Ahead of its July 27th release via Lame-O Records, Chosen Family, the new album from Thin Lips, is now available for streaming HERE. Introspective and reflective honesty resounds in Chrissy Tashjian’s words and vocals. Forging that personal connection and then fortifying it with memorable hooks and super-charged riffs, the album is another thoughtful chapter that will memorably sit with listeners. Thin Lips are supporting Japandroids this evening at Boot & Saddle, the opening night of the Canadian outfit’s sold-out run, before heading out on tour for the rest of the summer with Hop Along and Slaughter Beach, Dog.

The quintet of Blubird recently shared Notes, a new EP that was produced by Kyle Pulley at The Headroom. A burning, emotive core is contrasted by the fresh breeze of melody. These recordings offer a sense of personal insight – bubbly and ready to burst at the seams. Blubird are currently on tour with Americanadian in support of their latest release, and they’ll be coming home to Philly on Friday, August 3 at Yum Yum Kitchen, where they will also be joined by Family Volleyball and Lunar Vacation. (Photo by Jacob Zaoutis)

Coming in hot on the heel’s of Empath’s album, Liberating Guilt and Fear, is their new 7” single, titled Environments. Styled in the vein of Irv Teibel’s Environments field recordings from the 1960s and 70s, Empath’s latest track softens the edges of their cleverly raucous repertoire. Each recording on the 7” is meant to represent wind or water; "Only One" takes on the latter, beginning in familiar, playfully punk territory, before opening up into blissful expanses of space as the song develops. The track’s creation of and care for space parallels the mission of their label, Get Better Records, which provides a safe space for Philly’s queer community, becoming an important bastion for underrepresented creatives by giving an early platform to diverse bands such as HIRS, Thin Lips, and Cayetana. (Photo by Matt Allen) – Josh Kelly

Krust Toons: "A Rancid Children’s TV Show" by Tedd Hazard – please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.

Demo of the Century, the first release from punk trio Total Whine, exhibits the raw, catchy, hybrid tone that piques one’s interest. On these intial recordings, you’ll find a band in its fledging state, welding fun and fury in succinct snippets. It’s a sweaty, searing rumble that’s not ironed out. And you wouldn’t want it any other way.

Directed by The Brothers Ed, the new video for “Rollercoaster” by Ivy Sole immediately catches your eye. The song exhibits the soulful R&B that one has grown to expect from the Philly songwriter. However, the coupling of smooth choreography and the dangerous/graceful bike & ATV stunts depicts the high-levels of ups and downs described in the song through a different context. Lock into the groove, and hold onto your seat. (Photo by Araba Ankuma)

Enveloped in a heavy-psych haze, Purling Hiss shreds in a primal, untamed fury. With jarring blazes of guitar-anchored glory, the band navigates through simmering and smoking hot sonic pockets. Relentless rhythms pace the ship, as it veers into unknown yet intriguing territories. Tomorrow night at Johnny Brenda’s, they’ll be headlining a locals-only bill, reinforced by the raw, grunge, syncopated stampede of Fight Amp–Legendary Divorce offshoot, Low Dose, who will be performing live for the first time. The fuzz-rattling post-punk of Plot will help to lay the groundwork for the evening’s festivities. – Michael Colavita

More of the haps this weekend…

Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N Frankford Ave.) FRI Pilkington, SAT Purling Hiss, Low Dose, Plot, SUN Scantron

Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) FRI Andrew Victor

PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12^th St.) FRI Blubird, Americanadian, Sterling Duns & Aqeel Aadam and Friends, Well Room, SAT Laser Background, Mavis the Dog, Luxe

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Ken, The Improbables/DJ Deejay, SAT Crazy Bull, Mota/DJ PHSH, SUN Botis, Decap Attak

Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) SAT Masie Blu, Ty Lemar, Lenora Elaine

The Foundry (1000 Frankford Ave.) FRI Mr. Brightside: Fame Lust

The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Dark Waters End, World Below, SAT Legion 76, Duffy’s Cut, The Bad Ups, SUN Big Handsome, The Band Ariel

