There’s a rawness that permeates the entirety of Éyal Hai’s debut record Flowers On The Moon, a characteristic that’s immediately present in both his wavering vocal delivery and varied instrumental direction. Against modulating synths, equal parts jazz and aggressive electronica, Hai’s vox slides and rolls, steeped in a palpable frustration from album opener "I Need A Minute" to closer "The Way I Feel Inside." It’s an uncompromising approach from start to finish, one that’s indicative of Hai’s multidisciplinary approach and desire to “merge jazz with 90’s grunge and pop” on his freshmen release. Such a cross-genre effort might make for odd bedfellows, but Hai’s channeling of an alternative angst into a medium a lot more complex than your usual power trio strikes a fresh middle ground, crafting an LP that incorporates elements both polished and gritty, and culminating in our favorite track "Sober Dream (One by One) – a tense song reminiscent of another NYC band that, in the late ’90s, synthesized a similar blend of influences in spectacular fashion: Soul Coughing.

Éyal Hai will play a record release show for Flowers On The Moon at Zone One on November 17th, supported by Birch and Friend Roulette. You can stream the record in full below. – Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)

Reliant Tom’s Bad Orange is one of those records that proves art is all in the details. Each of the album’s nine tracks are underscored by sparse, gritty electronic production that feels at once cold and analogue, creating a musical mise-en-scene for powerful vocal performances by vocalist Claire Cuny. Track “Alien” perfectly sets the scene in this regard, with Cuny crooning against electronic drums and brooding bass in a manner similar to that of Trent Reznor or Thom Yorke circa OK Computer, albeit more melodic and less rough around the edges. Overall the entirety of Bad Orange is a moody, cool, and well-produced effort, representing a bold vision for Brooklyn duo’s first full length release. Stream below the video for single Happy Birthday, and the entire record under it. –Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)

“Can you forgive yourself for turning your back in fear? Do you understand your friends when they decide to stay at home?”

These are some of the questions Brooklyn singer-songwriter Pearla asks on her recent single, “Forgive Yourself,” a track filled with inquiries that are so disconcerting and difficult to answer that it’s hard to tell if they are experiments in self-examination or merely rhetorical. Regardless, there’s a remarkable amount of introspection evoked over the course of “Forgive Yourself’s” three sparse minutes, all building to an explosive end of featherweight vocal harmonies and thunderous electronic noise. Pearla’s sound is mellifluous and engrossing, but her music resonates so strongly from the sense of unease in what she asks of us as listeners – to take a good hard look at our lives, and ask for forgiveness. It’s a task easier sung than done.

Pearla will play Zone One at Elsewhere on November 28th, supporting Ritual Talk and Stello. Ahead of the show, stream her newest release Forgive Yourself, Pumpkin below. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt) Photo by Josh Katz

A consistent New York sound pervades the entirety of For The Rest To Rest, the newest release by Brooklyn trio Veda Rays; it’s one that reads like a sly nod to records like Room On Fire and Antics and a continuation of the very same raucous hellraising indie that characterizes the Big Apple’s sonic aesthetic. That isn’t to say that Veda Rays don’t have some tricks of their own up their sleeves – Rest’s eleven songs provide a fresh take on driving, guitar-based post-new wave through fuzzed-out production and subtle synth parts, bringing an additional depth to their tracks that fills the entire record with a sound that’s simultaneously dark and dreamy. In doing so, Veda Rays solidify themselves as expert purveyors of indie, pushing NYC’s sound in a direction that develops the city’s sonic traditions while quoting them.

You can catch Veda Rays at The Footlight on November 17th alongside Little Hustle, Gracie Mansion and Le Guin. Until then, stream For The Rest To Rest below. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt), Photo by Lydia Gammill

Sister Sparrow embodies a new type of femme fatale in her new video “Ghost” – not one of a last century Bond girl, but of a 21st century woman who knows her worth, and better yet, the tools at her disposal.

