Maybe it’s my growing but futile desire to ignore summer’s celerity that is making me feel more and more like autumn is looking over my shoulder. Or it might have to do with Three Thousand Days, progressive-folk band Mercies’ debut LP. After listening to this album I realized it has all the elements to score Autumn’s blossom: a warm airy ambiance that peaks and collapses through their own brand of haunting harmonies and natural sounding guitar work. Their capricious sound creates moments of melancholy followed by stretches of bittersweet clarity as Mercies poses thought-provoking questions and emotions that leaves the listener feeling like the leaves should be turning colors any minute.

Three Thousand Days is an artistic expression of change, transition, and ends. It reveals a period of time in my life and the emotions born from it," said Josh Rheault, former member of the band The Dear Hunter, an indie prog-rock band from Providence, Rhode Island. The meaningful yet pleasingly ambiguous lyrics are complemented by a clash of folk, and the textual spacey, and at times heavy, guitar work that made The Dear Hunter such a big success in their respective scene. Clashing folk with modern progressive rock is a recipe for disaster but tracks such as the four and half minute Roads, prove that it can be done and done well. For the first half, Josh and the other half of Mercies, Sammy Dent, belt out pure emotion as a precursor to a two-minute instrumental outro that grooves, wails, and entrances.

With such a unique and pleasurably clashing sound, this album is sure to propel these guys into a scene they’ll have to fight to win over. However, that is the greatest part about finding an upcoming band like this. I’ll be cheering for these guys every step of the way, and after a good listen you’ll understand why. If you’re in the NYC area on August 31st, make sure to head out to Union Pool in Brooklyn to see Mercies play live! – Michael Giordano

The Sinister Turns are led by their beautiful voiced bassist, Sophie Besl, and make piano-driven indie pop/rock.  Their tunes are thoughtful and moody, but never melancholy, and have a subtle emotional intensity.  And they’re strong by nearly any category of pop songwriting: lyrically, melodically and structurally interesting, without becoming burdened by their artistic efforts.  Many of the songs riff heavily on Ben Folds—with coursing, robust piano lines underlining highly articulate and heartfelt lyrics—but the likeness never becomes a detriment. 

The most striking thing about The Sinister Turns is how little affectation there is in their music.  They recall some of the popular indie music that came out in the early aughts — when emo was still happening and Feist was just becoming known as solo artist — music that was more a vehicle for the songwriter’s feelings than for twee aesthetics or danceable retro beats.  At the time there were a bunch of bands that were similar to each other in the fullness of their instrumentation and their reliance on more traditional rock forms.  It wasn’t a bad thing. It’s the atmosphere that gave us the Decemberists and the Arcade Fire, and saw the flourishing popularity of Neutral Milk Hotel. 

Even if The Sinister Turns never attain the status of those bands, they unquestionably write songs with the same kind of emotional candor that was a big part of what made those bands timeless. From the outlook of this LP, it seems almost certain that the band members themselves have the talent to take the songs wherever they need to go musically. Sophisticated piano pop for a new decade? Perhaps. 

–Alexander Pinto

Deli NE: How did the band start?

Bradley DeMatteo: I guess it all started with time spent by myself with a bass in a few different attics. I think I was listening to a lot of Jesu at the time and thought "Hey, this guy can sound pretty amazing on his own." Then I started writing and working with some friends to put out recordings.

Where did the band, Between Tall Saints and Sinners, name come from?

My band name came somewhere from my past. It has to do with those big stained glass windows that you always see in Catholic churches. I believe that there are a lot of crooks and many, many things to be criticized in organized religion. I guess you can kind of put it together from there.

Click here to read the rest of the interview with Between Tall Saints and Sinners.

–Chrissy Prisco

Deli NE: How did the band start?

