Here’s the thing about The Riot Room; it is loud. Always and without fail. This is as constant as the Northern Star. In fact, if Las Vegas were to handicap the betting odds on the room being flooded by noise, the percentages would linger at 100%. This is always a safe bet regardless of who is playing. An alternative country band from Raleigh; maxed. A metal band from the suburbs of the gates of hell; if it is too loud, you’re too old. Spinal Tap; cranked to 11.

There is no getting around it. However, sometimes there is also no excuse for it. Watching O, Giant Man open for The Henry Clay People, this principle was never more relevant. The group’s fidgety sound is best served wrapped in complex layers and complicated shifts. The group flutters throughout styles, touching on multiple approaches to writing throughout the set. A sparkling Rhodes organ will bleed through for a moment, meshed with the band’s controlled chaos, before subsiding and surrendering to a room full of drums. The organized clutter is thick and tricky in its ability to fool listeners into determining if it is actually planned. The casual observer might even assume the set list and the collection of tunes were an act of improvisation. However, broken down it is clear that O, Giant Man has meticulously constructed not only a set of tunes, but has managed to arrange them in a way that the evening becomes one long, flawless track. Each song is intentionally placed before the next and sown together with a cross stitch creating a warm, inviting quilt of songs.

Yes, watching O, Giant Man is like staying the night at your Grandma’s house. And who doesn’t love their Grandma? Nazis. That’s who.

What was I saying? Oh, yeah. Group frontman Christopher Robbins guides his group through their set like a ship’s captain guides his crew. Throughout the night his eyes dart around the stage as he intently directs traffic and shoves his band through the crosshairs to the intended destination. Yet simultaneously, he also manages to make his guidance look as effortless as listening to a GPS. "Turn left here." Wham! Hit single.

It is important however to remember that the crew behind Robbins is as talented as he is. There is no denying that they are the real deal once you’ve heard them play. Their structure, which is unique to the Kansas City area, sets them apart from the sometimes incestuous music scene, often complicated by having the same signature sound in every band. There is something rather fresh about the way O, Giant Man is an island unto itself.

However that island holds something for all types of vacationers. Swirling guitars and harmonic vocals are both in check. At any given time the band can shift from dance-friendly indie pop to a straight rock sound that will knock your teeth out. Sometimes, I can hear The Clash, then suddenly I think I’m listening to Ryan Adams. Then vocally, I would swear they were Counting Crows. However, regardless of what the shifting sounds, I expect big things from O, Giant Man. I’ll be disappointed with Kansas City and the world if they offer this extremely talented band anything less.

-Joshua Hammond

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Photo Source: Orca Team

Orca Team will soon appear at The Funhouse’s annual Pizzafest; the show date is Thursday, August 2nd. They are currently touring the U.S. leading up to the homecoming performance in Seattle.

The trio released their second full-length album, Restraint, just last month. Without exception, each of the eleven songs on the new record play out under three minutes. Brevity clearly suits them well, for they waste little time in advancing their plentiful melodic hooks.

"Night Moves" enters the atmosphere with a bass riff and drum beat attached at the hip; the tune then swiftly swims into contact with a catchy-as-all guitar part. It is precise and refined, lifting the underlying rhythm with splashes of reverb.

Leif Ander’s (bassist/vocalist) voice slides words off effortlessly, painting stories that listeners will swoon to. Their sound oozes with the innocence and earnestness of 1950’s and ’60’s rock and doo wop. Combining post-punk and surf vibes too, Orca Team’s two minute pop portraits are the antithesis to noisy, sonic affairs. Grab ahold to drift off into their contemporary reveries.

Check out Orca Team at Pizzafest this year on the 2nd of August – other bands that night include Sonny and the Sunsets, The Wimps, Fuckaroos, and Brandon Daniel & The Chics. Tickets are $12 and the show begins at 9pm.

Give "Strains" a listen down below and carry on to their bandcamp to hear all of Restraint. The album is available for purchase on CD or LP over at HHBTM Records.

– Cameron LaFlam

Brooklyn’s music Conveyor presents an intriguing blend of styles and influences. Combining the percussion of afropop with moody electronics and rhythmic patterned vocal placement, their sound is bouncy and creative. Many of the songs are the result of a collaborative writing process, giving the defined sections an air of intricacy. Time signatures that break out of the 4/4 mold suggest artists not content to rely on the safety of familiar patterns. The band released their debut full-length album on Paper Garden Records and is currently touring the US. – Read Dave Cromwell‘s interview with the band here.

