New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
We are proud to be able to premiere the first single and opening track, "Tunnel’s End", from the forthcoming album, Chasing the Light, from Singer/Songwriter Jared Rabin.
This is the follow-up to Rabin’s 2021 album Cold Rain and Snow, and is another example of his ability to pair his original creations with handpicked standards.
Chasing the Light is set to be released on October 7th and you can help Rabin celebrate on October 21st at Madame ZuZu’s Teahouse in Highland Park.
Tenci have released the second single, "Vanishing Coin", from their forthcoming sophomore album, A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing, which is due out via Keeled Scales on November 4th.
The single is accompanied by the fun, playful, Henry Jordan Smith directed video below.
You can catch Tenci at Sleeping Village on November 19th.
Maybe some of you remember seeing a show called Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies (JHMB for short) for the first time back in the day or remember just hearing the name of the show for the first time—or who knows, maybe you’re a toddler-through-tween who knows Muppet Babies from its recent reboot on Disney Junior—but either way I bet when you first stumbled upon JHMB you simply thought “yaaaaas” to yourself…
…because the concept is total perfection—cuteness and nostalgia mixed with the Muppets’ trademark snarky humor (for a kids’ show, at least) but no less sincere for it and overall rough-hewn charm (not to mention the DIY-style felt puppet construction) plus I’ll bet that any one of the Muppet Babies could kick Baby Yoda’s ass all the way to Dagobah and back like Lou Groza on a good day and, I mean, Gonzo or Animal or even the Swedish Chef would probably inadvertantly rip the little backwards-taking, fortune-cookie-quoting green globule to shreds which would keep both of Jim Henson’s hands very busy.
But I digress. The real reason I’m bringing this up is because there’s a good case to be made for Teenage Tom Petties (TTP) being basically a modern-day equivalent of JHMB to the point where the band could legit be renamed Jim Henson’s Gen X Grunge Babies except I do like the mental image of Tom Petty’s lanky frame, center–parted hair, and hangdog face in adolescence with a mouthful of braces and a face full of acne bleating out “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” with his laconic voice breaking on almost every syllable alongside a similarly adorable Teenage Stevie Nicks back when she still had a septum.
But I digress. Much like Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies, Teenage Tom Petties was hatched from the mind of a single individual, namely, Tom Brown of Rural France fame, who despite the Gallic name are actually from rural England. And if you’re asking yourself “why are a bunch of Britons being featured on the Deli NYC page, and why aren’t they at home sobbing quietly whilst laying a wreath for the Queen?”
Well it’s because the TTP’s are on the road and they’re gonna be playing the first Deli Delivers™ show ever on 9/30, the one and only New York City appearance by the now fully fleshed-out band making their first trip across North America, playing alongside a coterie of cool local NYC acts (The Planes, Holy Tunics, and Kira Metcalf!) at the East Williamsburg EconoLodge (EWEL) but again I digress.
According to their Bandcamp page TTP is a home-recorded garage punk project serving as a semi-autobiographical account of a 90’s teenager, growing up in suburbia, written by someone who was there looking back years later. Quoting directly: “TTP bristles with the excitement of teenage life—the discoveries, the obsessions, the failures, the mundanity—cut through with the lo-fi indie rock sounds of early Lemonheads, Dinosaur Jr and even some Descendants [personally, I’d add Guided By Voices, mid-period Sebadoh, and late-period Replacement to this list not to mention Tom Petty perhaps?] capturing the grandness and smallness of teenage life.”
So ya see we’re talking nostalgia, we’re talking rough-hewn textures (felt puppets in musical form!) and fuzzy sweetness, all mashed up together DIY style just like those Muppet Babies. Take the propulsive “Boatyard Winch” for instance which opens TTP’s eponymous debut record a song that’s either about sailing winches or watery tarts—I can’t make out all the lyrics over the racket which is intended as a compliment of course…
…or the strutting “Lambo,” a song about the narrator’s sweet sweet ride or more likely the Lamborghini poster scotch-taped to his wall as a teenager (is it snarky? is it sincere? is there a difference?) with an accompanying video proving you don’t need anything more than an old VHS copy of Cannonball Run II and a green screen to create art.
