Ten years ago Shaun Hettinger’s musical output was LA synth-rock outfit The Squares, with co-songwriter/guitarist Jeff “Jiffy” Wild from E! Channel’s Chelsea Lately & After Lately. One Wham! obsession, a move to Brooklyn, a keytar tattoo, and five years later, Hettinger set his sights on crafting chillwave synth-pop in his new project Kitten Berry Crunch. With the release of a few hilarious cat-music videos & their 2012 Dreams EP, mixed by DFA producer Eric Broucek, Kitten Berry Crunch won the internet’s attention. Memoryy is Hettinger’s newest musical evolution. Retaining the core of Kitten Berry Crunch’s line-up, Memoryy ditches the tongue-in-cheek synth-pop for the sharp indie futurism found on their brand new "Electric City" EP, to be released on 04.05 with a show at Glasslands. This is an album based in 1983 but written for 2013 – Equal parts Afro-pop, disco funk, electronic & ambient, the five tracks create a sprawling musical journey for fans of Empire of the Sun, Twin Shadow, Passion Pit, Cut Copy & Phoenix. Electric City was produced by Attiss Ngo & David Vasallo, and featuring the mix work of James Benjamin (Purity Ring). Streaming below, the EP’s titletrack and single.

If there’s one thing The Suite Unraveling has developed a reputation for over the years, then surely it’s a profound and undying love of robots. And of watermelons. Guitarist Lily Maase, saxophonist/organist Michael Kammers and drummer Curt Garey announce the release of ‘Gallagher Walks In,’ the premiere music video from the avant-rock group’s first effort as a power trio. ‘Gallagher Walks In’ is the title track off the Suite Unraveling’s forthcoming full-length album; the video is veteran filmmaker Julia Pasternak’s directorial debut and features all three bandmates re-imagined as post-apocalyptic cyborgs, intent on finding (and ultimately blasting fruit at) the last three virgin women on Earth. ‘Gallagher Walks In’ debuted at Piano’s in lower Manhattan on Sunday, March 31st. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). The Deli’s NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building.

Show you don’t want to miss at Webster Hall on April 10th with Lucius and Caveman (both bands graced our rag’s cover in the Spring 2012 issue and the Summer 2012 respectively, see pictures). Caveman’s debut album is a beautiful psych pop gem that Pi(a)tchfork managed to ignore, triggering fury and disconcert at The Deli’s headquarters – BS we say! The band’s sophomore, self-titled full length was released yesterday under Fat Possum’s wing – may this propel Caveman to the interstellar overdrive stardom they deserve! Check out the second single from the record below.

What can we say about Lucius that we haven’t said already? One of the best live shows and two of the best voices in town, even NY Times political opinionist/economist Paul Krugman agrees… be there.

Brooklyn to Austin, Walker Lukens has traveled a long way.  His newest record "Devoted" is out today.  The video for "Dear Someone" (streaming below) is a refreshing take on music videos.  It is a charming stop motion polaroid love story.  I asked Walker about the making of it and he explained that there were in between 400-500 polaroids taken to create the stop motion.  What does one do with that many polaroids?  Currently they are stored in an Impossible Film tote bag at Lukens’ studio and for everyone who orders a 7” through his website a polaroid gets thrown in.  

One of the characters in the video is Louis the Lion who is Lukens “travel-gnome/Sancho Panza.”  Walker had a lion logo before he met Louis but when he found him in a trash can he knew it was fate.  “I’m walking home from work. (I should have gotten on the subway but ended up procrastinating and walking three miles home.) I see this lion statue, lawn ornament, super-gauche living room decoration sitting in a trash can on the corner of Avenue A and East 4th. I took photos of him all along the way in bars, on benches, on the subway, and in the street.” Thus starting his side hobby of photographing Louis who is expected to be in future videos.  

"Devoted" was written while spending much of last year traveling, visiting family and touring. Lukens confessed to a few obsessive habits while on the road.  “If I’m driving I listen to an inordinate amount of This American Life. If I’m flying or sitting on a train, I read a lot of fiction. In both cases, I drink a lot of coffee. It seems like such a waste to sleep when you’ve got all of this uninterrupted alone time.”   

The release show for the new record is set for this Saturday April, 6th at The ND.  Doors open at 10pm and the show begins at 10:30.  You can stream all 10 songs on Devoted via his website. – Courtney Pierce

Interesting show at Cameo tomorrow (April 4) for those who seek new local, folky music.

Such Hounds (pictured and streaming below) is a rather new Brooklyn based band that plays extremely well crafted rootsy rock’n’roll full of attitude, solid arrangements and memorable choruses – at least that’s what we hear in their 3 song debut EP, released in January 2012. Definitely a band with potential.

Yokel and the Heavyweight offer a more intimate and authentic kind of Americana, built on acoustic guitars, meoldies and harmonies referencing old time country, with semi-whispered vocals conveying a mellow, confidential tone to their songs.