Upbeat, catchy and serenely produced, Skaters‘ debut EP Schemers is a refreshing return to groove in an otherwise frenetic aural genre. Their songs call to grand truths of times past. They sing love songs shrouded in clairvoyant wisdom. Skaters’sound teeters on the edge of two musical genres – one foot in the up-tempo pop-punk world, the other knee deep in worldly grooves that feel timeless. Their live shows feature impromptu improvisations and unexpected interludes – proof that they are competent musicians, masterful in their ways. Three different people, hailing from three different places (Boston, LA and the UK), Skaters come together with a coherent melancholy that harkens back to The Strokes when they were cool. Schemers has the exciting feeling of the start to something beautiful. – Read Ed Guardaros’ interview with the band here.

One of my pet peeves as a lover of all types of music is when you mention a band to someone and their immediate reaction is, "Oh yeah, those guys sound like…" I mean, I get it. Our culture is full of musical references. I, for one, don’t think it’s a bad thing. To be influenced by other people’s art is natural for an artist. Most of the music we grew up listening to was a direct descendent from something else; we just don’t know about it, so we think it’s “totally original.” No one on the planet can convince me they are playing something that isn’t derivative of something else. All that being said, I admire bands that wear their influences on their sleeves. Not to replicate it, but to push it along and give it new life in a new context. Dream Wolf’s three-song EP, Learn To Survive, does exactly that and does it well.

"Future Man" is a really the perfect opener for this set because it sums up the band’s idiosyncratic take on ’70s prog-glam rock. Pushed along by Kansas-ish keyboard tones and some laser-focus guitar playing, the song sets the pace while spinning a Bowie-like lyrical yarn ("Circle now, around the Sun/What you’re seeing now, son, are things you don’t understand/But they will make you a man").

"All Time" starts off with an on-the-verge waltz feel, highlighted by chimes and terrific vocal work by Megan Zander and Katelyn Boone. Around 1:13, the song takes a veer into a shuffle hook, reminiscent of Meatloaf or Hedwig and The Angry Inch, before falling off into a quiet vocal round that builds back into a climax that should prove at least one member of Dream Wolf is related to Freddie Mercury.

Rounding out Learn to Survive is "The Water is Full of Lead," which invites us to join them in a swimming pool full of disease. However, it may be safer to stand around the pool and bask in the band’s ability to shift into more jazz-oriented playing styles, with a very nice piano solo to boot. Although stylistically these songs are obviously pure Dream Wolf, each one has an ability to spotlight the diversity of the band without losing track of what it is at the core.

I saw Dream Wolf play last fall and their live show was filled with thematic, over-the-top melodies and grooves that made me an instant fan. The expert musicianship of every member is evident on this recording as well as their exuberant imaginations that take the listener into strange situations. With another album coming up in the near future, this band will be one to watch as they reinvent their own versions of operatic rock and take it in new directions.

You can catch Dream Wolf tonight at Coda, headlining the show with guests Modern Arsonists and Sundiver. .

-Mike Tipton

In the latest installment of his ongoing IPhone videos – five parts, and something of an iSeries –  New York City producer and songwriter Jessie Harris has released this video for “I Won’t Wait” from his upcoming full-length album “Sub Rosa,” due out on July 31. Once again, the focus is on Harris’ friend Dulcinea Del Dolorosa dancing in a role described as “The Succubus,” was shot on director Lyle Owerko’s iPhone, and later edited on iMovie. The song is a mellow, but driving, blend of Harris’ pop and folk stylings, and features Bright Eyes main man Conor Oberst and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Norah Jones also appears in several songs on “Sub Rosa.” The album release party will be hosted at record store Tropicalia in Furs on July 30th at 6pm. – Devon Antonetti

As they introduce a first full-length album to come with a clear second take on the fuzzy, poorly recorded ‘Dance Only (Only Dance)’ of their debut EP, NYC-via-New-Jersey septet The Everymen prove that they’ve come a long way in two years. Subtly supported in this soulful effort, amid heavy basslines and low sax tones, by the only female voice of the band, frontman and founder Mike V follows the melody with the clumsiness of both punks and macho rockers indulging in kitchy love songs that makes them sound all the more genuine.

