Best of NYC #5: The Antlers

We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list for emerging artists (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record store personnel, DJs, and our writers and readers).

Brooklyn’s The Antlers are led by Peter Silberman, an exceptional singer/songwriter who seems more than a little broken hearted. Now we haven’t sat at the fireside desk in our study and thoroughly pored over his lyrics just yet, but it seems the man has lost a few loves along the way. But his sadness is, sorry Mr. Silberman, our gain because his soaring and heartrending croons are pretty much perfect to listen to no matter what mood you’re in. You see, this band (Silberman, Michael Lerner, and Darby Cicci) rocks out often too, so that definitely cheers up the mellow mood. Anyway, Silberman is one of those artists that just sort of sound smart when he sings. We like mostly smart songs, but not really SUPER smart songs. We call bands who partake in super smart songs "PhD Pop" (probably the most famous current example of a PhD Pop band is The Decemberists — maybe Vampire Weekend — basically if The New Yorker likes you, you’re PhD Pop and you’ve most likely lost us along the way). – OhMyRockness.com