Zak Smith‘s rock’n’roll is not intended for the Brooklyn hipster, but for the masses outside the bubble we live in, who enjoy Classic American Rock as made famous by artists like The Boss or John Mellencamp. Zak has got the voice, the chops and the look to pull this off big time, as his growing fan base – approaching 12k Facebook likes – can testify. The bearded singer recently released this fine video of the single "Crawling" – streaming below. In the next few weeks he’ll be playing several shows in the NY/NJ area – more info here.

Formerly the core members of orchestral goth project Religious To Damn (Deli Record of the month in 2011), Zohra Atash and Joshua Strawn changed gears early this year, turning their ensemble into a drum machine minded, electro-centric duo named Azar Swan. The shift was sparked by a two-fold realization from Atash and Strawn who were looking to consolidate the project, with coordinating multiple musicians often slowing the writing and performing process, combined with a mutual revived interest in electronic music and hip-hop beats pulling influences from acts like The-Dream and These New Puritans. The band debuted live on November 10.

We sent a decent amount of love to Railbird in the last few months – and also booked them for one of our CMJ 2012 shows. This Brooklyn based band is gaining momentum thanks to their brainy but gently melodic composition which will enthuse fans of Dirty Projectors and Deerhoof. They recently played with Deli favorites Rubblebucket and Reptar, which definitely helped them raise their profile, and are now hitting the nail on the head with a new EP release – that’s exactly what bands should do when when they have some "buzz," rather than waiting for it to fade. "Mirror" (streaming below) showcases a further step towards awesomely produced quirky arrangements compensated by SKP’s melodic talent.

Blending the complex harmonies of The Beach Boys with the gritty aesthetics of the new millennium’s bedroom pop, Sunglasses add a new chapter to the Brooklyn DIY scene – which they recently embraced after moving from Savannah, GA. Whereas most current Brooklyn bands have a tendency to flirt with the decadent, self-indulgent atmospheres of the East Coast and European bands of the ’60s and ’70s, the duo’s debut full length "Wildlife" is a collection of sunny and eclectic pop songs whose melodies quite unexpectedly flirt with jazz and lounge without sounding like either. The background is a kaleidoscopic accumulation of sounds that could be described as brilliantly organized chaos – a production style we also appreciated on Foxygen’s latest record, and that can be traced back to the Beck-Animal Collective "influenceology tree" – but a chaos that works with the upbeat songwriting to create a super-fun party atmosphere. If Sunglasses are able to recreate this atmosphere on a stage, they might have a brilliant career ahead of them. I guess we’ll find out tonight at Glasslands, when they’ll be celebrating the release of "Wildlife." 

"Less is more" – they say – and Brooklyn’s Graph Rabbit have definitely learned that lesson. The band’s dream folk is so ethereal and sparse it can almost be mistaken for the random sounds of nature – should we call it ambient-folk then? This is music with supernatural powers: lull yourself to a deep and satisfying sleep with "Only Fields" (streaming below) or stare at your best friend right in the eyes until you can read his/her mind, with "Make it Stop" (video here). Stressed out New Yorkers should go see Graph Rabbits live at The Mercury Lounge on November 25 at 6.30 pm.

Congrats to Dynasty Electric – who headlined our Electronic CMJ Stage 2012 this past October – for landing a song placement for "Just Like That" (streaming below) on an upcoming Victoria’s Secret commercial. Of all the things your band’s music can be used as a soundtrack for, I think (sexy) women’s underwear is probably on the top 3 of my personal list (I’m a dude of course). Let’s just say top of the list. 

Over a year’s passed since their debut album, and already The Babies are way past the sticky status of ‘side project’ – so as we welcome this new full-length, here’s to meeting up with a band on the rise, a fair few hundred miles on the counter, hungry for seconds. But no more sunbaked lethargy, merely a touch of nonchalance; no more Mr. Lo-Fi, yet still textures in plenty. Where they would have been smothered, the vocals throughout the entire record come out clear as ever. Is it bye bye to the Babies we knew? Definitely not. They’re simply opening up to a new facet of their sound, one they’d merely approached on the last album, and are finally pushing forward. What happens when The Babies leave the warm, fuzzy, crackling comfort of the womb? ‘Our House On The Hill’.