Sparrow sings over the track’s chorus that she’s “gonna give you the ghost,” referring to the act of severing communication entirely with a (now former) romantic partner; this ear worm refrain is further accented in the music video by an entourage of choreographed dancers clad in black, body rolling at the costume party while the aforementioned scorned lover searches the room for Sister Sparrow as she evades him through the crowd. As the scene concludes, Sparrow’s ex-bae turns around to find the party has disappeared entirely, transitioning the subject matter from figurative to literal in a Gone Girl-by-way-of-Sixth Sense twist – fittingly spooky for the video’s release on Halloween earlier this week.

The whole production is a fun, wordplay-laden track that juxtaposes themes of modern dating with the idea of actual spirits, accented by the track’s upbeat style and playful instrumental accents. If you’re already missing last week’s scary energy, “Ghost” provides an avenue to extend the autumnal spooks as you dance your way into November. Watch the video below, and catch Sister Sparrow at Irving Plaza December 1st. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)

New York psych-rock revivalist LUKKA lets dynamic range form the backbone of her upcoming debut, ENCOUNTER, her understated vocal performance emerging as if from an antique telephone against bombastic, interwoven guitars and a punching percussive backbeat. It’s a spot-on choice in terms of production, as it fills the entirety of the LP with a sense of wandering space, evocative of both psych pioneers like The Zombies and contemporaries such as POND and Tame Impala. Careful to not lose the forest through the trees, however, ENCOUNTER never gets too spacey, tunneling forward with explosive sunburnt energy on tracks like “Life Is Like On TV” and recently dropped single, “Blackhole Fusion,” finding the perfect balance between stillness and motion that channels psych’s colorful past in the fashion of contemporary, energetic alternative rock.

You can catch LUKKA’s technicolor soundscape at Pianos on November 16th. Until then, stream single “Blackhole Fusion” below. – Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)

There’s always a calm before the storm, a moment of stillness that precedes the calamity of things falling apart – and New York’s Hideout knows the feeling in a personal capacity. Their new single, “Picture Falling” explores the intrinsic details of the moment before panic sets in – “the thoughts and feelings before the wave of paranoia washes over you,” according to guitarist and songwriter Gabriel Rodriguez (who is also a member of Cults’ live ensemble). That being said, in the spirit of art making lemonade from lemons, “Picture Falling” channels dread into fun, energetic indie rock, the song’s chorus a melodic vocal give-and-take between Rodriguez and Scarlett Stephenson-Connolly over jangle pop riffs and interpolated electronic drums.

As a whole, “Picture” is presented as heartfelt shared catharsis, a sigh of relief for those who have felt their life fall apart yet lived to tell the tale – perhaps presenting an opportunity, according to Rodriguez, to “take hold and laugh along the wild ride.” Hideout maturely recognizes that we cannot control the occasional afflictions of psychosis, but by throwing up our hands and accepting that which we cannot change, we are all able to derive some trace of pleasure from the unpredictability of this crazy thing called life. 

You can see Hideout live at Baby’s All Right on November 25 opening for Montreal’s The Beaches. – Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)

New London Fire’s forthcoming record Tired of This Man may at first seem rooted within the zeitgeist of contemporary indie folk, but a closer listening reveals the group’s spiritual connection to the more overtly political Americana of the early 20th Century. “I hope people feel the same kind of kinship with [our] music that they once did with Phil Ochs or Woody Guthrie,” remarks band leader David Debiak (of Sleep Station and Electric Century). “We want to remind people of the importance of unions, of sticking together in protest.”

This connection is most apparent on tracks like “Now I’m Found,” in which Debiak sings about “gazing upon green and sprawling mountains” with nods to Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.” In doing so, Tired of This Man seeks to revive a grounded sense of Americanism, one not bolstered by blind exceptionalism but instead a celebration of America as a sum of its many different and diverse parts, often employing Debiak’s own experiences as testament – contextualized in our current political climate, New London Fire offers a sharp rebuke while invoking the peace loving nature of the American folk tradition.

