Jefferey Lewis has been recording New York anti-folk heart-bleeders since the 90’s.  He was and is a staple in the anti-folk movement among contemporaries like The Moldy Peaches and Lach to name a few.  His lyrics are incredibly literate and are always an insightful exploration of language and expectations. They mold into long tangents of candidly crafted sentences which unfold into beautiful stories of life and living, no surprise as he’s also a successful comic as well as musician.  On October 4th he will be joined by noir chanteuse, Shilpa Ray (who will be playing our CMJ showcase at Pianos on 10.24) and  balanced out by the experimental-punk trio Palberta.  Be sure not to miss it! -Jake Saunders @The_Colonel63

Oh Sunflower Bean, you pretty little rock and rollers, you… What are we gunna do with you?  You’re all so fashionable, so fresh and so clean, but your music brings as much color as your look (thank god) – and also some sweat and dirt.  I’ve attended a good handful of Sunflower Bean shows, and I have to say I’m very glad they released this track out of the bunch in their repertoire.  ‘Tame Impala’ is undoubtedly their favorite band, so much they named a song after them.  "You always say what’s on my mind," shreaks Julia Cumming; well Tame Impala is on Sunflower Bean’s mind.  The tune contains one of my all time favorite Sunflower Bean breakdowns; about three minutes in, the song slows down and the bass booster on Nick Kivlen’s pedal board makes his guitar sound like a synth until the song rides into a wave of psychedelic chaos of noise.  As of late the band has been hitting NYC venues once a week, often selling out places – check em out tonight (08.03) at Baby’s All Right and on 09.03 at Bowery Electric. – Jake Saunders

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Psych Rock songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

There’s something strangely hypnotic about Tiger Dare’s sound. It’s floating on water, where every song feels like a breath of fresh air – and God knows we need some fresh air in this city.  Their songs feel good for the soul, often building towards wonderfully uplifting crescendos without losing the mellow.  Lost in a sea of reverb, lead vocalist Henry Freedland captures a personal nostalgia with "Morning After Morning" (streaming):  "When he’s lonely he’s so hopeless/When he’s hopeless he’s so boring/When he’s boring it’s just morning after morning".  The songs take the form of soundscapes, and under the distance there is a calm nostalgia to it all. The Brooklyn band’s debut EP ‘Wires Over, Wired In‘ has been gathering a fair amount of attention, and CMJ just announced them in the official lineup of the upcoming Music Marathon. – Jake Saunders

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best mellow songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

Black Pistol Fire splits their time between Toronto and Austin, bringing their jamming cross between southern blues and garage rock both north and south.  There’s no doubt that these guys could probably be mistaken for The Black Keys; singer Kevin McKeown’s vocals sound like an uncanny mix between Jack White and Dan Aurbach, but there’s something to be said about the two person band that really brings it.  Anyways, this genre of music is too enjoyable not to shrug off their similarities to any other band.  Besides, they’re doing the blues right so what more can a music lover ask for?  BPF takes us back, and reminds us that every rock band we hear today came from blues in some shape or form, and thank god there are those who continue to carry out the tradition. -Jake Saunders

High Wasted is not shy at all about their drug use, or it’s role in their music. I’ll let their own description of the jam, "Acid Tape Vol. 1" do the talking: "We went to Nashville, hung a mic in the room of a haunted house, took acid, and hit record on an old reel to reel.  This is what happened." The result is a psyched out surf rock extravaganza (through the deforming lens of incompetent sound engineering). Ok, the recordings are lo-fi, but the energy is unmistakably vibrant and colorful, and the band has a good live reputation. Most exciting is the show they have coming up this Thursday… because it’s on a fucking BOAT! That’s right, this Thursday (8/28) you can check out High Wasted and Mainland (who played our ten year anniversary show this year) at sea, equipped with an open bar, face painting and more.  In other Deli news, High Wasted is playing our CMJ show at CBGB’s come this fall, so stay tuned for that as well.  Stream The Acid Tape Vol. 1 here and buy tickets to the boat show here.  -Jake Saunders

Alright all you shoegazers out there, here’s one for you.  Chimes is not playing games; they rep the gaze hard, especially considering Winston Scarlett who runs the slacker rock zine, Slackgaze, is a member.  Their first single, "Wipe Out", is a zero-gravity floater, with reverb and dreamy guitars coming out the wazoo. Linda Chen’s vocals particularly remind us of a Toronto based dream-pop band called Memoryhouse, which you should also check out.  THe band is originally from New Jersey but they are playing the DIY Brooklying circuit on a regular basis. Check out single ‘Wipe Out’ streaming below.  – Jake Saunders

