Austin-based singer-songwriter Lex Land will play Eastside Showroom on August 13 to support her sophomore release, "Were My Sweetheart To Go" (out 8/16). Lex, who has a classically trained, beautiful voice, creates rootsy pop gems reminiscent of a less experimental, more straight forwardly pop version of St. Vincent.

Frontwoman/guitarist Somer Bingham’s Clinical Trials’ follow up EP "Bleed Me" is a dark detour into the fringe regions of rock music – a tense, daring and unpredictable departure from the much more straightforward pop-rock tracks of "In the Wake of the Digital Afterlife" (January 2010) – we like what we hear. As the title may suggest, the tone of the EP is self-assured and challenging, sexual and a bit morbid. The EP release party is at Union Pool on 08.03. Unmastered mixes of the songs are being posted on the band’s SoundCloud page.

NYC uber-poppy collective The Orion Experience just released the video for this Motown sound inspired song "NYC Girl".
 

The energetic and punky stylings of New York/New Jersey’s The Static Jacks are amplified
to even more pressing levels on their newest record and sophomore release, “If You’re Young”
due out August 30. To celebrate the upcoming date, The Static Jacks will be joining the Escape
to New York Festival August 5 in Southhampton. The first preview of the new album,
the second track, “Girl Parts,” is available for public consumption and characterizes “If
You’re Young’s” slamming drums, frantic pace, aggressive and howling vocals, and overall,
consistently boisterous attitude. Other album highlights include a revision of “My Parents Lied,”
drawn from their EP, “Laces,” a gentler tune, “Sonata (Maybe We Can Work It Out?),” and
freewheeling “Blood Pressure.” “If You’re Young” demonstrates The Static Jacks’ growth as
a band and the establishment of a more identifiable and relatable sound. – Meijin Bruttomesso

Apparently, a much different record is created in North Beijing than say, when you roam around the Catskills for awhile. When Amen Dunes’ first LP DIA surfaced two years back, it got a lot of attention… or as much attention as the blogsphere will allow any artist. Much was said of Damon McMahon’s freak folk trippiness and 180• departure from his former work as part of Inouk. By comparison, this new, made-in-china record makes his debut sound flatter and less ambitious than the dense, reverb-drenched soundscapes he’s putting together now.
For his sophomore effort, Through Donkey Jaw, (Sacred Bones Records) the results are more dreamy, insulated and paired down than I expected. But then… I’ve never been to Beijing. Gone are his once trademark monotone drawl, replaced with chant-like ups and downs from the crazy buildup in "Not a Slave" to the softly lilting ‘Swim Up Behind Me." Give McMahon floor toms, stratocaster and massive echo, and he’ll burrow his way into your sub-conscious like Syd Barrett or Beck circa One Foot in the Grave.
Well, now Amen Dunes is back in Brooklyn, so show our ex-pat some love. Grab the new record on iTunes Aug. 11, and see him live at Shea Stadium for psych folk night with 1129 and MV & EE. – Mike Levine

Up and coming Brooklyn trio Widowspeak has been catching some serious lo-fi waves since last fall if you haven’t noticed. Forming less than a year ago, the band hooked up with Captured Tracks and landed some pretty sweet bills (oh yeah, and a bunch of people fell in love with frontwoman Molly Hamilton’s vocals). We recently exchanged a few questions with the band about Widowspeak’s very promising past, present, and future, and they were more than happy to fill us in on all the great stuff they got going on. Read Popgun Booking’s interview with the band here.

Brooklyn’s Shake the Baron , who played The Deli’s “Best of 2010 Festival,” touch on the ups and downs of song writing, combining light hearted melodies, peppy rhythms, and tender and smooth vocal harmonies with lyrics and inflection that express great yearning and melancholy on their self-titled album. Musically cheerful but lyrically lovesick “Treehouse” opens Shake The Baron’s debut album with effervescence that infiltrates the remainder of the record. “Zodiac Name” is simultaneously bubbly in beat and tranquil in multi-part vocals, and this smooth peacefulness pervades the glowing track, “Sinking Sailor.” Concluding tune, “Telekinetic At Home,” echoes with harp-like guitars and gentle vocals, fashioning a dreamy lullaby. Shake the Baron’s new album satisfies the appreciation for nuance, sentiment, and the serene. – Read Meijin Bruttomesso’s interview with Shake the Baron here.

In the summertime even indie rockers are ok with some 80s "cheesiness", as long as it’s done with class. Fresh Millions offer a mix of feel-good funk eg. Zapp, Midnight Star, Earth Wind and Fire with with Dancey electronics kinda like Justice and Octopus Project. And they do like their vocoder… See them live at Lamberts on August 19 or in September at the Austin City Limits Music Fest.

Translations was one of the most positive notes at our May 2011 B.E.A.F. Fest – their inventive, textural psych rock also earned them a Deli "CD of the Month" in September 2010. The band just released this cover of Nico’s "I’ll keep it with mine" (here‘s the original), taking the opportunity to announce that they will be playing at the South Street Seaport Music Festival on August 11, and releasing our favorite track "Tarantella" on a limited edition 7" on Seaport Records.

Mp3: Translations – "I’ll Keep It With Me"

Ambassadors is one of those bands that are just impressive in some kind of good old way: band members who can play their instrument, strong and staright-forward onstage presence, interesting sound and songwriting – such a band 10 years ago would have easily been picked up by a major label. To us, their avant-alt-rock seems strongly influenced by a particular sound that emerged in the mid 80s – a musical era perceived as prehistoric (and therefore cool) by many twenty-somthings. It’s the era of Peter Gabriel’s pop rock experiments from the "SO" and "US" period, and of a particular drum sound that is huge but controlled – think of the drums from Robert Plant’s records with The Power Station. In a NYC rock scene that’s been mostly flirting with lo-fi, surf and shoegazer influences (without mentioning the hordes of rather generic alt rockers), Ambassadors’ sound is definitely a welcome addition. See them live at Brooklyn Bowl on August 2.

Twin Sister will celebrate the release of their debut full length "In Heaven" at the Mercury Lounge on September 29, and they also announced additional support dates with Explosions in the Sky, Wild Beasts, and Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Today they are launching this video for "Bad Street," which was shot at lead singer Andrea Estella’s family’s house in Long Island and populated by her band mates, friends, and family.

Fate was cruel to Brian Cherchiglia on July 25th. Even though it had been rainy all day, the roof of his building had somehow caught fire. Now he couldn’t stop breaking strings. Smiling on the stage of The Rock Shop, Cherchiglia, guitarist and lead vocalist for The Bottom Dollars, swapped out his first borrowed instrument (his own had already broken) for a second. Lightouts had already taken the stage and then their gear with them, but final act and Deli Artists of July 2011 The Nuclears had a seemingly endless guitar supply in their rock arsenal, and would never leave fellow musicians in need.
But through the power of positive thinking (and drinking), Cherchiglia, Evan Berg (drums, backing vocals) and Doug Guttenberg (bass, backing vocals) persevered like professionals and rolled out a set of analog rock, suffused with blues and muddled with folk. Imagine The Raconteurs with some Cake, including a "Satan Is My Motor" cover. Near the end of the band’s on-stage odyssey, Dyalekt of Deathrow Tull joined them for a song titled "Peace and Anarchy." And peace (or the rock version anyway) inside of anarchy was just what The Bottom Dollars had accomplished, broken strings be damned. Take that, fate. Now if only the roof would stop smoldering. –allison levin