We had the pleasure to see Frances Cone live at our unofficial "Hangover Hideout" SXSW show a couple of weeks ago, and we are glad to report that this talented young singer songwriter can definitely sing – we already knew she can write good songs. She released her debut album "Come Back" in February and she’s will be headlining this show.

This track was added to our SoundCloud playlist of emerging NYC artists here.

Andrew Cedemark belongs to the neverending list of underappreciated artists NYC has to offer, and we hope (and are confident that) his upcoming sophomore record due in July will manage to promote this young man’s evolving psychedelic pop tunes to a wider audience. The new album, entitled "Home Life," features a rotating cast of musicians, proper studio production and it’s reported to have a more aggressive rock sound. Check out "Hard Livin" from Andrew’s 2010 debut EP, streaming below.

Wondering what Johanna Cranitch is up to? Have no fear… she has not abandoned us – quite the opposite. Coming up with an entirely new moniker to join her already crowded list of personas (known in part for her always surprising Johanna & The Dusty Floor, also backup singer for The Cranberries), Johanna has now given us the beats-based, stripped down goodness of White Prism. Apparently she began this group’s songwriting sessions looking for something melodic and roots-based, but threw out the demo after deciding to pursue synth dream pop instead. And we’re all the better for it. New video ‘Lover’s Dream’ (from upcoming EP ‘White Prism’) comes complete with evocative images, and syrupy watercolors abound. Check out below also single "Dance On". See White Prism live at Glasslands on April 23 with Home Video and Desert Stars. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

This track was added to our SoundCloud playlist of emerging electronic NYC artists here.

So you think your band works hard? Cinema Cinema have practically set themselves up as a new front in the war against sleep with their restive schedule. The group has played over 300 shows in half of the continental U.S., released 4 records, and been on 5 tours in just over 4 years. Maybe it helps that the band’s two members are aggressive enough to carry the weight of their fist-throwing avant-punk music all by their damn selves… Maybe it’s that they’re set to take Brooklyn back from all those wimpy beards and crash every party with the assault of latest LP "Manic Children & the Slow Aggression". Whatever the reason, they won’t be ignored.

See them when they play again at New Jersey’s Meatlocker this Friday, April 5th at 9pm. Also, the true punk fans out there should mark June 15 on the calendar, when the band will open for Black Flag at Warsaw. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

With the slightest of hands, Erica Russo pulls mesmerizing stories from deep inside her dreadlocks, and rests them on grooves of wood and wire. With band The Good Sport, latest record ‘Little House, Little Hill’ pulls every ounce of energy from her bones, and she couldn’t be more relaxed and at ease to deliver the message. A fascinating bundle of energy, there’s more to hear here with every listen.

See the acoustic crooner live when she plays The Bowery Electric Map Room Wed, May 15. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Small Black are something of the Daft Punk of Williamsburg, an act whose every gesture seems to convey neon’s crushingly unstoppable ascension. The band’s new album, "Limits of Desire," continues to adapt first-wave synthpop to their younger roots in shoegaze and indie-rock, a sound that is now synonymous with Aughts Brooklyn. What’s left to prove? A song like “No Stranger” (which we had the opportunity to hear in advance the album press copy) seems to offer some answers with its maze of drunken synths gliding effortlessly underneath the sweet refrain of “You’re no stranger to me,” a sentiment that could easily unite a room full of lost souls who found themselves suddenly holding hands and dancing like this was their last night on earth. For a generation who is open to (and has access to) everything, maybe that kind of secular unity is all they really want. Check out the trailer for the upcoming album here, listen to the first single "Free at Dawn" below. – Brian Chidester

This track was added to our SoundCloud playlist of emerging NYC artists here.

Fresh from honing her craft as a member of Here We Go Magic, creative force Teeny Lieberson embarks on a more personal project with all female group TEEN. After releasing their debut full length in 2012, in March the band unveiled a new single titled "Carolina" from the upcoming EP by the same name, slated for a late May release on Carpark Records. The track showcases an impressive artistic growth, striking a very personal balance between eastern sounding melodies, detuned synth lines and guitar parts that flirt with the golden days of prog rock (think early King Krimson). We predict a good year for TEEN, which is currently on a European tour. – Dave Cromwell recently interviewed the band for The Deli here.

This track was added to our SoundCloud playlist of emerging NYC artists here.

"A band of staggering depth" – this is the kind of self-defined superlative that The Great American Novel freely applies to themselves. Indeed, I’ll admit I am quite jealous of their tremendous confidence. You can’t really blame them though. A band whose biggest problem is girls like "Holly" who can’t be convinced that their relationship should be more than just a friendship, is certainly bound for bigger things. Their new record Kissing covers these issues over the kind of jukebox rock ‘n’ roll you might imagine your parents listening to when they first met. – Check out the band’s recent single "This Song Will Make You Love Me" streaming below, and Read Tracy Mamoun’s Q&A with the band here.