With a knack for making nostalgia-tinged, popped-out indie rock that’s alternately loud and/or mellow(ish) in all the right places, Diehard offer oft-distorted, yet still somehow pleasantly shiny, guitar rock with male-female vocals. The band’s two EPs — “Oh So Premier,” released early this year, and the just-released “Ultimate Heartthrob” — do a great job of capturing the energy of the quartet’s live show and offer the promise of more goodness to come, in form of a full length the band is currently trying to fund through a Kickstarter campaign. – Read Stereoactive NYC‘s interview with The band here.

Meet the strange and wonderful Lawrence and Leigh. When I first saw photos of this group, I thought.. "…another Brooklyn folk duo." 30 seconds into "Glow", these preconceptions were immediately abandoned. One thing they’re not is a typical folk duo. Whatever magic these two share together as singer-songwriters is matched equally by an intense interest in studio trickery. Complimenting their soaring harmonies with collage effects bordering on musique concrete, Lawrence and Leigh’s sound is brimming with ideas that keep obvious categorizations at bay. The music of Andrew Kalleen and Kristin Stokes seems to reinvent itself after every listen, so be prepared to spend some time with these tracks as they move from bare acoustic arrangements to electronic 4-on-floor grooves and back again in epic and rewarding proportions. Head on over to their myspace where you can stream all tracks from their newly released 6 song EP Odyssey Vol. III: Hills and Masts. No, you didn’t miss anything… they have decided to release the third volume of this odyssey before releasing the first two. That’s just something these arty musicians are into. See them at SXSW at Revolution Bar on 03.17 – Mike Levine (@goldnuggets)

Object is a Brooklyn based duo of noise rockers sort of in the vein of Dinosaur Jr., and they took the opportunity of their EP release party to invite other interesting noisy and loud local acts to open for them, tonight (03.09.2011) at Death By Audio in Williamsburg.

Here’s the full bill, doors are at 8:
Digamy

On Saturday, March 19, Glasslands Gallery will be hosting the Roadside Graves, Natureboy, GunFight! , and Wagers (in the picture). For those folks not attending SXSW this year, this show will hopefully help them forget that they’re not partying in sunny Austin, TX (at least for a few hours). For the show GunFight! will be performing “Cadaver Dog” with Natureboy’s Sara Kermanshahi, off of their LP, Frontier Land.

Doors 8:30, $8
1 Wagers (in the picture) 9pm
2 GunFight! 10pm
3 Natureboy 11pm
4 Roadside Graves 12am

You can also catch GunFight! and Natureboy at the Brain-Cave Festival at Shea Stadium on April 9th with Dinowalrus, Mr. Dream, She Keeps Bees, Dpony (mems Hooray for Earth), Shark?, Data Dog and more…

If you play straight rock and roll today in Brooklyn, you’ve got to play it like a friggin’ animal, or nobody will care. This is exactly what Cheeseburger excels at, and the band has been doing this passionately for quite some time now (they played one of the first Deli parties back in 2005 – one organized by Todd P actually – at the now semi-inactive Asterisk Art Project). We hear that the NYC sonic Burger is about to travel to SXSW and release their sophomore album on May 3 via Williams Street Records. Their records are fun, but it’s their live shows you don’t want to miss.

We keep covering one by one the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC 2010 list – a chart compiled by a jury comprised of NYC bloggers, music writers, promoters, record store personnel, DJs, and our writers and readers. It’s a (final) countdown!

Brooklyn based duo Blondes take us back to the days when techno was some kind of new psychedelic experience (remember The Orb?) with what they call "ecstatic trance". Their tracks move and develop slowly, sounds fade in and out peacefully, while the regular, paced kick keeps the beat alive, synchronized with our pulse. As underlined by titles like "Virgin Pacific", "Paradise City" and Sundance", there’s a calming quality in this duo’s music, which we are now tempted to describe as "ambient with a beat". Experience them at Terminal 5 on March 19.

