There’s some music that’s intricately intertwined with the feeling you get from a weekend whiskey binge. From the initial burn of the first drink to the last sip of the bottle, the emotions and thoughts that drive that binge are have long been subjects for great storytelling and songwriting. Appropriate Grammar’s release Lies and Stories is the musical equivalent to a weekend whiskey bender, if there was a universe where you could drink whiskey all weekend and still speak with eloquent clarity.

This 10-song set rambles on like the smartest heartbroken drunk you’ve ever met. Lyrically speaking, this is one of the better releases I’ve heard in awhile, so much so that I stopped during some songs to go back and catch a line again. With varied stories of fighting all night with a significant other ("Lover’s Quarrel") to dealing with an existential crisis ("Chosen Children"), the lyrical palette of this album reflects a wandering spirit coming to terms with the human experience. And it rocks.

Fast-paced shuffles by drummer Steve Gardels and jangling, well-placed guitar hooks by Alex Dunsford provide an inspiring platform for Nick McKenna’s cool and seemingly calculated vocal delivery. Bassist and vocalist Claire Adams adds color to many of these songs, particularly "High and Lonely," which gives the album some breathing room with a beautiful duet. In a weekend binge scenario, this is the song you’re listening to when the bottle runs dry, it’s time to go to bed, but you have no idea where you are or how to get home.

Not many bands can pull off rollicking, melodic songs that are emotional, smart and fun without coming off as being pretentious or downright aggravating, but Appropriate Grammar seems to have a formula down that works well for what they are doing, like an Old-Fashioned served with just the right amount of bitters.

-Mike Tipton

8:00 pm, All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut, Kansas City, MO. $10 at the door. 

A number of talented Kansas City artists will be on hand for a benefit for KKFI 90.1 FM tonight to present the music of The Beatles. This is the second year in a row this fundraiser has been done, with great success last year. The evening’s musicians include some of the most talented in the area. From Back To Rockville: 

"The house band will comprise Alan Wellman (bass), Darrell Lea (lead guitar), Eric Melin (drums), Dan Mesh (guitar) and Nate Holt (keyboards). Also performing: the local Beatles tribute band Vera Chuck and Dave, Kasey Rausch, Kim Rausch McClaws, Elaine McMilian, Mark Smeltzer, Jason Beers, Chad Rex, Joey Skidmore, Kirk Scott, Fast Johnny Ricker, JoJo Longbottom, Steve Wilson and “a special surprise” from Cody Wyoming."

The show is being presented by Barry Lee, host of "Signal To Noise" on KKFI Sunday nights.

Shannon Pelcher, Robert German and Bryan Dunn are among the 12 NYC artists performing on the third night of the Deli sponsored, four-night-long 6th Annual LC Fest, organized by independent music community Local Correspondents at Bar4 in Park Slope, Brooklyn (444 7th Ave., bar4brooklyn.com).

Shannon Pelcher, who blends Tin Pan Alley, 1960s folk and experimental acoustic, just released her self-titled debut EP, "Shannon Pelcher and the Iron Threads" earlier this year. Robert German fuses folk, jazz, blues and lyrical storytelling with vocal acrobatics, and second album, ‘Sunrise at the Speakeasy’, is due out later this year. Bryan Dunn (pictured) blends classic rock with Texas twang, and his latest album, "Sweetheart of the Music Hall," was just released in April 2012.

Shows are free, doors open at 6 p.m., and performances begin at 8 p.m. For a complete schedule of all four nights (from June 6 through June 9), go here.

Bear with me here… if there was a way to merge the Arctic Monkeys with Red Hot Chili Peppers, you might be in the ballpark of Viva Mayday‘s sound. Like Alex Turner, singer Jafe and company perfectly convert his sadistic protests to anthemic screams on the catchy new single ‘Monster.’ Here, an otherwise perfectly catchy rock tune is turned on its head by exploring devilish thoughts while riding a dance groove.

A relatively young and stripped down three-piece, with only a couple tracks released so far (check out the equally catchy ‘Bay of Pigs’), the band has already warranted several remixes, and promises a debut LP later this year.

