If anything, Violens might be one of the more straightforward shoegazer bands around Brooklyn. In a town awash with wash, the band stands out for their adherence to pop earworms even while dousing their ensemble in buckets of reverb and delay. Their latest 7" ‘Totally True,’ continues to the band’s growing songwriting concision and couples the track with the brand new "Something Falling."

It’s all in preparation for their pending May release of ‘True,’ an album appropriately titled for a sound this honest.

See them when they play Le Poisson Rouge for the record release party on May 16.

Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

New York’s answer to doo-wop, Lily and the Parlour Tricks raise their seductive shuffle to a higher bar with their new video for ‘The Poison Song.’ Lily Claire shimmies around in a changing cast of black-on-white-on-black backdrops that cast the barroom brawl of the single in its most sensuous light. Taken from their latest self-titled EP, ‘The Poison Song’ will get you on your feet and keep you there until Lily says otherwise.

Shana Keegan produces.

Catch the band when they play Cameo Gallery 11 pm this Tuesday, April 10th.

Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Dueling, clean guitars, raucous drums, and sentimental vocals, The Lounge Act makes a lot happen from seemingly almost nothing. With songs that take plenty of twists and turns before arriving, tracks like ‘Julie’ and ‘For What It’s Worth’ reveal an often ignored potential for straightforward rock ensembles. Lounge Act seems to make the effects we usually hear from stompboxes come out instead directly from singer Simon Guzman’s epic tales of heartbreak and disappointment. With all the possibilities granted to recording these days, it’s refreshing to hear such an honest means used to tell a story. Lounge act has found this formula, by reinventing rock music’s familiar terrain for their own purposes. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

See them April 28 at Bar East.

This band submitted their music digitally here.

Rob Jennings might have some spooky images on his bandcamp, but his sound goes down like butter. This is dance music that pairs freaky psychedelia with swirling, dense organs and obscure samples, all brought home by Jennings, whose tenor rivals even singers like Omar Rodriguez-Lopez on screamer tracks ‘Invisible Walls’ and ‘Shy Nobody.’

The Jersey band takes psychology to places it’s never been before on debut full-length ‘Shy Nobody.’ An album replete with dance-a-licious power grooves fueled by cerebral madness… a fantastically demented achievement if you ask me.

See them when they play live at Bardi’s Bar & Grill in Pequannock, NJ on June 1st.

This band submitted their music digitally here.

Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Let the good times roll. Like a name that could have come straight from a James Dean quote, Fast Years plays fast, fun music that gets right to the point and stays at that mileage until the end.

Playing through their riffs like a rock mission statement, the Brooklyn quartet shred away on their latest EP ‘Young Heart,’ making it their mission to re-ignite Ramone’s-style party anthems, using their EP as the spark.

See them when they play Union Hall on April 27th.

This band submitted their music digitally here.

Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Friday is upon us, and while many music lovers in Seattle will be packing venues to take in a handful of acts stopping by the city this weekend (Cults, Young the Giant and Sleigh Bells, to name a few), there’s plenty of local talent lined up over the next few days for those of you without big-name tickets. Tomorrow night, the Vera Project will play host to San Franciscan rockers, Ceremony, Olympia’s Milk Music, and the Seattle-based Society Nurse. The trio should provide a high-octane set tailored to the tastes of the city’s hardcore audience, for $11 a ticket ($10 with a club card). Doors will be at 7:30. At the Sunset Tavern, blues-rockers the Grizzled Mighty will take the stage with Strong Killings and Consignment on Saturday night. Presented by KEXP Audioasis, tickets for the show are $8, and doors will open at 10:00. Rounding out the weekend on Sunday night, the Comet Tavern presents folk bard Eric Miller, along with Shareef Ali and the Radical Folksonomy, Judd Wasserman, and Kate Graves. Cover for the show sits at $6.

I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover. The soft, dreamy vocals in The Record Summer’s jams belie a quiet rage, betraying an inner passion that feels almost at odds with their jams, but only adds to the mysterious intrigue powering this group.

Their debut ‘Race to the Bottom’ moves through singer/songwriter Bret Rodysill purging the wounds of a broken heart in the slow build of ‘Boys and Girls in the Modern Age’ and the ultra-catchy ‘You in an Empty Room.’ For a man with a lot on his mind, this is some fairly cathartic stuff.

This band submitted their music digitally here.

Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Nees and Vos is one of those bands you listen to and wonder why they’re not the biggest thing around. Complete with Andrew Neesley’s trumpets, groove-shaking drums and even a backing gospel choir, this band swoops in and takes care of all your soul food needs.
Songs like ‘Burn Me Down’ and ‘Remember Me’ take care of business just fine, but the relentless cowbell in ‘Build A Fortress’ is all I thought I needed to hear.
And then I heard their epic cover of Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Who’s Gonna Save My Soul,’ and got a better idea of just how much this band is capable of. It’s not an easy chore to fill in for Cee-Lo’s vocals, but singer Chris Vos’s buttery vocals, coupled with the souful barnburner of the backing band, produces a combination more than up to the task. Here’s a group you ought to be paying attention to.

This band submitted their music digitally here.

"Everytime that I sing this f*king song I won’t forget…" – singer Joe Galarraga exclaims in the epic burner ‘Not Over Yet.’ You and me both, Joe…

Big Ups is the kind of fun I used to have with Bouncing Souls and MXPX. It’s nerdcore punk the way it’s meant to be experienced: as an electrically charged current of testosterone and beer bumping through over-charged speakers and car crash drum beats. Galarraga delivers a never-ending cascade against boredom and hypocrisy in songs like ‘Hard to Care’ and ‘Shut Your Mouth.’ But if all this sounds like mere throwback to an earlier era from a relatively young bro quartet, you’re only half right. Big Ups can easily channel first generation hardcore like Minor Threat and Japanther when they want to, but they’re equally capable of reaching the epic heights of At the Drive In when called for.

For a group exalting the glories of couch surfing on their bandcamp, Big Ups also know how to bring the energy to the party.

Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

After a tour down South and back, Brooklyn’s Black Taxi returns to treat their home fans to three Thursday residency shows at the intimate and beloved Rockwood Music Hall. Accompanied by several musical souvenirs, the gig trifecta starts off this Thursday, April 5, as Black Taxi brings back Austin’s energetic space-rock quartet, The Frontier Brothers, along with Albany’s soulful Wild Adriatic. The second show on April 12 features Fort Worth’s garage rockers, The Phuss, and the acoustic meanderings of Joseph King of NYC’s Deadbeat Darling, who just released a new full length. The residency finale on April 19 welcomes Dallas-born, folksy and electronic Ishi and Cleveland’s pop act, The Modern Electric. Pick up tickets before each gig, as they will most likely sell out. Doors are at 9pm each week. www.blacktaxi.com – Meijin Bruttomesso