We rarely post cover versions on this blog, but in the case of Brooklyn’s Ritual Humor, their reinterpretation of Alien Sex Fiend’s ‘Dead and Buried’ really sounds like a different songs: if the original’s rough edges are smoothed out by Celeste Carballo’ warm voice, the bony, tribal, and droney arrangement keeps the track in  pure post punk territory. Mathew Petronelli’s grating synth sweeps add an interesting electronic feeling to the song, without ever compromising its "dirtiness" – but actually adding to it. Ritual Humor is playing tonight at Alphaville with Bambara.

Riding the wave of heavy but melodic guitar rock reminiscent of the grunge/slacker rock era, Brooklyn’s LVL UP in 2014 delivered their sophomore album ‘Hoodwink’d,’ one of the best received in this 90s inspired movement. On the heels of that release, the band has announced a summer tour that includes dates with The Sidekicks, Glocca Morra, The Front Bottoms, Big Ups, Upset, and Basement. Full dates can be found here – you can see them at Irving Plaza on August 17. Check out their recent video for single ‘DBTS,’ streaming below.

P.S. In November 2013 LVL UP released a split 7" with the band currently on the cover of The Deli: Porches.

For ten years Tom Phonic has been hitting New York with his vibey electro-funk, usually in the realm of instrumental techno. His new MDSMPLS EP is his first all-collaborative album featuring impressive vocal stylings from BK’s Jack Wilson, Seattle’s IfThen, and NY’s Vanessa Boyd. It’s a solid boom-bap release appropriate for both head nodding and reserved twerking. If this is his first step into working with vocalists, one can only speculate the dopeness he’ll drop once he reaches full stride.

This past April, New York-raised singer/songwriter Lindsey Cohen released ‘Distance Makes Me Sensitive,’ an enjoyably impassioned five-song EP of relationship difficulty set to sharp guitars and gentle pianos (the record follows 2014’s EP ‘Grace Under Pressure’). Cohen, who started writing songs at fourteen and is currently enrolled at Columbia University, tells moving stories of interpersonal drama and individual struggle, while pleasantly recalling such icons as Stevie Nicks and Fiona Apple. On what appears to be the latest single from the album, “Unhappy Ending,” for example, the musician sardonically yet sensitively (“Blame it on a misunderstanding,/Welcome to my unhappy ending,” goes the chorus) details a dissolved romance over a frenetic instrumentation reminiscent of Apple’s “Fast As You Can.” Cohen just unveiled a new video for single ‘Exhausted,’ streaming below, which reads like a celebration of her hometown. – Zach Weg

We’d like to invite all the NYC scene lovers to join The Deli’s staff at the Manhattan Inn in Greenpoint tonight (June 8th), for Hypnocraft‘s first appointment with a new monthly music residency called "At the Inn" (music starts at 8.30pm)

There – among other things – you’ll be able to:

1. Read the new issue of The Deli (it’s the "best of NYC 2015" one!)
2. Listen to live music by four great (mostly) local artists.

Here are our favorite songs by the performing artists:

Last night at Baby’s All Right we stumbled upon Brooklyn’s trio The Midnight Hollow, and were impressed by their performance. Active since the beginning of the decade, the band plays moody rock with vibes reminiscent of some rather psychedelic acts from the 80’s new wave. Their vaguely epic, fully arranged songs and lead vocalist (and songwriter) Spencer Draeger’s intimidating tenor bring to mind Echo and the Bunnymen’s peak records from the mid 80s. They recently released a new EP entitled ‘For The People Inside,’ featuring singe "Forward" (streaming below). You can see them next at Union Pool on June 11.

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

Today marks a year since New Paltz-rooted, New York City-based band What Moon Things released their self-titled debut album, a rapturously dark eight-song thunderstorm of guitar streaks, drum bangs, and atmospheric shrieks. On tracks such as the heavy and plodding, but also gently arpeggiated ‘Staring at the Radio’ (streaming below) or the meditative and penetrating ‘Vampir,’ the group headed by early-twenties multi-instrumentalists Jake Harms and John Morisi recalled Nirvana’s pained ’90s punk and Big Troubles’ reflective shoegaze, while sounding out their own nightmare of death sponge – as they label the genre they play. Now, the group prepares for the release of their sophomore record and has a few upcoming shows: you can see them next at Williamsburg’s Cameo Gallery on 6.14. – Zach Weg

Brooklyn’s band of folk innovators Streets of Laredo (whose core members are from New Zealand) seems to be growing larger every year – now a septet, they started out as a trio, and it was five of them when we booked them for our 2013 NYC B.E.A.F. They just released this new dreamy (and admittedly not very folky) single entitled "Diamonds," and took the opportunity to announce that they’ll be playing Governors’ Ball in a few days (Sunday June 7). Knowing how great these guys are live, that’s a show you don’t want to miss.

Featuring Ryan Newmyer and Jen Goma of Philly’s A Sunny Day in Glasgow and Brooklyn’s own Kurt Feldman (Ice Choir, Pains of Being Pure at Heart), trio Roman à Clef crafts light-hearted songs heavily inspired by the sophisticated English pop of the ’80s (think Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and – in particular – Prefab Sprout). Their super breezy, borderline jazzy pop features alternating male and female voices, with Feldman’s crooning tenor carrying most of the lead vocals’ weight. The project has been around since 2013, when single PSBTV was released digitally; two years later (i.e. just a few weeks ago), the band unveiled that single’s video (streaming), a testament to how tortuous the creative process can be for indie musicians. Roman à Clef will be celebrating the release of their sophomore album ‘Abandonware’ at Union Pool tonight (June 2nd).

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

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Big Eyes is a truly great sounding NYC based melodic punk trio that’s been around at least since 2010, and that for some mysterious reason went completely unnoticed here at The Deli NYC. They have a series of singles and two full lenght albums under their belt, the latest of which, "Almost Famous," was released in 2013. But our favorite track (at least of the ones we listened to) is last year’s single ‘Asking You To Stay’ (streaming, from a 7" split with Post Teens) which took us back to the days when Joan Jett was at the peak of her punkyness. If you are looking for a fun and loud way to spend June 4th, don’t miss these guys’ show at Shea Stadium. 

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best punk/garage songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

Even though they always shared a common passion for drugs, Punk music and Psychedelia have mostly been at opposite sides of the alternative rock spectrum, which prevented a lot of genre-blending (with some noteworthy exceptions like Butthole Surfers and early Mercury Rev). Brooklyn’s Acid Dad, who’ve been active for less than one year and have three singles on their Soundcloud page, call their music "psych punk." Their repertoire doesn’t touch the level of sonic insanity of the aforementioned artists, but does offer a fun blend of those genres, with a heavier punk accent. Notwithstanding their short existence, they are already getting a good amount of attention and made a list of best 10 new emerging NYC bands (which interestingly featured some not very new bands). You can check them out live at Aviv on June 6 with The Gradients and other locals.

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best punk/garage songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

After releasing a lovely, orchestral-ish debut EP in 2014 entitled ‘The Guard,’ Brooklyn musician Domino Kirke had a life changing encounter with Deli favorite Luke Temple (whose debut album ‘Snowbeat’ was our NYC record of the month back in 2007, years before he founded his popular band Here We Go Magic). Luke worked on the electronic arrangements of Domino’s new songs, which are featured in sophomore EP ‘Independent Channel,’ released in March of 2015. Temple is now also part of the live band, which you’ll have the opportunity to see live tonight (June 1st) at Baby’s All Right. Check out also Domino’s brand new video for the EP’s titletrack.

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best mellow songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!