Sweat and shout with the group tomorrow night (06.09) when they play Pianos with The Yes Way & IAmDynamite. – Mike Levine

 Tonight, The Jackpot scores another big show with Brooklyn band Hospitality, Lawrence band Spirit is the Spirit, and KC band Monster. 

Though Hospitality is from Brooklyn, lead vocalist Amber Papini originally hails from Kansas City. Check out their style of indie pop here.

Spirit is the Spirit (from The Record Machine) just completed a successful Kickstarter campaign last week, raising over $4,000 to buy a van to begin a US tour. Though the 6-piece band has only released one EP (Mother Mountain), they’ve found great success with an ethereal and harmonic, yet accessible groove. Spirit is the Spirit was recently featured in Secret Handshakes, a 12" collaboration between The Record Machine and Golden Sound Records, with a track called "Pillows." Check out the video below.

Kansas City/Lawrence band Monster opens up the show.

Spirit Is The Spirit // Pillows // Music Video from Micki Hadley on Vimeo.

We are extremely proud to announce The Deli’s "[mostly] Electronic Stage" at the upcoming L Magazine Northside Fest. Check out this lineup and come to party on Father’s Day (06.17) at Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn!

10.30 AVAN LAVA
9.40 COMPUTER MAGIC
8.50 SAADI
8.00 PAPERTWIN
7.10 SPACECAMP
6.20 OSEKRE & THE LUCKY BASTARDS

Facebook Event – Ticketlink

The Deli’s Staff

P.S. Sorry for the above par flyer, our awesome illustrators are off today!

In support of "Swing Lo Magellan," Dirty Projectors‘ new album out July 10th, the band has unveiled this video for lead single “Gun Has No Trigger”. The video marks David Longstreth’s directorial debut, and is reportedly about the impossibility for true dissent. Dirty Projectors is set to perform at Prospect Park’s Celebrate Brooklyn on July 10.

The nearly nine minute sonic assault that The Psychic Paramount unleashes on “DDB” (streaming below) is a veritable tour-de-force of ferociously thrashed guitars, rumbling bass, frantic clattering drums and hammered cymbals. No vocals are provided, since this exploratory expedition to the center of your psyched out mind is all that’s necessary. The similarly titled initials only “RW” further showcases the bands chops via sophisticated percussive beats, while guitars alternate between minimal open space tensions to all out bombastic thrash. “N6” presents waves of furiously strummed guitars and rolling snares that echoes bits of black metal while avoiding the pointless caterwauling of that genre. Their groove is far more fluid and natural, while sacrificing none of the power and force this music delivers. Real psych rock fans shouldn’t miss these guys when they play Cameo with Tunde Adebimpe’s Stabbing Eastward and Guardian Alien on July 8. – Dave Cromwell

Black Light Dinner Party is dance music for people who don’t just want to dance. Whatever else you’d like to experience while listening to the band is, of course, up to you. But for sure… when you listen to a song like ‘Older Together,’ you really can’t help but move your head right along with your body – while hearing the group discussing their intimate details in tracks like the revealing ‘Older Together.’

This kind of intimacy has come closer to the cultural surface these days. Groups like The Weeknd and Destroyer have equally pulled their life’s messes inside the disco. But BLDP approaches this with an equal eye toward sonic retroness that lights up tracks like ‘Gold Chain’ like a breath of fresh air. It’s an approach I haven’t heard before, and it suits the group well.

Like the thinking man’s Passion Pit, (and the young person’s LCD Soundsystem), this is a group unafraid to add a lyrical weight to the dance floor, from a band as interested in the morning after as they are staying up all night.

Download their newest single ‘Leave it All’ (streaming below), and see them when they play Cameo live June 15th with St. Lucia and Slowdance. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

With riffs that would make Jack White proud, Prospector, with their latest EP "Between 0 &1," is proudly bringing the rock attitude back to a city that pretty much invented it. The band formerly known as Doppelgänger comes at their instruments like a jackhammer in tracks like the banging ‘HeartBreakin Man’ and ‘The Money Shot.’ With so many shoegazers around Brooklyn, here’s a band that looks you square in the face, with songs that won’t take no for an answer. – Mike Levine – This record was submitted for consideration here.