May God preserve veteran garage rockers Obits, one of the living proofs that NYC still rules when it comes to rock’n’roll. The band is set to release their third LP titled “Beds & Bugs” this September. In anticipation of this, the band has unveiled the forthcoming album’s first track titled “Taste the Diff”. Rick Froberg (of former Hot Snakes) nails the vocals with a raspy/punk/in-your-face attitude and sound that will make true rockers want to put the track in perennial loop mode – since it only lasts around 2:20… or does it? The song was featured on Stereogum and you can listen to it below! – Michael Haskoor (@Tweetskoor) 

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

Can music change our body’s perception of temperature? Probably not, but NYC’s Infinity Shred (once known as Starscream) gets very close to accomplishing that with their space-synth jams, which wrap the listener in several cold (and cool) layers of glacial synths. We don’t need bloody "warm" recordings in July, give us AC in the headphones!

Infinity Shed will be releaseing their sophonore full length ‘Sanctuary’ in September via OK Go’s label Parachute – check out the video of preview single ‘Void Ripper’ below, and see them at Glasslands on August 3 with The Depreciation Guild.

A dreamer from Miami, Wolf Colony creates intimate, hopelessly romantic confessionals set to heated dance floor journeys. From the boy-meets-world wonder of ‘Youth,’ to the yearning expressed in ‘Calling,’ singer-songwriter Seventhleopard and music producer Neal Sarin throw all their anxieties and confusions into picture perfect dreams that touch the dance floor and lift their situations up to the heavens. Especially fave track ‘Beauty,’ that’s sure to break a heart or two. Check it out below and see the duo when they head back to NY later this year. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Sheron is the solo project of Modern Rivals’ bassist Andrew Sheron, and – at least from the preview track ‘Keyser Söze,’ streaming below – it sounds nothing like that band. The instrumentiation alone – featuring an oud, an octave violin, the coke box guitar, tuvan throat singing, a grand piano, and at least half a dozen voices in harmony – speaks volumes of what you can expect from this project. The single blends a rather cerebral Western songwriting style with exotic sounds and arcane sounding arrangements, developing from a verse as intimate as a whisper to a tense finale with tribal percussions and throat singing. The result is a track that sounds at once existentialist and mystical. Check Sheron out at their EP release party at Rockwood on July 7 – a full length is in the works for later this year.

It’s always slightly unsettling when – after dedicating almost a decade to the mission of informing the public about the best emerging/obscure NYC artists – we find out about a really interesting band that’s been active for what seems like an eternity – i.e the mid aughts. Bronx Soft-Psych band Pigeons plays uber blurred litanies with occasional both Eastern (see embedded track) and Western accents. The band released their debut album in 2006, and their latest in 2011. Admittedly the guys aren’t too interested in self promotion – you won’t find a band Facebook account, and to get a picture of the band we had to do some serious digging. Shots of them playing live are even rarer, which implies they don’t do it often. However we found out about them because Brooklyn DIY guru Todd P booked them to open for Major Stars last Friday night at Kent 285. It’s not clear from the info available online if Pigeons is working on new material, but we hope so, because we are really enjoying their tunes.

Dreams never disappear entirely. They stick around for days as fractured, often disconnected collections of images and vague notions. For Brooklyn’s Emmy Wildwood, new video "Chick Chick Boom (Tired Of Love)," is that jarring fit of memories wound up in the wildest of dreams. Watch as the alt-pop singer struggles to find her voice, then launches into a righteous tirade against the many mishaps of love. ‘Tired of Love is the first single off her upcoming record. Watch the vid below and see her when she plays The Bowery Electric Sat, July 20th. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Oberhofer is a strangely joyful musical animal, who dwells in sonic territories inhabited by imaginative pop creatures. The NYC act has recently released a new EP and is about to leave Brooklyn for a ten day east coast tour. Check out "Earplugs’ streaming below and the newly released video for "Together / Never" here.