Moniker: As a project, Moniker has been in the works since late 2008, when Socrates moved back to Boston after living in New York City for a while, but the current line-up is only a little over a year old. Luke and Socrates met at one of the very first Wadzilla Mansion shows in early 2010, just as the band was in the hunt for a new bassist. Peter ended up finding an ad on Craigslist looking for a fill-in drummer, and joined the band full-time soon after. At the time, Allston was re-paving the streets outside the house, and being from New York Peter really didn’t have much of an idea about which areas of Boston were safe. So he’s driving up this strange place with the street looking like a war zone, thinking he’s going to get killed… that was last summer, and he has yet to find out whether that’s bound to happen or not.

Click here to read the rest of the interview with Moniker.

–Chrissy Prisco

Support local music and head out to Precinct Bar on Sunday, August 21, for some blistering rock music. The event features six bands, costs five dollars and, as an added bonus, the Somerville Rock and Roll Yard Sale is also going on in Union Square until 5pm that same day. So pick up some vinyl or local crafts outside, then head into Precinct for some music and maybe even grab a bite to eat while you’re at it (Precinct serves food until 10pm). This is a 21+ event.

Acts for the night:
4pm — The Susan Constant
5pm — The Battleships Cometh (pictured above)
6pm — The Lousy Instruments
7pm — Young Tremors
8:30pm — EratOK
10pm — Hevy Sol

–Chrissy Prisco

Chamberlin has teamed up with Paste Magazine and Stetson for a new promotion for their next EP. The band is asking fans to vote on the songs they will record for a covers EP – where they’ll take current tracks and "cabinize" them into stripped down acoustic versions in their Vermont cabin.

The list of possible tracks contain electronic or innovative production and include songs by Kanye West, Cults, Vampire Weekend, Foster The People, Beach House, Neon Indian and Cut Copy. Select the 4 songs you want to hear the band record and in return for voting, receive a free copy of the EP when it’s completed, a free track now from the band’s 2011 debut Bitter Blood and a chance to win the Grand Prize – boots, jeans and a button down shirt from Stetson (worth over $400).

Head over to the band’s website to vote throughout the month of August.

The band’s giving listeners an early taste of "cabinize" with their version of Passion Pit’s Little Secrets Check out the sparse, gently strummed video below.

–Chrissy Prisco

The first-ever JP Music Festival is Saturday, August 20 in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. This afternoon and evening event will feature Jamaica Plain-based musicians from 1-7 PM at the Pinebank Baseball Field near Jamaica Pond, beside the intersection of Perkins Street and The Riverway.

The festival will host 20-25 musical artists and acts, all of who have at least one member as a resident of Jamaica Plain. Two stages will rotate 15-20 minute performances, giving a greater number of acts a chance to perform and gain new fans. Working with local sponsors and individual contributors, the event will be free for the general public to attend and welcomes all age groups.

An after party will be held at Midway Café, from 7 PM to 2 AM, located at 3496 Washington Street in Jamaica Plain, where additional musical acts will perform.

For more information, visit http://jpmusicfestival.com.

–Chrissy Prisco

How did the band start?

Chris Johnson: Fourth of July-ish a few years ago, we started talking in lisps and we got stuck that way!
Jeremy Lassetter: ahh yesssth, brought together by ‘the America’.

Where did the band name SUNRAM come from?

C:  No real defining moment, we liked the name. it was really just a combination of words that we thought looked strong together in print as well as represent the project well.
J: It’s a mutation of a couple different things and somehow it managed to be really concise.  He’s being modest though, what really happened was about two weeks worth of dick jokes. Once we finally ran out, we picked this one.

Click here to read the rest of the Q&A with SUNRAM.

–Chrissy Prisco

Hey guys, tonight is the second installment in the Deli Presents Summer Concert Series. This time around we’re excited to welcome Dirty Tongue, Fire Tower (from NH), Molly Zenobia, and Dirty Virgins. We know it’s a Wednesday night, but bring your pals and hang out and listen to some awesome local music.The last Deli Presents show was a blast and we only want it to get better!

The line-up is as follows:
9pm — Dirty Tongue (MA)
10pm — Fire Tower (NH, pictured above)
11pm — Molly Zenobia (MA)
12am — Dirty Virgins (MA)

PA’s Lounge
Union Sq., Somerville
Doors @ 8pm/ 21+/ $8

–Chrissy Prisco