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Psych Rock/Shoegazer/Dream Pop songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

Le Rug is a band that has seen the ins and outs of this city, and to see them continue to make music is noteworthy and comforting at once. Lead singer/guitarist Ray Weiss might be a complicated guy, and he’s not quiet about it (he started perversely entertaining flame wars with half of the bands in Brooklyn via Facebook), but his music is undeniably passionate and fun and downright punchy.  I know Le Rug from Bleenex, their first album, but revisiting the stuff I missed in between has been a real treat.  There’s no wonder the man is fed up with the slacker vibes that have taken us by storm, Weiss puts all himself into the music, and what more can you ask for from anyone who practices their art seriously? Sometimes his songs are ridiculous, sometimes they’re angry, sometimes they’re 20 seconds long, but, invariably, the energy is there and it never falters.  Ray Weiss and friends recently released a Le Rug Collection called Press Start (The Collection) off Fleeting Youth Records.  It’s 32 songs of fuzzy maddnes including three albums, two EPs, and singles that never saw release.  If you’re unfamiliar with Le Rug, it’s a great place to get started.  Stream a couple of my favorites below.  -Jake Saunders

Last year Baked came out with a tape called S/T Cassette.  Two songs short, it’s enough to see where the band is coming from; they’re not afraid to blur themselves, letting the sounds melt into landscape jams.  On Debt, their debut off Exploding in Sound, Baked is still melting, but it’s a much more guided flow.  The album mixes high velocities with the turned down mellow feels that Baked just seems to ooze from every orifice.   R.J. Gordon’s vocals take a back seat under a wash of reverb, sitting just below the pop driven melodies that surround him.  "Mick Jagger" especially is a stunner, where Yoni David’s drumming drives the tune as the rest of the sounds float in zero gravity.  There’s something unobtainably attractive about this band’s sound, whether it’s because they remind us of England’s long lost Wu Lyf, or because they channel Bedhead at the same time.  Regardless, we are extremely excited for the record release show this Friday at Shea Stadium, with support from an all star bill including: Porches., Bueno and Ovlov.  Stream "Mick Jagger" below.  -Jake Saunders

P.S. Yes, we just had a record of the month last week, but when two good records come to us close to each other we’ve gotta jump at the opportunity, because at times we go without one for months!

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best NYC songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

Jesse and Forever is a project headed by Jesse Scheinin, a Berklee grad who comes from a background in jazz and the Brazillian circus.  Ok now that we’ve got you interested he is also a talented musician.  His recently released track, "Good Morning!", is a psychedelic dream-scape of horn layers and strange harmonies.  The saxophone, an instrument particularly under used in rock music today, adds a wonderful touch to the mix; lying in the background, it adds a diverse harmonic effect because of the vast array of timbres you can extract.  Check out the band’s new single Good Morning! below. – Jake Saunders

Austin’s punk rockers, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, describe themselves as "two dudes who play loud". Right they are; their new EP, Demoage, is just four songs; it’s heavy-handed and ear-pummeling. For an all-out punk-thrashing moment for grown-ups, listen to "Hot Shoes". While hardcore at heart, "Under the Continental Divide" is the most melodic, and thoughtful of the songs. With only four songs to prove themselves at the heart of the Austin punk scene, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes demonstrates a diverse showcase of sounds to add to the genre, as well as some traditional punk fun. -Sammie Spector

Bueno has been a frequent name in our blog as of late.  It seems like every other week these Staten Island natives are playing a show somewhere, and rightfully so: they’re a live band with a lot to offer, including an upcoming debut album (entitled, Guilt) and a tour with Baked.  Bueno started out as an improvisation-based band, but their songs have slowly been making the transition towards a more structured environment; we see this in their very recently released single, "C-C-C-C-Convenient" (streaming) The song is one of nihilism and frustration, a feeling fully embodied by Luke Chiaruttini, whose half talking vocals set the stage for a raucously hard hitting track: "Things are more convenient than it was back then/Sometimes I forget what it was like back then/Things now easier, fun and fair/It’s nice to know that no one cares."  Bueno’s jammy influences are ones for the books, because they’ve got it down to a T.    They’re playing at The Silent Barn this Wednesday (8/20) – don’t miss their set at Baked’s record release show this Friday(8/22) because the lineup is one to blow you away: Ovlov, Bueno, Porches, and Baked.  – Jake Saunders 

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best guitar rock songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!