World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.)  FRI John Vettese/Beta Hi-Fi Emerging Music Festival

MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Siravo, Skyline the City, Famous & Fallen, SAT Chris Day (Album Release), Super Bonanza

Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3^rd St.) FRI Uncle Dan, Party Muscles, Sleep Tactics, SAT Moonwalker, SUN Julia Rainer, Eliza Edens

The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave.) FRI Teenage Bigfoot, Yeenar, SAT Frost Giant, Bone Hive

Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2^nd St.) FRI Peace & the City Grease, Dominy, Too Many Talk Shows, SAT Water Temple, Joshua Chase Miller

Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI Bo Bliz, SAT DJ Deejay

Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT David Cope, SUN Rusty Cadillac

Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9^th St.) FRI Punk Hands, Sara Henya, Reverend TJ McGlinchey

Tara Hernon

Century (1350 S 29^th St.) FRI Manikineter, Felipe Pupo, SAT Disoriental, Pink Angels, Scars Like These, Decontrol

The Tusk (430 South St.) FRI Judex, The KMX Band, Big Stall, SAT Misfit Holiday

Morgan’s Pier (221 N. Columbus Blvd.) FRI DJ Beatstreet

Franky Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.) FRI Ben Aire, SAT Ed Christof

Voltage Lounge (421 N. 7^th St.) FRI Mike Saga, Elijvh Vrms, SUN Civil Youth, Heavensake

The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI Delmont, Stealing from Thieves, SAT Pravda, Canyon, Bohemian Mule

Everybody Hits (529 W. Girard Ave.) SAT Conversations

The Pharmacy (1300 S. 18^th St.) FRI Chino, SUN Little Bear

LAVA Space (4134 Lancaster Ave.) SAT  Manikineter, Bumsweat 

The Mothership (602 S. 52^nd St.) SAT Great Weights, The Invasive Species

Planet Phitness (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Nancy Strong

With a controlled aggression, Vindetta, a.k.a. Vinny Wit Da Swag/Vincent Brown, recently dropped his new album, Rachmaninoffs’ RATHE! Propped up by boom-bap beats, Vinny delivers cold-blooded lines, aimed at his competitors. Setting an ominous/dramatic stage, the emcee moves stealthily through the streets, showcasing a calm under pressure and an undeniable presence. Thematically united, the EP announces its intentions, arrives, delivers, and swiftly exits.

Folk-punk satirist Bern the Bastard has always embraced his “illegitimacy as an artist”. Finding inspiration from the local music community, Bern & the Bastards dropped their politically-charged You’re Only As Good As Your Propaganda! EP this past spring. And while Bern continues to self-loathe about his part in the gentrification of Philadelphia, he has also picked up guitar duty with theatrical alt rockers Molly Rhythm. To learn more about the origins of this music-loving, George R. R. Martin-reading “bastard,” you can check out our recent interview with The Deli Philly’s Featured Artist Poll Winner below.

The Deli: How did you start making music? 

Bern the Bastard: I started playing guitar in high school. When I moved to Philly, my band from college had just broken up, and a friend took me to go see Molly Rhythm at Connie’s Ric Rac.  

The day after, I wrote “Lobotomy Blues,” and the following Monday, I went to the singer’s open mic at The Fire to perform it. I spent the next few months writing and testing out songs at open mics with my acoustic guitar as Bern the Bastard.

TD: Where did the name Bern & the Bastards come from? 

BtB: Well… I really like alliteration. It started as Bern the Bastard, though I always intended to make Bern AND the Bastards if the backing band ever showed up… and they did at the jam sessions organized by Mike Ortiz. 

I was reading A Song of Ice and Fire when I came up with the name… probably why the title "bastard" seemed so appealing. Btw, my Dad is actually an illegitimate child named Bernard, so there’s that. As a musician, I felt like a Bastard. I had no clout, no connections, and a rowdy ugly delivery, but I didn’t care. I embraced my illegitimacy as an artist, and well, here we are.