By far more ‘polished’ than the past releases (tighter too), the band’s sophomore album takes us to a space filled with nostalgia, where we meet the best of two worlds coming together. The stripped down sounds of a lulling folk song – that’s "That Boy" for you, or unexpectedly sparse "Mean." Looking for that narcoticly catchy steady-beat? Check out "Moonlight Mile" (streaming) and "Slow Walkin." And oin these twelve tracks, there’s still plenty of time for both these extremes to meet in the middle and rejoice in some raw sounding garage pop songs like "Mess Me Around." So, sure, those who swear only by colliding parts and the aesthetics of confusion might prefer the ‘oldies‘; but for the rest of us, it was sure worth the wait. – TM

Trends come and go, but some styles seem to always stay relevant. It’s true with Spirit Family Reunion, from whom you can expect a classic kind of Americana performed by musicians who know how to pluck a banjo the right way. But what really makes this band stand out is that they don’t sound like they’re re-inventing anything. When you see them live, the sound is all their own, and the soulful yelps and gospel harmonies in jams like ‘I am Following the Sound’ and ‘On That Day’ should convince you of what you’ve been missing. After a sold out show at Mercury Lounge last Friday (probably also caused by recent coverage on Rolling Stone), the band will be soon leaving for a 2 week East coast tour. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

I don’t see how anybody could posibly try to describe Von Haze‘s music without using the word "trip" somewhere in the sentence. In their new video for the single "Mother Mountain," band members Travis Caine and Katherine Kin’s voices sound high as kites, to the point of challenging his highness Tricky’s levels of stonedness. Now back in NYC after on year spent in London, Von Haze plays minimalistic electro-trip-goth that carries a bagagge of dark, decadent influences ranging from Suicide to Joy Division, from Velvet Underground to Dead Can Dance. The Lynchean video looks like a hopeless and bleak celebration of irrationality shot in the middle of nowhere in the US (also referred to by us as "Tea Party-land"), but the band’s other material can be more uptempo and slightly less depressing (see "His Love is Fine, streaming below). Von Haze will celebrate the vynil release of their album ‘Kar Dee Akk Ake’ at Glasslands on 11.19 (tonight). 

For ‘New Jersey Hardcore’, their first full-length album ( which they released early October), The Everymen took a good handful of new steps, from production, an obvious first, to the choices made throughout the record. For a couple of songs, we get to hear Catherine Herrick (the only lady in the band) sing; amidst punk jams, there’s also more of the slower, softer side we’d heard on their last EP’s closing track ‘A Girl Named Lou’, with songs like ‘Annie’ or ‘Yellow Sunday Side’ […] This evening (11.16), The Everymen will be playing a benefit alongside The Brooklyn What, The Great American Novel & more at St Vitus in Brooklyn (you can find all the info here). Stream their new video for Coney Island High here & read TM’s Q&A with Mike V here.

Recorded earlier this year, and due out on January 8, 2013, “Here Come the Girls” by The London Souls is not just a sophomore album for the band but a representation of miraculous second chances. Soon after recording the material for the release, lead singer/guitarist Tash Neal was in a nearly fatal hit and run accident, after which he underwent emergency brain surgery, a medically induced coma, and several other surgeries, putting the record’s release on hold. His recovery and survival are extremely fortunate, and he is back rehearsing and preparing to share The London Souls’ new material in 2013. Recently, Guitar World featured track, “City of Light” on their website, offering a taste of the upcoming record’s homage to driving 60s rock ‘n roll energy, bluesy riffs, and gritty call and response vocals. Mind-blowing live shows and solid rock tunes make The London Souls a New York City Alt Rock gem, and their tour in the New Year and album in full are highly anticipated. Check out an old track below. – Meijin Bruttomesso

Los Encantados most likely write their music by forcefully giving each other high fives until the music spontaneously happens. This is just an uninformed guess of course, but with the band’s name loosely translating to ‘The Enchanted,’ it wouldn’t surprise me. The septet deals with the same chapters in life shared by most of us, city dwellers. Only when they do it… it’s actually uplifting! Listen to their new track ‘ZZZZ’ below and read Mike Levine’s interview with the band here.