Here at The Deli NYC we like bands that don’t think "straight" – maybe because our scene has a tradition for rewarding acts with a unique vision. Friend Roulette definitely doesn’t lack this feature, as testified once again by their new EP "Grown Younger," out today on Goodnight Records. The band plays a rather loud brand of orchestral/synth pop, where the aggressive wall of sound created by drums, horns, guitars and keys is only partially tamed by violinist’s Julia Tepper’s oblique vocal melodies. Check out preview single "I Guess" below, and stream the entire EP here.

TIme for that old time rock n’ roll, just like you used to know. Ok, maybe you’ve never really heard someone create a track like this before, but for Hector’s Pets latest single ‘Tearin’ Up The Pantry,’ the group has taken a cue from classic Woodstock-era band Canned Heat, and given the original country rock track a thorough makeover, remaking the baby boomer anthem as a millenial jam perfect for accompanying that 6-pack you’ve been hiding in your cooler all winter.

For a band made up entirely of… pets (no seriously, the lead singer goes by Wet Pet, the drummer’s name is Teacher’s Pet, and …. ok, you get the idea), this band operates by a simple mission: it’s one thing to be retro, it’s quite another to make it sound new again. For Hector’s Pets, this group is right on time. Check out ‘Tearin’ Up The Pantry’ below, and if you are going to be at SXSW, see here for their schedule. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Just a few weeks ago The Deli’s editors picked Such Hounds as the best Folk/Americana NYC band among the ones that submitted to be considered for participation in our Year End Best of Poll for Emerging Artists. Today they premiered their ne video for single "Their Other Side" on American Songwriter and MTVU also featured it. Check it out below, or see the band live in March, at Glasslands on 03.18 and/or at The Knit on 03.21.

Brooklyn’s All Forces may sound like starry-eyed dreamers on first listen, but beware: one minute you’ll be enjoying a well-placed high-powered rock jam, and the next you’ll find yourself caught in the depths of a moody freak-out. On the band’s debut EP, ‘Sons & Daughters,’ the band have pulled these two sides together for tracks like ‘We Have Arrived,’ one of their most epic, slow-building jams yet. Complete with the band’s all-female rhythm section and singer Johnnie Wang Morlock’s hair-raising vocals keeping things on edge.

All Forces have an urgency about them that instantly remakes all their inner anxieties into high-powered shoe-gazery dance jams, and this record captures these fleeting moods perfectly. It’s an impressive array of influences coming together (from The Cure to Broken Social Scene and… maybe even early R.E.M.?) to create some very bright, and some very dark moments. Keep an ear out for the record dropping on April 8th, and check out ‘We Have Arrived’ below. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Brooklyn singer/songwriter So Brown embraces mellow nostalgic tunes filled with calm, quiet seductiveness and beauty. Her new Bryce Goggin-produced album titled ‘Point LeGere’ (due out April 22nd) will consist of material based on her time living on the coast of Alabama in Point LeGere, with some mention of the struggles of being an LGBT teen, but without diluting her primary passion for good music. Check out the preview single  “Dauphin Island,” a sweet childhood still frame about fishing with Grandpa on the barrier island off the coast of Alabama. Norah Jones and Sasha Dobson, who both appear on the album, covered the song around the time that the BP oil spill was taking place. So Brown will debut the new album in a performance at Retrofret in Brooklyn on 3.22, but her official album release show is on April 24th at Rockwood Music Hall. Both are free. – Michael Haskoor (@Tweetskoor)

Indonesian born Melati Malay and Australian national Isaac Emmanuel have traveled the globe in search of musical inspiration, ending up in New York City as their home base. The sound they make together as Young Magic features ornate percussion and ethereal atmospheres. Their debut album “Melt” (featured in Deli Issue #32) incorporated gentle interlocking guitars, celestial vocals, jingling percussion and drone elements. They now return with their sophomore release “Breathing Statues,” scheduled for release May 6th on Carpark Records. Debut single “Fall In” – streaming below – builds around an angular repeating bass pattern, Melati’s angelic vocals float over Issac’s loose, shuffling percussion. Spacious synth textures and other mysterious studio effects contribute to a dreamlike sense of timelessness. Occasional words can be made out, but similar to genre pioneers The Cocteau Twins, the mood and feeling conveyed takes precedence over literal storytelling. The band will play Festival NRMAL this March in Monterrey, Mexico, as well as select showcases at Austin’s SXSW between March 11th and 16th. – Dave Cromwell

