The Deli came up with the word "Avant-Indie" about a decade ago, and it’s proud of the fact that it stuck (at least to a certain degree!). The term was coined mostly because we didn’t feel comfortable using the loaded word ‘experimental’ for edgy indie bands. Also, since at the time NYC was experiencing an explosion of music that was truly pushing the envelope, we felt the need to create a word that could define that movement, which ended up giving us artists as relevant as Animal Collective, St. Vincent and Dirty Projectors, as separate from ‘regular indie rock.’ Rather heavy on the ear, those years were naturally followed by a period during which simpler musical revivals dominated our scene: the roots invasion of the early ’10s, the never obsolete garage rock NYC flavor, the ’80s synth-pop revival, the 90’s rock renaissance…). But ‘avant’ inclinations are ingrained in the Big Apple’s scene, and we are wondering if times are mature to give a renewed attention to acts that try their hardest to avoid the revival label. Brooklyn’s Twig Twig squarely belong to this category. Their debut EP ‘normal feelings,’ released this past March, doesn’t sound very… ‘normal,’ but still manages to be touching and sincere, and that’s a rare form of beauty. Employing a restrained sonic palette made of granular synth sounds, aloof vocals, and simple electronic drum sounds and patterns, the band excercises their ‘avant’ tendencies within a song format that employs melodies ranging from the poppy (like in remarkable ambient ballad ‘Fade Away,’ streaming) to the out there (as in single ‘Talk Go‘). Don’t miss their live show at Alphaville tonight (04.12) with other local forward looking bands Fieldings and Railings.

We have often pointed out how ladies (at least in NYC) appear to be slowly but surely taking over the electronic music scene – in particular its poppier current. A good example of this will be on display this coming Wednesday (04.13), when Mothica, Ela Minus, and Brooklyn born Lily McQueen (pictured) will be sharing the stage of Lower East Side’s Pianos. Of the three ladies on this bill, we’ll focus our attention on the one we’ve never covered before, Lily McQueen, whose debut, self titled and co-produced EP came out in mid 2015. In it, we hear musical and lyrical references to that particular kind of melodic electronic music of the ’80s that made its way into many popular teenage blockbusters of the time, but also some world music influences, as evident in our favorite single ‘You Are Not Read for My Love’ – streaming below.

Here at The Deli our efforts are mostly directed towards researching and covering new artists we never blogged, but of course there are a lot of bands we’ve already covered that release great new music that sometimes we don’t have the time to highlight. Hence, this new, telegraphic appointment called ‘New(YC) Releases" – because words aren’t always necessary… Here are a bunch of new releases by great NYC artists that are not so emerging anymore (pictured: SKYES):

If you had a dream where Debbie Gibson and Stevie Nicks collaborated on a DJ set, you might find you’ve come pretty close to Caitlin Frame’s music and her project FRAME. Drawing a line from well-crafted pop gems to synth-backed haze, this young lady has been teasing us for a while about a pending album release. Frame is set to play some of this music at new Bushwick venue C’mon Everybody on Thursday, April 21st with Karlie Bruce. It’s been some time since she’s announced a show, and we’re excited to hear some of the new material, along with classic dream beat anthems like Run Around. Check out our favorite single ‘Polarizer’ below and, if you dig, don’t miss the upcoming performance. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

The true punk essence, we believe, is all in the vocals. Guitars and drums can only go so far in expressing rabid anger, total disgust, frustration-induced madness. It’s a kind of singing that requires its own talent to be pulled off properly, and Daniel Fern, the singer of Brooklyn’s aptly named hardcore punk trio You Fucking Die, is surely blessed with it – or rather, damned? The band just released this single entitled ‘Sterile Art’ from their upcoming EP and will be playing on a noisy bill of local acts at St. Vitus on April 18th.

Twin Wave (a band we booked in 2013 for one of our a CMJ shows) just unveiled a new single, entitled ‘Matador’ (streaming) from their upcoming new EP ‘ Pour Out The Dark.’ The atmoshperic but uptempo track features Tommy Eichman’s sparse and measured production, and a sound that’s between the sophistipop of the ’80s (think Everything But The Girl) and the chilled wave of the new millennium. The trio will be celebrating the single’s release at Baby’s All Right on April 15th with Surf Rock is Dead and Ula Ruth.

