Elbows is a fitting name for producer Max Scheible. The Brooklyn-based artist crafts music that flexes through genres, bending tastes and traditions and creating something that sounds totally fresh.  Scheible, also a multimedia artist, is no stranger to cobbling together influences from different channels and spaces, and his music reflects this by expertly melding together EDM, jazz, and old-school R&B vibes. Keep your eyes peeled — Elbows is slated to release The Courdory EP this coming May, but in the main time you can stream new single “Think Twice” below. – Olivia Sisinni

Tall Tall Trees aka Mike Savino, is the answer to that question: What should banjo playing sound like in 2017? Even if you’ve never given second thought to experimental banjo music, you’re going to want to check this out. The banjo-driven music of Tall Tall Trees is both innovative and impressive—and even more so when you consider that the sweeping soundscapes of Savino’s music are often the result of a one-man show. Wielding what he’s dubbed the Banjotron 5000, Tall Tall Trees makes use of mulit-fx pedals, and precisely timed loops to craft large sounds swells and multi-tiered tracks. Check out his latest video premiere, "SeagullxEagle" streaming below and see what I’m talking about.-Olivia Sisinni

After a pretty inconsistent winter, it feels good to be able to finally claim that Spring has officially arrived in NYC. Is the good weather leaving you on the hunt for something new to pass through your earbuds, as your stroll, jacket-less and basking in the sunshine? Well, take a listen to local indie rockers, Petite League. The NYC-based band produces the breezy sort of indie rock that is guaranteed to put you in a good mood. Their tunes are catchy, but with real heart–a perfect companion to warm nights. Catch them live at Baby’s All Right 4/15 alongside VARSITY and Fruit & Flowers, and stream them below. -Olivia Sisinni

“Lover,” the latest release from NY-based EDM artist Eli Tyler combines the pop-writing prowess that Tyler has become known for, with creative off-beat sampling to produce a massively catchy track that still feels true to itself. Tyler’s raspy, understated vocals play deliciously against the full force of the visceral hooks in his choruses, resulting in a tune that will pitch a tent between your ears and not budge anytime soon after. Check out “Lover” streaming below.-Olivia Sisinni 

NJ-based bedroom indie pop band, Rhea, craft songs the ring like delicate love notes–unassuming, but incredible poignant. Featuring soft, feminine vocals and un-fussy guitar ornamentation, there’s something immediately compelling about the band’s songwriting. Lyrics like "I know that you want me / for my body / but I want you / in a different kind of way" showcase how Rhea’s strength is in their symplicity, and their innate ability to tap into something universal, effortlessly.  Check out "3am" by Rhea streaming below.-Olivia Sisinni

Prima‘s latest single, "SAMBA", is a delicious romp in tortuous tension. The Brooklyn-based band has mastered the art of keeping their cards close to chest, and makes a habit of never revealing any more musical phrases than they need to. Driven by angular guitar leads, primative drum beats, and wild-yet-controlled female vocals, SAMBA is a slow burn that pushes its listeners right up to edge, but never fully loses its cool. Check out the track streaming below, and keep your eyes peeled for Prima’s lates EP, Performance, to be released this month.-Olivia Sisinni

Brooklyn-based by way of Virginia, Winstons are serving up home-fried garage soul the way your daddy likes it. The two-man powder keg of a band busts out blues rock in all its brassy and barefaced glory–crafting tracks that play out like a cross-country drive on the interstate. Recording directly to tape, the livewire, unbridled passion that pulses through the band’s tracks is left totally intact, and if anything’s for sure, they don’t quite make ’em like this anymore. Catch Winstons live at Ethyl’s 4/11 and make sure you stream them below.-Olivia Sisinni

Who would have thought that a Latvia-born band would get American rock so right? Brooklyn-based via the Baltics, Astra the 22s is a classic, dirty, rock ’n’ roll duo that smacks of 80’s glam without surrendering fully to it. Their latest banger of a song, “Stranger,” is a boom-click, percussive-led track with some serious teeth. Hazy synths, and fuzzy guitars frame singer Kerija Kaleja’s  vocals as she flexes her chops through high-register choruses and low, breathy verses. You can check out "Stranger" streaming below, and keep your eyes peeled for a new release, coming to you April 28th. – Olivia Sisinni

A Deer A Horse has a penchant for tearing through the tidy lines separating genres with reckless abandon, and on their latest EP release, Backswimmer, the Brooklyn-based threepiece fuses together styles and feels with the might of an atom smasher.  Sludgy, doom metal riffs, meet angular, dissonant melody lines, and are paired with deep, bewitching female-led vocals, that are set against a rotation of primative tom-toms, and indie-rock beats. Take all of this and consider that–somehow–the band manages to showcase strong hook-writing chops and pop sensibility. A Deer A Horse is schizo-rock at its absolute finest and their EP is an aggresive, blistering mind-meld that we can’t get enough of. Check out the band’s title track streaming below, and see them live at St. Vitus 5/1 alongside Dad, Darkwing, My Heart and the Real World, and Samantha Noise. – Olivia Sisinni

For old-school punk purists, Night Birds might just be the dirty, crunchy, return-to-form punk rock you’ve been craving. Taking cues from punk/hardcore favorites of the ’80s, Night Birds put their own delicious surf spin on their tunes, delivering compact, high-energy hits that feel inspired rather than regurgitated. And with names like "Born to Die in Suburbia" and "Mutiny at Muscle Beach" how can you possibly resist a listen? Check out Night Birds streaming below and catch them live at St. Vitus on 4/06 alongside the Marked Men and Honey. – Olivia Sisinni

Introducing an EP with a 12 second recording of the infamous Casio demo tune is definitely an unconvential choice, but Kill Altars is far from being a conventional band. Their latest release, no self help is driven by thick, primative tom-toms, and features the intesection of fuzz and noise, colliding against half-sung vocals that sound as if they’re edging closer and closer toward a total mental meltdown. The release is a trippy, psych/noise freakout daring you to push it over the edge. Take a listen to the EP below, but behold the band live for yourselves at Union Pool 4/8.-Olivia Sisinni

This month, LEA (FKA Lea Cappelli)—a NYC-based artist crafting synth-pop with a sultry, dark and soulful twist–droppeda new video (see below) for a song titled “Such A Lovely Thing”. The video combines her smokey, low-register vocals and artfully minimalistic instrumentation, with gorgeous black and white visuals and movement that are meant to conjure responses to the ideals of, as the artist puts it, “femininity and fortitude,” and gender fluidity — major themes of the track. “Such a Lovely Thing,” however remains only a first taste of what’s to come: LEA is gearing up to drop her EP "Fever Dream" some time in the coming months. If you’re looking to hear more from the artist be sure to check out her set on April 12th at Footlight as she performs alongside Smoke & Sugar, Hippiehaus and Laney Lynx. – Olivia Sisinni