Rough ’round the edges with no more need for noise, the track sees New Jersey Hardcore as a potential turning point in the band’s recording career. We will however have to wait until October to confirm, so meanwhile, I suggest you get a taste of the new sounds at Brooklyn’s House of Vans next Thursday (07.26), where they will be opening for psychedelic garage big band King Khan & His Shrines. That should be loads of fun. – Tracy Mamoun

With their good old-fashioned folk‘n’roll and a new video to match, The Bottom Dollars (who placed at #35 in our 2011 Best of NYC Poll for emerging artists) have premiered “Prizefighter” this week. The video was shot around iconic New York landmarks like the Coney Island boardwalk and Washington Square Park, and includes, yes, plenty of people having fun and fighting. The band, dressed dapper in 1920’s attires, duke it out in a series of brawls, though not always proving their claimed “prizefighter” status. The elusive single-named Seeley directed the video, which features appearances from a few friends, members of The Nuclears and the frizzy-haired W.M.D. DuBois of Deathrow Tull and Strings for Truth. See The Bottom Dollars live at Mercury Lounge on August 7. – Devon Antonetti

The magic hour is that one time of day when shadows get sharper, light gets more intense, and everything is perfect to take great photos. The debut video for Wilsen’s first release seems to recall this mood in its sharp instrumentation and dizzying lights. Shot in the band’s rehearsal space, ‘Dusk’ highlights the differing shapes and sizes this time of day creates. From Tamsin Wilson, a singer/songwriter usually associated with country twang, comes a surprisingly commanding voice backed by an ambitious folk trio. The song channels the heavens in its haunting refrain “dusk is rolling in,” and I’m excited to see what vision develops from here. Check it yourself when they play their debut album release show at Union Pool on July 25th. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Sexy Neighbors is a garage band from Brooklyn with a sound that reminds me a little of one of my favorite British post punk bands – The Stranglers, "Black and White" period – I guess because of the relentless organ parts and lead singer Felix Gottdiener’s commanding attitude. Native J (the lady behind the keys) also lends her voice to the band’s tunes, adding an unexpected, occasional dreamy element, in particular in "Seeds" (streaming below). This is a band that’s fun to listen to, and should be even more fun to witness live.

We’ve been following Brooklyn duo She Keeps Bees for a long time now, and it’s great to see them gaining more and more buzz (no pun intended, maybe). Their latest single “Counter Charm” (streaming below) was released this week and debuted on NPR’s All Songs Considered, and showcases an interesting development in their sound, in a direction that’s at once more atmospheric, punchy, and tense. Singer Jessica Larrabee howls over a dark, pulsating melody, pleading out “please stay” over and over. Larrabee, who is joined by drummer Andy LaPlant, possess a sinister tone throughout, at times reminiscent of Cat Power. The single also includes the track “Blue Moon,” one of the ominous forays of the 1930’s classic. She Keeps Bees is finishing up a tour overseas (for some reason it seems like every time we blog about them they are in Europe), but will return for US this fall for a string of shows in the… west coast – dudes, NYC shows??? – Devon Antonetti

Photo Source: Amelia G.

Blood Orange Paradise will be performing at the Black Lodge this upcoming Friday, July 20th. The lineup also includes Prizerog, Tropical Punk, and Ubu Roi.

The band self-released their debut record earlier this year, an eight track affair eponymously titled Blood Orange Paradise. In the span of its length, they manage to distill many of their Discord Records ’90’s era influences into a unique concoction that may be the cure listeners have been searching for. Their songs unfurl by their own accord, alternatively driving and pulsing or pensive and disquieting.

"The Other End" is a notable example that refuses to stick with any one flavor. Beginning with a whistling patch of feedback, the bass riff subtly hums itself into the mix, breaking into a post-punk groove kept in check by the full crack of the snare beat. The last minute of the track channels the best of bands like Fugazi and Malady, raising the stakes energy-wise without sacrificing melodic complexity.

Lead track "Gene Roddenberry Had A Vision" is guided by thoughtful, introspective vocals that deserve praise for their confidence and versatility. Genres aside, this song and others on the album reflect a band emboldened by their predecessors rather than hindered by them.

Check out BOP – (such a beboppin good acronym for a band) – on the 20th of July at the Black Lodge starting at 9pm. Listen to "With All Due Respect" below and continue onto their bandcamp to stream the entire release. It is also available for convenient digital purchase for only $4!

– Cameron LaFlam