician Hugo Reyes.
Reyes has been supporting and showing love for the local scene for years and it is great to see him making a strong official entrance on a great local label.
A Distant Call, the forthcoming album from Sheer Mag, is scheduled to arrive on August 23 via Wilsuns RC. Its lead single, “Blood From a Stone,” just hit the blogosphere, accompanied by a lyric video (which was created by Joslyn Crocco). Frontwoman Christina Halladay maintains composure while expressing frustration over the issues, which seemingly never end. That storyline is delivered with a melodic grit and guitar riffs aplenty that we’ve come to know and love from the Philly garage rockers. Sheer Mag will be kicking off the first leg of their summer tour this Saturday, June 22 at World Cafe Live, with local pals Thin Lips and Louisville’s White Reaper.
Busy Bodies recently released their debut EP which is cleverly title “Extended Play”. This is the Americana-Influenced rock of Michael Molitor (guitar, vocals), Ben Baran (guitar, vocals), John Schmisek (keys, vocals), True Markham (bass, vocals), Matt Donnelly (drums).
The band talks about how their sound and process is truly collaborative and it really does shine through in the harmonies the fills this album.
Lovestory Of Philadelphia is the debut album from the quartet of Dirty Soap. Exuberant, raw, soulful vocals and bluesy Americana converge in a sound that sticks in your mind, and quickly becomes familiar, especially for admirers of Man Man. The band entrenches themselves in a catchy, quirky manner that rips at opportune times, retaining a barroom aesthetic. You can catch Dirty Soap at Bourbon & Branch this Saturday, June 22, along with River Bones Band and Dirty Mae.
Brooklyn native group Floam laces its sober basslines and guitar solos with a heavy dose of flair to create, as the group call it, “bouncy rock music” which betrays influences from bands like Talking Heads and Devo, with a touch of Roxy Music’s glam. The group’s 2017 EP Cocoon lays bare the quartet’s tensile style as it effortlessly transitions from upbeat songs like “Just A Cool Breeze” to more ambient tracks like “In A Field.” The band controls its sound efforlessly, honing vintage art rock influences with ease while remaining true to their own style. Check out the music video for the band’s latest single "Hopes and Dreams" here below. – Rene Cobar
Fonfur is a four piece alt rock band from Toronto “playing anything and everything that can be found under the indie rock umbrella”. The members found common ground with influences such as Tokyo Police Club, Alt-J and We Are Scientists. In October of last year they released a 6 Song EP titled “New Rules for Classic Games” which include the catchy pop-rock opener “Denim Dogs”. Fonfur plays The Horseshoe Tavern on June 20th. – Kris Gies
Imelda Marcos has released their latest album, Tatlo. This is the duo’s, Matt Durso and Dave Cosejo, third album and first with Already Dead Tapes.
Matt and Dave’s music has always been challenging to describe but amazing to listen to. We have alway been blown away by the array of sounds and melodies they can create with just a guitar and drum kit. There are elements of Math Rock, Speed metal, ambient music, and genres that have yet to be defined.
You can help the band celebrate the release of their album on July 12th at Empty Bottle with Big Syn and Not For You.
Interscope Records announced this week that they have sign South Side recording artist Ann Marie. She exploded earlier this year with release of her latest album, Tripolar 2, which hit #3 on the Apple Music R&B chart.
Last month, Ann released a video for her latest single from the album, “Have You”, and is has currently been viewed more than 2.1 million times.
The Brooklyn-based band, Behaviorist, led by frontman Stephen Rhodes Chen, just announced the release of their debut, self-titled EP, self-titled. A close listen to the record reveals Rhodes Chen’s social commentary and stream-of-consciousness thoughts on human interaction. The EP waddles between funk, experimental pop, and the highly stylized indie rock of elegant singer/songwriters from the past two decades. For a relatively young band still walking on the high of their sold-out release show at Pianos, this band is showcasing a lot of creative energy and interesting ideas – it’s definitely worth a listen. Behaviorist’s first summer show will be at the Mercury Lounge on July 18th.
The Liquor Store’s throwing a birthday party for the lovely Heavenli, and they were generous enough to open it to the public. It’s going to have an eclectic group of artists playing, making for one sick lineup. Four great acts will be playing; dynamic power-pop group Ex-Kids, Portland’s dreamiest punks Cry Babe, queer and feminist punk rockers Cockeye, and experimental hip hop group Sumalienz. Plus, all proceeds go to Planned Parenthood so it’s a great night for a good cause.
The show will be this Thursday, June 20th at the Liquor Store. Tickets are $7, and doors open at 9.
-By Suzy Harrison