TD: What are your biggest musical influences?

BtB: Playing folk punk in Philadelphia, Mischief Brew has been a big influence. My latest release, You’re Only As Good As Your Propaganda!, probably sounds like a bad Leftover Crack EP. Jello Biafra’s another big influence… I’ve always been fond of satire. 

TD: What artists (local, national and/or international) are you currently 

listening to?

BtB: Let’s see… we’ll start with the homies, Molly Rhythm and Moron Girls from Trenton, fellow Philadelphians Trash Boy, Felipe Pupo, Malcolm Culleton, Erin Incoherent, The Plibmen, Dirty Soap, Rasan in the Hey Day, Assemble and The Lot. 

Will Wood and the Tapeworms, The Apes of The State, Escape from the Zoo. Our friends from Quebec, Cirrhose et Cendrier and Bucky Harris. Definitely leaving some stuff out here, but list could probably go on ad infinitum… 

TD: What’s the first concert that you ever attended and first album that you ever bought?

BtB: My Dad took me to go see The Who when I was a kid, and gave me a copy of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. He definitely taught me about the finer points of Dad rock. 

I honestly can’t remember the first album I bought… we burnt a lot of CDs back in those days. Don Chin gave me a ska mix once, that was cool #donchin… it was Streetlight Manefesto, Reel Big Fish, and Sublime if I remember correctly.

TD: What do you love about Philly?

BtB: Bongo Billy.

TD: What do you hate about Philly?

BtB: Gentrification and my unfortunate place in it.

TD: What are your plans for 2018?

BtB: I wanna get writing again… just not sure what the next thing is yet. Been meaning to do an acoustic album at some point, so there’s that.

I started playing guitar with Molly Rhythm recently, so I’m excited to play and write with them. We’re going back up to Canada at the end of the summer.

So yeah, more music stuff.

TD: What was your most memorable live show?

BtB: Our EP release show in April got pretty crazy. We crammed 6 acts onto the bill following a play performed earlier that night. By the time we got on the stage, people were just ready to lose their shit. Friends were singing lyrics back to me, keeping the pit going, jumping on stage. I broke a string during the encore, ditched the guitar, ran into the crowd, and the homies picked me up and surfed me for the final chorus. Yeah, it was fun.

TD: What’s your favorite thing to get at the deli?

BtB: Loosies.

The Loudest Sound, the new EP from Past Life, is out now via Mad Dragon Records. Over the course of three tracks, the band navigates through emotive-driven pop-rock, pushing the tempo to effectively articulate a level of personal suspense. Instrumental rushes paired with the guttural vocal outpouring assist in making this a roaring and raucous release. The melodic bridge that both tears you up inside and joyously relieves the pressure valve becomes an infectious combination. (Photo by Michelle Baumval)

Waxahatchee, a.k.a. Katie Crutchfield, re-awakens/imagines the material of Great Thunder, on the aptly titled Great Thunder EP, slated for release on September 7 via Merge Records. Compared to its previous, somewhat haunting incarnation, the latest take of “Chapel of Pines” captures the inherent warmth of exploring a familiar place. In its video, which was directed by Christopher Good, Crutchfield is accompanied by Kevin Morby through the midst of nature’s beauty, and together, they joyfully navigate the terrain, before building a little shelter. However, he mysteriously vanishes, and some weirdness ensues. You can catch Waxahatchee as part of the Philly Music Fest on Friday, September 28 at World Cafe Live.

A few days ahead of its July 20th release via Lauren Records, Still Life, the new EP from Katie Ellen, is available for streaming. Balancing a melodic, earnest ease with an infectious energy, the songs wrap one up in a state of reflective assessment. Anika Pyle exhibits a level of focus and clarity. Within her vocals, there’s a gentle strength which adheres. Katie Ellen is set to head out on tour with Lemuria and Dusk at the end of this week.