Tired of This Man will be out October 26th via The Preservation Society. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)

Brooklyn sludge trio A Deer A Horse let listeners read between the lines on their new single, “Double Wide” (streaming). The track is a heavy-leaded five minute foray into a scene with sparse details, yet every meticulously-chosen word creates an atmosphere of oncoming dread, each detail growled by vocalist and bassist Angela Phillips a Chekhovian set piece of extreme importance.

The elements described by Phillips on “Double Wide” – a knot, a shut door, the experience of meeting god – they all compose a tableau of possible final thoughts by a family member of Phillips, who several years ago took his own life. The bleak realness of the track is difficult to confront as a listener, but according to Phillips, the process of writing and performing “Double Wide” allows her relative’s passing to make “more sense, and it becomes a little easier to heal.” A trial by fire of emotional endurance and survival, “Double Wide” is a difficult track to consume, but the raw truth that informs its inception makes it necessary, important listening. –Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt), Photo by Kirsten Theon (@daggers_for_eyes)

The founding myth of Antarctigo Vespucci, a Brooklyn “powerpop violence” duo comprised of Chris Farren (of Fake Problems) and Jeff Rosenstock (of Bomb The Music Industry and solo acclaim) feels like a page taken from an as of yet unwritten sequel to Meet Me In the Bathroom; a chance meeting between two prolific songwriters lead to the creation of a band that best represents the continuation of rock and roll’s rebirth in New York City, fostered both by a classic Springsteen-esque energy and a desire to push beyond the traditional boundaries set on the genre. “White Noise,” the first single from their forthcoming Love in the Time of Email, totes both fuzzed out overdrive and pop-punk styled singability, a track that chugs along with an earworm chorus and scorching guitar in tandem. Farren and Rosenstock clearly have a foot in both camps of rock history, blazing towards a subgenreless future while relying upon quintessential guitar-laden soundscapes, playing to their strengths and influences in a way that feels instantantly classic. – ConnorMcInerney

Love in the Time of Email drops later this month on Polyvinyl Records – you can catch them live on November 4th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. In the meantime, stream “White Noise” below. – Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt), Photo via the artist’s Facebook.

There’s a cognitive dissonance seemingly inherent to New York punks Surfbort and their forthcoming record, Friendship Music. The record’s single “Pretty Little Fucker” is a fast and loose ride of chromatic chord changes and classic dissonant punk energy, with vocals from Dani Miller occasionally dipping from yelling sing-speak into melodic territory, leading one to believe that the choice of Friendship Music as a record title is some ironic inside joke given the track’s aggressive nature. But in dissecting the band’s lyrics, wherein Miller states she “feels so good, no alcohol, no booze” and “can really only get high off of you,” the heart soars for the genuine, authentic affection that informs the song. It’s a fun, fast example of the care at the core of punk music that’s often ignored by wider audiences – a beautiful, twisted pit of love that subverts expectations.

Surfbort will bring their punk-drenched empathy to Baby’s All Right on October 27th for their Friendship Music release party – it’s free if you RSVP ahead of time. Ahead of that, stream “Pretty Little Fucker” below. – Connor McInerney

It’s hard in our contemporary technological landscape to appreciate all of the new music released on a daily basis; existing artists roll out albums with increasing speed, and it’s never been easier for new bands to release music independently. Sam Barron, frontman and guitarist of New York post-punk (or maybe post-garage?) trio The Come On can relate in a personal capacity – fueled by an anger of necessary breakneck art consumption, he wrote the band’s newest bop, “Checker Charlie,” simultaneously lashing out at society’s lessened attention spans and smartphone-induced social habits. Fittingly, “Checker Charlie” is a scorched-earth scream into the heart of darkness that is the recording industrial process, a track bolstered by discordant guitar riffs and sing-speak lyrics by both Barron and keyboardist-vocalist Mimi Oz. It’s an earworm rebuke of the present made stronger by the track’s reliance on classic rock and roll energy.

If you also share a strong desire to abandon social media and destroy your iPhone, you can catch The Come On at The Bowery Electric on 10.18. Before you do that though, watch their video for "Checker Charlie," directed by Dylan Greenberg, below. – Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)