Animal Years is a project spearheaded by Mike McFadden, who primarily was a solo artist until he moved to Brooklyn, where he gathered a full band for his set.  Their debut LP, Sun Will Rise, is anthemic and powerful; a passionate work of thrilling crescendos fueled by bright and expansive guitar and McFadden’s lyrical prowess.  His vocals are firm and expressive, charging through each song with an impressive force.  "Let Go of Your Head" has an electrifying energy, chiefly when the chorus kicks in; infectiously catchy, it stands out on the album as a high point.  Stream the song below and you can watch the video for their song "Forget What They’re Telling You" here.  You can see them live at the Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday, July 31st where they will open for Bronz Radio Return.

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

Tonight (07.22) The Silent Barn is offering an excellent sample of the current Brooklyn musical fauna. Our favorite stone(d) rockers, Baked will be headlining with support by the improvisation-based Bueno and Chicago natives, Crown Larks.  Opening the show is Florida, a band which includes members of PC worship, and a surly, drugged out sense of humor.  Their most recent album is a grungy mix of psychedelic jams, which you can stream below.  Be there. – Jake Saunders

Before The Due Diligence began their set this past weekend at the sweaty Hot 97.4 warehouse space, their extremely eccentric front-person, Sir Isaac Diligence (a master of of audience inclusion) handed out mini tambourines to everyone in the audience, immediately forming a connection.  The Due Diligence sounds like they’re straight out of the 1960’s-70’s, fusing classic rock with RnB influences including (but not limited to) Lou Reed and James Brown.  Sir Isaac Diligence rejects the overly-pretentious atmosphere that runs rampant within Brooklyn’s scene through his eccentric presence, and general ability to let loose and not worry about being the hippest cat at the show.  At the same time he made it perfectly clear how much fun it is to feel cool with the band’s latest single, entitled (you guessed it) "Cool", during which Sir Isaac asked the audience to close their eyes and think about the first girl or guy who ever made them feel cool.  Audience participation is something hard to pull off in this self conscious city, but The Due Diligence definitely pulled it off, especially after their last song during which Isaac threw himself into the crowd, handed his guitar to Nick Kivlen of Sunflower Bean (who shredded for the last few measures of the song) and ran off to go buy donuts for everyone.  You can watch their Dunkin Donuts-featuring video (it’s a pun…Due Diligence…Dunkin Donuts….now you get it) for "Cool" below.  The video also features members of Deli favorites Ava Luna stuffing themselves with donuts. – Jake Saunders 

It’s easy for lyrical MCs to go over the top with their garrulous polemics.  NYC’s Ian Levy eschews this tendency and keeps his introspective musings engaging.  In the track “Complex,” he tackles the dichotomy between days teaching the youth in Harlem versus evenings “surrounded by accountants on a thousand dollar carpet; it’s a shark pit scarfing on my conscience, kid.”  Like a painter struggling to choose the right colors to bring a canvas to life, Levy seems to labor over his verses, rhyme patterns, and content to deliver tracks that will stand out in the echoing alleys of a city rife with rhymers.  In the Mosaic EP, available free on his bandcamp page, he examines his potential with such sharp focus that his fans are compelled to investigate with equal fervor. -Broke MC

Slacker meets surf rock on Loser Cruiser’s first single, "Girls Night".  The song features our favorite jangle-chorus effected guitar mastered by bands like Total Slacker and Diiv, something us Brooklynites have been mostly associating with dark bedroom pop vibes.  Yet the track faithfully follows a Beach Boys, surf-rock song structure; a welcome addition to the toned down slacker rock aesthetic.  Naturally, the only other release by the band is a cover of The Turtles’ Classic, "Happy Together."  Sometimes I forget that New York has always been planted on the beach, a trip that I’m sure you haven’t made enough times this summer (I know I haven’t).  Hit up Loser Cruiser at the third day of the 1.21 Gigawatts Festival tomorrow 1:45 PM.  -Jake Saunders

 Twin Vision sounds like a modest blend of The Strokes and The White Stripes. Being that Twin Vision was only formed last year, we speculate whether the band has something new to incorporate into the ever transforming sound of garage rock. Labeled as "manic-psych," this band is definitely one to keep an eye on as they evolve their aesthetic. After listening to their two albums on band camp, the diversity in style is already evident.  Their first release in particular, Three Songs to Tickle Your Fantasy, but also their recent release called, Ice Cream, a nonstop powerhouse of anthemic blues to grunge rock songs. Catch their raucous show on July 23rd at Holy Mountain featuring Black Pussy and stream Ice Cream below. -Rebecca Blandon