Dust off your muskets, Freedom Fighters, the Britt ISH is here and it’s time to lick some shots. This album is true hip hop; it’s honest, gritty, and brimming with swagger. The beats, drawn from a diverse battalion of upcoming producers, maintain a head- nodding cohesion. The vibe channels that classic mid-90’s sound, but is also spiked with a subtle urgency that speaks more to the current cultural climate. They’re the type of songs that induce both sweaty dance floors and sweaty philosophical discussions. Warren’s dynamic delivery launches from quick machine gun barrages to slow shotgun blows to your chest. Topically, he runs the gamut from seduction to sedition combining a mainstream flow with an underground sensibility. From visceral storytelling to audacious clowning, from Queen samples to Passion Pit references, Warren Britt’s first ep is an epic victory. – Broke MC

Lo-Fi-Psych-Gazers Crystal Stilts may be remembered as one of the most influential bands of the 2000s – as they triggered the reinassance of psych rock with surf influences in NYC. They actually where on one of our coolest covers back in 2008 (picture). The band just shared this free track from the upcoming album "In Love With Oblivion", due in April on Slumberland.

They also announced 2 NYC shows in April – they might sell out…
04/16 New York –  Le Poisson Rouge
04/17 Brooklyn – Music Hall of Williamsburg

Read the cover feature from that issue here.
Read two Deli article about the Brooklyn DIY scene here and here.
 

Yellowbirds is the moniker for the latest musical exploits of Sam Cohen (main force behind the NYC psych rock band Apollo Sunshine). This new project holds on to the psychedelic atmospheres and sonics, but in a "rootsier" contest, with very convincing results. Check out the DIY stop motion video for "The Rest of My Life", but also the embedded song "Beneath The Reach of Light", one of our favorites from the debut album "The Color".

Daniel Wayne and his mostly Midwestern amalgamation of musicians are a breath of fresh air in the big city. The group is playing the New York scene with an as-of-yet unrecorded collection of haunting Americana tracks; heavy, blue tunes that bounce like pop songs and twang like country standards. Although Wayne is the front man, his creative process is far from solitary. Collaborating with producer Oliver Labohn and drummer Brent Follis, Wayne runs the musical company like a family band. If you are a fan of the genre don’t miss his final Living Room residency show on March 09 at 10pm. – Jenny Luczak

Tell me a story about how your band formed. Yawn, I’m already bored. Besides, it can’t compare with The Yellow Dogs‘ story. How, you ask? Well, is rock ‘n roll illegal where you grew up?
It is in Iran. Like some kind of rock ‘n roll superheroes, The Yellow Dogs assembled a soundproofed hidden practice space, and hosted illegal underground shows. And you thought booking a show in the LES was difficult.
Once they started making waves they had to get out, and headed to the US, which is where this blog entry comes in. They’re going to be playing some shows at SXSW, and if you’re in the area, I strongly encourage you to check them out. The influence of the early 2000s garage rock revival (revival?) is clear, mixed with a bit of dance punk. To make comparisons, they sound a bit like a combination of Bloc Party and The Cribs. If they weren’t Iranian, they’d be British, is what I’m saying basically.
Check out "Gastronomic Meal" and "Dragonflower" which is their newer stuff. The breakdown on "Dragonflower" is joyfully dischordant, and the good-hearted silliness of "Gastronmic Meal" makes for a good stomper. –allison levin

New York City’s The Twees play energetic pop’n’nroll featuring the clean, two-guitar-attack made popular by early 2000’s bands like Interpol and The Strokes. The fact that Jason Abrishami’s vocals are reminiscent of the casually relaxed style of Julian Casablancas further invites said comparisons. What matters most, however, is that this band writes some extremely hooky rock songs. Their recently released album "These Girls" is chock full of instantly likeable tunes. "On The Spot" recounts the travails of going out and partying every night. "I don’t think I can descend to this anymore," is the lament. "Fan Fiction" partners rat-a-tat snare drumming with sinewy guitar hooks. "You’re a fan of love, but you’re no lover. If it wasn’t me, it would be another," is the all too familiar tale of relationship shoppers, while the title track finds "These Girls" who "all seem like one" possibly covering the same sentiment Iggy Pop did, when he wrote "all the pretty girls, well they look the same." Additionally, catching a live Twees show (which I did recently at The Knitting Factory) is something of a transformative experience. Not content to merely deliver tightly crafted, energetic tunes (which they admirably do) the band invites anyone in the audience who wants (and I did) to come up on the stage with them and dance with reckless abandon while they play their generational anthem "Wishful Thinking Youth." All generations are welcome. It’s crazy fun, get their EP at thetwees.com and see them live in NYC at The Studio at Webster on 03.31.- Dave Cromwell