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

The Karma Exchange have a unique way of discussing things most of us are familiar with. For lead singer Randy Runyon, America is ‘mellow yellow’ (in ‘Lucky Ricochet’) and girlfriends are in love with anyone sharing your name (in opener ‘Speaking in Tongues’).

In the band’s latest full-length ‘Neon Translation,’ the group offers a lot of challenges to life’s usual comforts. And how else to do that… but with the guitars loud, and the drums out for the kill. ‘Neon Translation’ is the group’s most ambitious set of rockers yet. From a Brooklyn-based quartet that’s a little bit pop heaven, a little bit brawling rock n’ roll, it’s good to know our borough still hosts a band that knows how to crank up the dial when it needs to. Listen to single ‘Lucky Ricochet’ below, and see them at Rockwood’s stage 2 on March 11. Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

For Jake Klar, life is a bitter journey filled with hard luck, and tough decisions… especially when it comes to which train to catch, and what to eat with your ham. Latest EP ‘Rocks & Gravel’ takes these sentiments, and pairs them with deep delta blues and just a hint of Chuck Berry-esque rock n’ roll.

Recorded on a Tascam tape recorder, the record is life lived through the blues, with just a hint of whiskey & cigarettes to help keep it all down. Check out fave track ‘Devil’s Bread’ below. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Usually discussions of chemical compounds are limited to physicists, chemists and other ner… ahem… mad scientists. But NYC’s electro-pop trio Twintapes has found a romantic synergy in the elements that might make you think differently about beakers from now on.

The sans-laptop band has always sounded at once experimental, melodic and danceable, but for latest track ‘Everyday Chemical,’ they may have released their catchiest song yet. With themes of addiction, dreams and strange trips blasting from Nord Leads and Tempest keyboards, the song gives science brand new rules to follow. Listen to the track premiere below (and to the Benny Reiner remix here), and see the band live when they play Mercury Lounge on April 4. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets) 

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

We caught up with Heather Robb, from the talented NYC melodic folk trio The Spring Standards, a few weeks before the band leaves for a new tour that will take them down to Austin to play the SXSW festival. Touring is obviously a special time for these guys, not only because their live shows are truly magical (not all bands can put out a live record like "Live from Delaware," released in 2013), but also because of the inspiring stories the band collects from traveling through this big, weird country. – LINK: Daniel Ludwig’s Interview with The Spring Standards

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

Pull on that old grandma sweater, roll your own cigarette, put on the dirtiest jeans you can find. We’re going to let Flagland take us back to a simpler time. A time when bands were just being bands. Playing music that meant something to them, not trying to please the entire world. The Brooklyn trio taps into a pocket once occupied by Mudhoney or Sebadoh and other secular acts from the 90’s. It’s a time we long for once again, and one that’s definitely making a resurgence. We’re all for it, let’s throw caution to the wind, focus on the music, don’t worry about anything else. Those were the days, and thanks to bands like Flagland, they may be coming back again.

Check out their latest release Lovehard, and see them live at The Twisted Shamrock on Feb. 22nd before they head on a mini tour in New England. But if you can’t make it, don’t worry about it, take it easy, crank up the music and dream on. – Joe Fish

Afro-Punk Glam Dancehall warrior Joya Bravo wants you to dance. Or didn’t you get the memo? If you’re unsure of how to proceed, just peep the new video for her song, “Superstar.” There’s a nice play on the idea of a certain cartoon mouse in relation to a young girl… in relation to Joya herself. There’s also some pretty saucy footage of Joya molesting a washboard-abbed model. Filmed in Brooklyn’s 3rdEye(Sol)ation Gallery in Bushwick, it’s a perfect frame for her masterful pop-funk songwriting. You can be her superstar, you just better hurry. – BrokeMC