Rock and Folk mingle on stage tonight at O’brien’s Pub with Boston bands All Talk and Babydriver. All Talk, whose new album upstairs/downstairs is set to come out in May, sits at the bluesier folk end of the spectrum with a few songs here and there clearly influenced by heavier guitar rock. Their gem “Locomotive” (streaming below) off their album Juno is one of those songs. It’s a slow burner, searing longing and heartbreak carefully into our minds with every deliberate strum of the guitar, with every wistful stray chord. The song builds up until the end when the guitar erupts into a reverbed solo before fading off. Babydriver on the other hand is more upbeat, with songs shifting from heavier rock to frazzled pop pieces. “I Don’t Want To Be Your Dad” (streaming below) kicks off with franticly melodious guitars and rhythmic shakers in the background. Palmer’s vocals float effortlessly over the track, lending an air of nonchalance to it. It’s a song that would have fit in perfectly in any indie film soundtrack. Catch them tonight at O’Brien’s Pub alongside Painted Zeros and Izzy True. –Adriana S Ballester

A warm folk-rock track that vividly details a rugged life, “Miracle” (streaming below) by Queens quintet Hollis Brown is intriguingly enigmatic. Portraying the intense struggles of a down-on-her-luck heroine, the guitar-curled song off the band’s forthcoming release ‘Cluster of Pearls’ impressively purveys both the forlorn literariness of Dylan’s “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” and the hopeful, country jive of such Gene Clark tracks as “No Other” while emitting its own rough splendor. ‘Cluster of Pearls’ will be released on Record Store Day (4/16) and Hollis Brown has an upcoming residency at downtown Manhattan venue Berlin in May, playing there every Wednesday. Full details can be found at the band’s Facebook page. – Zach Weg 

Listening to 100% Electronica, George Clanton’s (aka Mirror Kisses) new release, is like walking in a hazy limbo somewhere between sleep and awake. Not quite a dream not quite reality. Lingering between the spacey drones and shimmering synths, Clanton’s 80’s styled crooning explores love, heartbreak, deception and frustration. You may call it chillwave or vaporwave, but the ’80s new wave’s imprint is still all over it, although it doesn’t stop there: Clanton keeps us teetering, never letting us settle into just one spot. He keeps us constantly moving. Immersing himself wholly into his performances, often abandoning his DJ set and rolling around on the floor, his live performances are always entertaining. You can catch him at Alphaville on April 22. – Adriana S Ballester

Over the past couple of months Brooklyn’s DREAMERS has been climbing our emerging artists charts, and we wonder if vocalists’ Nick Wold’s new haircut has anything to do with it. Single ‘Wolves,’ which propelled their career forward, dates back to 2014 although it feels like it was recorded in the 90’s after some kids felt inspired by Rod Daniel’s Teen Wolf and all of John Hughes’ movies but only had their parents old camcorder to work with. With new single ‘Drugs’ (streaming) the trio pushes the sonic envelope in more-epic-than-ever directions, matching it with a video that, again, heavily references image-capturing devices: this time the semi-DIY ones found in our smartphones, which – not coincidentally – are the form of "drug" the song is about. Currently on a month long US tour, the band will return to NYC with a show on May 20 at The Studio @ Webster Hall. Check out this 2014 Deli interview with Dreamers.

Do you ever miss your days of teen angst, where every slight was a deep wound that only music could heal? No? Well, listen to Way Out and you will just get it. There is something nostalgic and analog in Way Out’s music, the way Knox belts out the vocals, the deep reverb of the bass pulsing slowly in the background as the guitar speeds jaggedly through the track. It’s reminiscent of early 80’s post punk goth scene – a little bit of The Cure’s brooding atmosphere with a pinch of The Smiths’ despondence, perfect for your gloomy days. Or happy days. Or completely average days. Sometimes you just need a little dark and gloomy in your playlist amidst all the bubbling pop of today and Way Out has that for you. Catch them at Great Scott on April 14 and take a listen below!

The ladies over at Hypnocraft certainly got us hypnotized with this weekends lineup for the upcoming appointment of The Hum (the weekly, female-artists-only, collab night that The Deli sponsors) and it’s definitely not the first time., since it’s showcasing mostly local artists we ourselves love and have covered in this very blog.