Meanwhile, “Boxroom Bangers” is indeed a banger with it’s mounting tension-and-release dynamics while “Last Starfighter” is fittingly anthemic with it’s repeated “I don’t care if you love me” refrain. So, yeah, speaking of refrains I’ll refrain from spoiling the back half of the album for you but rest assured Teenage Tom Petties fully live up to their name and then some with music that’s half math club geek and half shop class greaser—like a faded ‘90s high school yearbook distilled into an airy mist and sprayed into your earholes and here’s hoping their latest single “I Met A Girl In America” proves prescient on tour. (Jason Lee)
Elizabeth Moen has released the latest single, “Synthetic Fabrics”, from her forthcoming album, Wherever You Aren’t, which is due out on November 11th.
When asked about the new single Moen had the following to say; “I wrote the verses [of “Synthetic Fabrics”] when I was staying back with at my parent’s place and unsure of big decisions about my body and future. The chorus lyrics came to me months later on a bus from Dublin to a small town south of there on my way to play a show. Recorded at Fame Studios later that year on a day off on tour. An accumulation of fears, facing them, and support brought this song together.”
You can help Moen celebrate the release of the album at the Hideout on December 9th with Free Range.
Punk trio Meat Wave have released the latest single, "10k", from their forthcoming album, Malign Hex, which is due out on October 14th via Swami Records.
This is the work of Ryan Wizniak (drums), Joe Gac (bass) and Chris Sutter (vocals, guitar).
You can catch Meat Wave at The Empty Bottle on November 12th.
Photo credit: Patrick Houdek
Nora O’Connor has released visuals for the lead single and title track for her forthcoming third solo, My Heart, which is due out via Pravda Records on October 7th.
For this album O’Connor is joined by three of her bandmates from Chicago vocal supergroup, the Flat Five: Casey McDonough supplying vocals, bass and acoustic guitar; Scott Ligon on organ, Wurlitzer and guitars (Casey and Scott are also current members of NRBQ); Alex Hall providing drums, percussion, piano, Wurlitzer, mellotron, vibes, and vocals. In addition, she received contributions from Steve Dawson, Robbie Djersoe, and Jon Rouhouse.
We are proud to be able to premiere the video for the first single, "Sometimes the Buds Never Flower", from the forthcoming album, Allegory Grey, from Push Puppets.
This is the work of singer/guitarist Erich Specht, drummer Greg Essig, bassist John William Lauler, and keyboardist Kyle Magnusson.
You can help Push Puppets celebrate the release of Allegory Grey, which is due out offically September 30th, on October 14th at Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights.
xyzxyz recently released their debut single, "Friendship Necklace".
This is the trio of Karen Mooney, Krystal Rosenbrock and Sam Fadness.
photo by Vanessa Valadez
American Dreams recently announced that they will releasing a 40th anniversary reissue of the debut album, Kate Cincinnati, from the local industrial avant-gospel group ONO. This will be the first time these classic songs from the band will be available digitally and on vinyl, since the original release was on 300 cassettes.
At their origin ONO was the trio of bandleader P. Michael Grego, multi-instrumentalist Ric Graham, and enigmatic frontperson travis. Below is the single edit of the track that opens the album’s B-Side, "I Wonder Why". Of the single Grego had this to say; "We deconstructed ‘Good Times’ and ‘I Want Your Love’ by Chic for this song – travis changed the words. ‘I Wonder Why’ lightens the mood in between ‘Kate Cincinnati’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ – it was also a respite during our intense sets. I put together the music, and the others added layers on top."
You can catch ONO at Smashed Plastic’s Live: Vol. 1 Festival on October 1st with Fire-Toolz, Serengeti, Rookie, Tar, Bev Rage and the Drinks, and Pixel Grip.
Photo by David J. Magdziarz
Bones have released the lead single, “Death Sentence”, from their forthcoming forth studio album, Vomit, which is due out on October 28th via Disorder Recordings.
This is the sleezy black metal trio of Joe Warlord (Usurper), guitarist Carcass Chris (ex-Usurper), and bassist/lead vocalist Jon Necromancer (Contrition, High Spirits, ex-Usurper).
You can catch Bones at Reggie’s on October 29th with Autopsy, Cardiac Arrest, Molder and Comedian Dave Hill.
Frances Luke Accord has released the latest single, "In My Life", from their forthcoming album, Safe In Sound, which is due out via Two-Dale Records/Tone Tree Music on February 6th.
This is the duo of Nicholas Gunty and Brian Powers, and the new single features a contribution from Darlingside.
You can catch Frances Luke Accord at Golden Dagger on September 22nd.