Hailing from The Bronx and led by Spires’ drummer Carter McNeil, Ghost King plays muddy fuzz rock brightened by unexpected chord changes, psychedelic overtones, and a ’90s rock inspired lo-fi production that blends the fun attitude of Violent Femmes, the stellar songwriting of The Pixies and the slacking tendencies of Pavement. Early psych rock influences emerge here and there in their debut album ‘Bones‘ (check out the rather Barretesque ‘Bones pt. 1,’ or the chorus explosion of ‘When the Sky Turns blue‘ – streaming below), enriching the sonic palette in ways rarely accomplished, in a single record, without it sounding… all over the place. But beyond the familiar and beloved references to the past, what makes this album great is its consistently brilliant songwriting, and the band’s habit of taking the listener in and out of unexpected places, like for example with the dissonant riffs of ‘Skeleton Dance’ ‘s intro, which slowly morphs into a perfectly consonant verse, or through the bizarre development of ”Til You Belong to Me’ or ‘Bones pt. 2.’  

Don’t miss Ghost King’s show at Aviv, tomorrow April 8th.

Oy NYC, and NJ based bands and artists!

You can win an online interview with The Deli through Manhattan’s legendary rehearsal studio The Music Building, just sign up here by April 15, 2016.

The Folks at The Deli

Some of you may wonder if we are partial to psychedelia… after an issue like this one, you’ve got your answer! We just stumbled upon single "Maker’s Script" by Brooklyn’s Miracle Sweepstakes, and got the music-triggered equivalent of a "wingboner" (it manifests itself in writing a blog post in under 2 minutes) The trio mixes all kinds of psychedelic references (we hear Sid Barrett, The Beatles, The Dukes of Stratospheres, and Sonic Youth among others) to build multifaceted music that’s as surprising as it is enjoyable. You can see them live tonight (April 6th) at The Gateway.

All lasting musical projects require some degree of reinvention to keep inspiration and curiosity alive, and NYC’s "ex" orchestral project Cuddle Magic just came out with a new single that displays a sonic transition towards a more electronic sound, without giving up the signature delicate melodies and intimate, sparse atmspheres. Counter intuitively, "Trojan Horse" (streaming below) was written by Benjamin Lazar Davis and Bridget Kearney during their 2014 trip to Africa – well, admittedly, electricity exists in many African countries… The track will be featured in upcoming album "Ashes/Axis."

Recent Deli NYC Artist of the month Silverbird and Crystal Stilts’ keyboardist Kyle Forester (pictured) will be sharing Berlin’s stage on April 6th, for a free show belonging to the PURSUIT series, also featuring a DJ set from Erika Spring of Au Revoir Simone. Both bands offer quality songwriting with dreamy overtones, with Kyle Forester opting for a mellower and at times folkier sound. His full length record is scheduled for a May release.

Asbury Park’s fertile music scene has had a long history of influence on the NY metro area and beyond. Local psych rock revival quartet gods is a recent offshoot of The Parlor Mob, releasing their debut EP “Endless Stunner” in early 2015. Leadoff track “New Future” builds off a forward driving snare and bass drum beat with tambourine-jingle enhancements, as guitar chord structures playfully invert The Beatles’ “Ticket To Ride.” Vocals begin as the drums drop out, creating a harmony-induced dreamlike sequence before the beat kicks back in. The lyrics “I have been waiting it seems until eternity brings me the light” underscore a chorus enphasized by riff heavy guitars. “Creatures” rises out of an electronic bass pulse center, allowing space and sonic textures to float around it. With individual percussive elements emphasized through heightened studio effects, an overall sinister feel in rhythm emerges. One could imagine this as film score music behind a pivotal travel scene. The pure pop’n’roll single “Puttin’ Me On” (streaming) seems as if molded from prime era “Electric Warrior” T-Rex combined with joyous groove of 70’s psych-pop bands like Mungo Jerry. Bolan-esque vibrato infused verses are followed by the handclap punctuated hook “B-B-Baby, don’t you know you drive me crazy, you do!” As catchy a pop rocker you’re likely to hear, the best elements lock together bass, lead and rhythm guitars. Clocking in under two-minutes, “dream, dream, dream” moves things further back in time with its mid-60’s British blues feel. The vibe is early Yardbirds, Eric Burden’s Animals and the Van Morrison fronted Them. Title track “Endless Stunner” serves as the EP’s big time rave up grand finale. Epic guitar hooks share sonic space with raucous vocal screams, abruptly staggered drums and dreamlike plateaus, bringing together the best of hard rock and prog. gods will be performing at the Good Room in Greenpoint on May 11, while The Parlor Mob play on April 8 at House of Independents during the Asbury Park Music In Film Festival. – Dave Cromwell