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

Brother acts have been a staple of rock music history since the very beginning of it all. From the Everlys to the Kinks’ Davies through the JAMC’s Reids, The Black Crowes’ Robinsons and Oasis’ Gallaghers, a rich tradition has continued throughout each new generation. Enter Andy and James Ralph and their wonderfully named band WRITER to the mix. Celebrating this alignment to the fullest, they’ve titled their debut album “Brotherface,” a record that marries an edgy, "uber-saturated" production with impressively consistent songwriting.

Leadoff track “Head to Toe” booms with percussive force and well placed buzz-bomb guitars, yet the space left open allows for emphasis to be placed on the voices and the story they tell. "Hot Days" (streaming), is the closest thing to "pop" this band can offer, coming off as an even fuzzier version of old time favorite Enon. “Miss Mermaid” kicks the production value up a notch. The booming, live sounding drums are still there, but guitar layers are introduced together with heavily effected vocals, creating an otherworldly sheen. There’s a Ska rhythm guitar progression alternating with a twangy western melody line. The under two minute “Swamp Fire Lake” pairs submerged vocal effects against a swampy delta blues, bringing to mind the rawness of The Kills’ first album. “Family Dinner” continues the loose tom tom and tambourine percussion motif, this time matched with guitars placing emphasis on the low end bass notes. “Barefoot Art” finds buzzy electronic keyboards pulsing like a telephone receiver left off the hook after the call has ended. Tambourine stands out as the primary percussive motion, providing ample space for the vocal storytelling. “Cash For Gold” pummels like The Velvet Underground through a Jesus & Mary Chain filter. The observatory lyrics “better find some gold and sell it quickly” underscores the instant money grab imagery we are bombarded with on a daily basis. “North Park Fairies” emphasizes clock ticking percussion (with the ever present tambourine) supporting further processed multi-layered vocals in a wide open spaciousness. Album closer “Dry Hands” serves as the big and bombastic finale. Heavily reverberated voices ride atop booming drums and hard plucked guitar notes. The mood is all vibe and texture. With “oh yeah, oh yeah” as the essential lyrical theme. – Dave Cromwell

After struggling with the dark unmotivational sound of their former endeavor, Sons of Sons, frontman Matt Miller and drummer Brian Dalessandro decided it was time for a change. The artists recruited the ideas of guitar/keys player Sean Glassman and bassist Paolo Codega and blending them all together as a fusion of talent, Coastgaard was born. – Read Michael Haskoor’s interview with the band here, see them live at Cameo on August 1.

Brooklyn’s guitar/drum duo Steel Phantoms marries an indie rock sound with a songwriting elegance often foreign to the genre. Their single "Curtain Call" (video streaming below) features a reversed (and a little anti-climatic) chorus-verse structure, with a melody that could have come out of a Paul Simon song, but filled with distortion and unpredictable breaks. The band will be releasing a self titled EP on July 16.

Corporations have been buying in to youth culture in a big way as of late, and it’s especially true for music, but it’s great to see that also emerging and/or less accessible bands are benefiting from this… To celebrate a decade of, well, car sales, Scion is putting out the Scion 10 Series Music Release, a varied compilation featuring some of the best and brightest in independent music. Among those is NYC’s own White Hills, who contributed their otherworldly “Forever in Space (Enlightened)” to the set – streaming. White Hills have a pretty busy schedule ahead of them—they’re opening for Georgia sludge-riffers Kylesa, and later this year they’re doing the same for The Cult on their “Electric 13” tour. They already came through New York this time around, but be sure to catch them here later this year. – Zack Kraimer

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

The name may make you think they’re making some political gesture, but trust me… Clintongore‘s music is far from anything that down to Earth. The San Fran and Brooklyn based dance-pop duo makes interplanetary rave suitable for launching spaceships and late night stargazing parties. Chris Crawford and Sierra Frost together craft a Pop bounce and indie grittiness with their drum machines and Roland Junos (recorded right in the belly of the Brooklyn’s DIY scene – at Death By Audio). The band’s been touring out on the West coast right now, but will be back in NYC later this year. In the meantime, check out their new self-titled full-length up on their Bandcamp, and a recent video for single ‘Homesick’ here. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)