At this week’s show on Sunday (4.10) the first pair kicking off the night is Casey Dienel (White Hinterland) alongside the lovely and talented ladies of Gracie & Rachel. With beautiful vocals and a keen ear for strong melodies we can almost hear the entrancing, orchestral performance from these gals already. Followed by Julia Easterlin and Hannah Epperson we can already hear a track built up solely by vocal loops and smooth violin chords, something sweet to get us dreaming. For the final performance we can expect to be enticed by solid drum progressions and synth ambiance courtesy of Dani Markham (Tune-Yards), Maia Friedman (UNI IKA AI) & K. Marie Kim (BLANK PAPER).

So stroll on over to Manhattan Inn this Sunday, April 10, for some some great performances in a cozy and intimate environment!

Listening to Aüva is like losing yourself in a photograph whose colors have faded under the sun. The brilliance is still there but it’s like walking through a hazy dream. From the sugary sweetness of the three piece harmonies and gum drop plops of the guitar in “Into Place” to the prithy drumming and twangy melancholy of the rhythm section in “Nothing Else,” Aüvas Light Years is an aural technicolor reverie dripped in nostalgic beauty. Losing ourselves in this sunburnt masterpiece was a breeze, and easing out of it left us longing it a little more. Prepare for cool summer nights with Light Years and catch Aüra perform at O’Brien’s Pub on Aprill 11. – Adriana S Ballester

Back in January, New York folk pop duo Supersmall released its resplendent debut album, ‘Silent Moon.’ Starting with the guitar-sunned “A Better Life,” (streaming) which carries forlorn souls towards the titular destination with intriguingly novelistic lyrics, and featuring the similarly romantic title track, the nine-song effort tackles such serious themes as the passage of time and solitude with a refreshingly warm hand. – Zach Weg 

With reverb laden guitar sections and long instrumental progressions interspersed in their work, the Brooklyn psych rock band Caverns builds a sound reminiscent of the 60’s and 70’s prog rock scene. With a dreaminess laced into every song, and guitar riffs that sound like slow bursts and plops of neon bubbles in a lava lamp, EP Tonche. dwells between late Pink Floyd’s placid psychedelia (Ten Feet Tall), atmospheric pop (Ghosts) with interespersed hard rock elements, through sudden energetic bouts. Catch them tonight (April 5th) at Rough Trade with BRIDGES and Manic Pixi. – Adriana S Ballester

There is something beautifully sinister and dangerous lurking underneath the surface of Casey Desmond’s latest release, Three Licks, under the moniker CMB. The Boston based electronica artist brightens up the reverb drenched scene of her city with oscillating synths and throbbing bass, oozing globs of neon with every beat. However, there is the scintillating threat of something more biting at our heels because the EP is more than just another glossy electronic composition. Bouncing between the glitchy dark ambiance of tracks like "Fade Into Nothing" and the bubbling magnetism of "I Don’t Know," Three Licks is an experimental project replete with raw emotions texturized by Desmond’s  electronic production and vocal talents. Delve deeper into Desmond’s rabbit hole and catch her performing at Great Scott on April 25. – Adriana S Ballester

Back in 2014, we shared the enjoyably gritty music from New York-based Americana songwriter Kate Vargas. Today, the New Mexico-hailing, Berklee College of Music graduate premieres on this very blog her latest single, “Second Skin” (streaming below). Featuring The Reckless Daughters and ambling to a guitar-lined looseness reminiscent of Tom Waits’ swampy gem “Clap Hands,” the bluesy track is as ruggedly resilient as its title suggests, climbing back up from down-home hardache. Don’t miss Kate at The Bowery Electric on 4/16. – Zach Weg Photograph by: Wick Beavers

A little over a month ago, new Brooklyn indie-pop act Yoke Lore made a humbly audacious introduction with the soaring song “Heavy Love” off its forthcoming debut EP ‘Far Shore.’ Now, project creator Adrian Galvin conveys the song’s helplessly twitching heart with a disturbingly compelling, accompanying music video (streaming below). Showing a still-faced young man alternately standing in and dancing through a bare white room, images of him and his past lover cutting through his mind, the clip is as hauntingly vital a portrait of post-romance ennui as can be expected from the warmly cerebral Galvin. While Yoke Lore doesn’t seem to have forthcoming shows listed, keep posted on the project’s Facebook page. – Zach Weg