Gentle Temper, a self-described “Ocean Folk” duo comprised of guitarist/vocalist Ryan Meier and bassist/vocalist Marion Earley, have released Sleep It Off, a charming documentary/live EP that captures the songwriters performing live in the studio, and follows them through the streets of Boston with a series of short interviews. Between elegant performances of the harmony laced “Mouthful of Saltwater” and the earnest, smokey folk of “Heavy Handed”, Meier and Earley describe how they met, their creative process, and their interpretation of Ocean Folk, ultimately concluding Sleep It Off with a spirited performance of the epic “Sunnyside.” Check out the video below. -Charley Ruddell

Experimental-noise newcomers Service have released an aggressive debut EP, cheekily titled CHARM. The Boston quartet covers plenty of ground in the three track release, shifting from assertive punk dudes to meandering noise-heads by opening up tight, mathy structures into longform explorations. Though the momentum of CHARM dips from intensely focused to wayward abstraction, the volume is always up to 10, and there’s a great deal of integrity behind every note. Check out Service on December 17th at Deep Thoughts in Jamaica Plain, doors at 8pm. -Charley Ruddell

Last night at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, MA, psych blues quartet The Max Tribe performed their last foreseeable Northeast show amidst preparation of a cross country leap to Los Angeles, opening for the Hudson Valley’s Breakfast for the Boys. Fronted by Nashville native Austin Max, the band has been described as a blend of psych, blues, and rock and roll, drawing comparisons to The Black Keys, Cage The Elephant, and The White Stripes. In August 2017, the band embarked on a midwest/northeast tour in support of their full length debut, Retrofit. You can stream the album below. -Charley Ruddell

Noise-punk quartet Birthing Hips bamboozled the Boston underground music scene in October by announcing a tape release show that would act as their final live performance. Birthing Hips gained notoriety in the DIY music circuit for their chaotic live performances and quirky charm, winning over fans of hardcore, indie rock, noise-punk, and avant-garde. Last week, the band released an obscurely jarring music video for the song “Internet”, off of their newest album Urge to Merge, released digitally on November 17th. Check out the video below. -Charley Ruddell

Indie rock outfit Palehound beat several popular acts, including Bent Knee and Weakened Friends, for Alternative/Indie Artist of the Year at this year’s Boston Music awards, held on December 7th at the House of Blues. Palehound, fronted by songwriter Ellen Kempner, released their third studio album A Place I’ll Always Go earlier this year, drawing comparisons to prolific legacy artists like Angel Olsen, Kim Deal, and Elliott Smith. Check out the band’s newest song “Sea Of Blood” (engineered by Bully’s Alicia Bognanno) from their upcoming LP, YMCA Pool, set to release on January 26, 2018. –Charley Ruddell

Burlington’s Caroline Rose has released a new single from her upcoming album Loner, the sophomoric follow up to 2014’s I Will Not Be Afraid. The single, a blistering garage-fueled banger called “Money”, sparks, flares, and burns out in under two and a half minutes. “We did it for the money!” shouts Rose in a shameless, chaotic confession, either poking fun at our money obsessed society, or perhaps pointing out the irony in a fetishized, but dry-bled music biz. Or maybe I’m just looking too deep into it. Either way, it’s a lot of fun. Loner is out February 23rd on New West Records. –Charley Ruddell

Sudden Duo, a Boston based free jazz/experimental project, is a collaboration between Dylan Sherry on saxophones and electronics and Chris Southiere on drums. The duo’s debut album Frontier is a minimal and abstract approach jazz, with little to no harmonic accompaniment to Sherry’s lone horn. The “freedom” of Frontier is refreshing; the inherent confines of harmonic chord structures are nonexistent, which allows Sherry and Southiere to have a healthy and honest pursuit towards both everything and nothing, and whatever is in between. Frontier, in all of it’s imaginative and compelling space, is like listening to the great Albert Ayler sit in on a Sun Ra drum track. -Charley Ruddell

Soulful singer/songwriter Garrett Roy Jones, backed by a group called the Recipe, has released the strong live EP Live in the Kitchen, the band’s debut release. Jones, a talented character in Boston’s music scene, shows a brassy vocal ability similar to Melbourne’s Angus Leslie (of Sex on Toast), with a clear John Mayer influence in both composition and guitar performance. Fans of Destroyer’s lesser-avant material (Kaputt, Destroyer’s Rubies) will be sure to spot some familiar idiosyncrasies. Live in the Kitchen, accompanied by a stylish twenty-seven minute single shot video from Felipe Maldonado, is available on Youtube, Spotify, and Bandcamp. -Charley Ruddell

 Taking their name from the ruler of a mythical city and filling their songs with as much inventive songwriting sorcery as we can handle, Hartford rockers Queen Moo are a rare rock n roll force. The band’s latest album, Mean Well, is an instant classic, with blisteringly dirty guitars, relentlessly catchy hooks, and pitch perfect, understated vocal performances. Combining the blunt emotional punch of emo/punk with elements of classic rock and jazz, Queen Moo is a band you will want to catch on their current tour. Check them out when they hit Great Scott on 12/21 with Prawn, People Like You, and Slingshot Dakota. -Brian Varneke

Boston based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Carr has embarked on a psychedelic solo venture called June Bloom. Carr, a keyboardist and vocalist for the eight-piece funk/soul group The New Review and jangle-pop rockers Brother Toaster, has channeled his fondness of lo-fi dream-pop, psychedelic, and folk music into the delightfully aloof debut EP entitled Bloomin’.

The EP’s jaunty opening track “Ponds” combines the airy charm of a Real Estate guitar riff with the meaty substance of a Fleet Foxes arrangement, while “Shores” roots its traditionally psych songwriting in Ariel Pink’s production chambers. Fans of left-of-the-dial records, from classics like The Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle or Syd Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs, to the contemporary torch bearers Kevin Parker and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, will be sure to take something great from June Bloom’s Bloomin’. -Charley Ruddell 

Gianna Botticelli, AKA GHOST GRL, is a Boston based ambient indie rock artist from Boston, creating emotionally charged ballads and tackling mature subject matter. As a preview to her upcoming Winter tour, Gianna was gracious enough to give The Deli a sneak peak at her new single, "Holy". The song is a change of pace for GHOST GRL fans, maintaining the mellow qualities of her previous work, while adding a heavier orchestration. About the track, Gianna says, "I want it to represent the inner struggles everyone has to deal with. The ones you never want to really talk about." 

Listen to the track on the player below and be sure to check back here for upcoming tour dates. -Brian Varneke

Boston dream-pop duo We Saw Lions may be a new name to you, but singer/songwriter Hannah Lou Woods is no stranger to the New England scene. Winner of the Great American Song Contest, among other achievements, Woods has teamed up with producer Dave Chapman to create something different and meaningful. Of their debut single, "Skeletons", Woods says: "I wrote this song…about the challenges that one can face in relationships; when you really love someone, you start to let them see more and more of who you are. Sometimes that brings up fear, but if you can face that fear and allow it to transform you, you can ‘bring it to light’ and see it for what it is, another place within you that wants to be seen and loved."

The song is an impressive debut, both vulnerable and optimistic. Woods’s vocal performance is pitch-perfect in tone and character, and Chapman’s production is present and supportive, without ever being heavy-handed. Check out the DIY video for "Skeletons" below, featuring an original artwork from Woods herself. -Brian Varneke