Well this is weird, wacky even. But the more you listen, the more wonderful the pulsating, twisted single from The New Tarot becomes.  "Chain of Command," the first track from this band is a turbulent song, yet strangely slick. The song’s concept is unsettling yet familiar; lead vocalist, Monika Walker laments that it’s "Getting harder to be human," in a cyber age where everything exists below the surface.  From the warped beats to the buzzing synths, wharops and whoops give way to a breathy pat at the end. Glowing alluringly, the song is like an enchanting red light.  The Brooklyn sisters Karen (keys) and Monika (vox) Walker have roped in Jeffrey (drums) Keyanna (guitar) and Dave (bass) to, as they put it, ‘follow them down the rabbit hole.’ That’s pretty much how it feels. –Francesca Baker

The first two songs on The Brooklyn What’s latest EP, Minor Problems, clock in at a little over two minutes each, but combined they carry the full force of the bands deeply imbedded “punk” DNA. And though this is The Brooklyn What’s starting point, the band has brought something fresh to this now almost staid genre. The closing track, “Too Much Worry,” is an eight-minute long, scuzzy manifesto, which hangs off Jamie Frey’s anxiety-laced howls until the band disassembles into an extraordinary pile of wailing guitar and drums. It’s something you don’t want to miss live. The EP is a heady mixture, not just raucous noise (though it is in good measure), but also prescient and self-effacing. Make sure to catch the Brooklyn What at The Mercury Lounge on 7/18, opening for Lee Bains III and The Glory Fires. –Emilio Herce

There’s something for everyone in glam rocker Black Sugar Transmission’s music. An artist connecting the dots between the glam of Roxy Music, the sex funk of Prince, and just a hint of Marilyn Manson’s angst, his latest record, The Glamour Pantomine, finds the artist dealing with all his pet peeves at once, from the annoying ‘Loud Girls on the L Train,’ to people who mis-use synths in ‘Synthesizer License,’ to his hatred of all things auto-tuned. This record may be Brooklyn-based frontman Andee Blacksugar’s bitch-fest, but it couldn’t be more dance-ready. Andee knows when to take things seriously, and when to let go and have fun instead. Check out the pop-tastic ‘Love is Theatre’ below and get moving. Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

This band submitted their music for coverage here.

Show Me the Body is a band that’s generally hard to categorize.  Operating mostly under a punk DiY ethic, they cross territories; something hard to miss during their live sets.  Last night I caught the trio at Baby’s All Right at the 1:30 AM slot, where naturally most of the club had moved on to whatever it was that people do at 1:30 on a Wednesday night. Although the venue may not have been preferred to their usual basement/loft space, the incredible presence that Show Me the Body never fails to bring mustered up the remaining twenty people to an exciting energy. By the middle of their set everyone was dancing.  After their last song people were hugging and handing out daps, unified by the performance that we had just witnessed.  Although one could certainly say that Show Me the Body is a sinister and dark punk band, the trio never fails to invite audiences into their darkness, sharing an experience that always comes out as a satisfyingly stress-relieving.  These boys love and embody their music, and people can feel that, creating a space where preoccupations of where we are, who we are with, and how many people are in the audience go out the window.  You can stream their EP, Yellow Kidney, here.  And stream the excellent and self-produced new video for their song, "Steep Rock", below.  -Jake Saunders

Fuzzy art-punk band, Eula, has released a video for their single, "Orderly", the a-side off their recent 7" single.  The hyper-surreal video features a woman dancing in a zebra striped one-piece in front of trippy images loaded with after-effects.  They’ve released several videos for songs in recent years, which always proves be an effective mode of expression for the band; another way to present their signature inconsistency.  Exploring multi-media dimensions is only a compliment to the hardcore genre-crossing fire that their sound encompasses.  Stream the video below, and you best save July 31st in your calendar because they’re playing their single release show at Palisades with Courtship Ritual, Pile and Big Ups, and you know you don’t want to miss that fucker of a lineup  -Jake Sauners