Here at The Deli we always feel a little uncomfortable when we see indie bands write songs about Christmas – maybe because we don’t perceive rock’n’roll as a very Christmas-y musical genre. By definition poor, dirty, and allergic to hypocrisy, rock music doesn’t really need to try and exploit this uber-commercial holiday to lure new listeners. Unless you do it the way emerging lo-fi band Mountain Cult did it in this song called "Christmas Day" (streaming below). We are not sure what the slurred lyrics say here, but we can deduct they aren’t about anything that’s even remotely pretty – we actually had to "censor" the song’s cut and paste video, which was submitted to our open blog, for excessively gory content… For a band that sounds like early Ween’s evil cousins, or an electric version of seminally depressed electro NYC band from the 70s Suicide, a Christmas song is the perfect paradox. We recommend Mountain Cult to send this track + video to Fox News – which, as usual, in the month of December is looking for a new Anti-Christ(mas) to expose and condemn. HUGE potential for promotionl!!! Mountain Cult will release their debutself titled EP at Pianos on December 14

Brooklyn-based man/woman punk’n’roll duo The Naked Heroes has stayed quite under the radar so far notwithstanding their energetic, bare-chested and sweaty live shows. Singer/guitarist George Michael Jackson and drummer Merica Lee churn out songs that pack enough fire power to blow the doors off your 1975 Pontiac Firebird. The lead-off track "Ugly Girls" (silly video streaming below) is a charging, pedal to the metal banger with tongue-in-cheek lyrics and ass-shaking rhythm. This album, as well as their debut album "99 Diamond," are free to download from the band’s website. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). The Deli’s NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building and APS Mastering.

Genre-bending electronic instrumentalists Spyn Reset will make an appearance at The Comet Tavern on Monday, along with pop rock newcomers Open Blue. Fresh from the recording studio, Spyn Reset are set to follow up their 2009 debut, Objects in the Abstract, in January. Composed of four musicians with disparate talents and tastes, the band self-produced their sophomore effort, the 11-track Four Dimensional Audio, which they say will combine the jazz-inflected spontaneity of their first album with a carefully constructed framework. Opening track "L.E.D." is a marriage of flowing synthetic melodies and the clean rhythmic structure provided by drummer Pierson Martin and percussionist Thomas Whiteside. The combination of compositional complexity and impulsive experimentation delivers what the band promises, and suggests growth that could help the recording eclipse their first outing.

Spyn Reset and Open Blue, December 12 @ The Comet Tavern

Doors: 9 p.m.

Cover: $5

-Kate Shepherd

We just received this from The Cake Shop:

The cakeshop show tonight, presented by Jonathan Toubin, goes on as planned, but is now a BENEFIT for the man. we are waiving expenses and $$ is going straight to Jonathan, [who was hit by a cab in Portland while sleeping in his hotel room in a crazy accident]. Please come by and throw support his way, its what he would want!!! Please also go to the other benefit ones nearby at HOME SWEET HOME and MOTOR CITY! this is clearly going to be a killer night of jonvibes!! please also retweet/facebook etc. and spread this around as much as possible.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 9th:
NEW YORK NIGHT TRAIN PRESENTS
4th: FIVE DOLLAR PRIEST (12)
3rd: CHICKEN SNAKE (11)
2nd: MARCELLUS HALL (10)
1st: SEDIMENT CLUB (9)
plus DJs
$10 PLUS (1 free drink ticket if you put in $20 or more), 8pm doors
21+, please bring your ID

The Cakeshop Peeps

Aleksa Palladino and Devon Church make dreamy rock music under the heading EXITMUSIC. The band’s impressive live shows have been garnering much-deserved attention. Aleksa commands attention as the band’s lead vocalist, also alternating between playing guitar and keyboards. Devon stands tall as the primary guitarist, and shifts effortlessly between providing power chords, quick riffs or melody lines and even employs a violin bow on the strings at one point. This fall, the finely crafted recorded works EXITMUSIC have been meticulously constructing were released as their debut album "From Silence." – Read Dave Cromwell’s feature on the band here.

There’s something endearing and catchy about the non-traditional ways that We Are The Woods approach everything from their marketing to their lyrics. Strong voices, beautiful harmonies, and simple melodies speak volumes over the standard folk scene in Brooklyn and New York. Consisting of Jessie Murphy, Marcia Webb and Tyler Beckwith, the trio offers an interesting blend of quirky song titles that match perfectly with their music, songs that both entertain and make thought-provoking statements simultaneously. After captivating us at The Deli’s CMJ "Rootsy Music Stage", We Are the Woods is working on a steady stream of singles to release following up their debut album “Eight Belles.” Don’t miss them at The Living Room on December 16. – Read Christina Morelli’s Q&A with the band here.

We guess New Beard is a kind of band where lady musicians are (implicitly) not invited, since it looks like to be in it you MUST proudly wear some kind of facial hair. Now, while we are aware of the existence of bearded women, we have to say that for some reason they don’t seem to live anywhere near NYC…
The four "beardos", including Ben Wigler (who was wearing one back in 2007, when he appeard on the cover of The Deli Magazine with his previous band Arizona), are all very accomplished musicians and play some very eclectic and pushy indie blues-rock with influences ranging from the exotic to the psych/prog. The band will be releasing their debut EP "Moment of Peace" at Cameo on 12.18, which we are sure will be a good old fashioned rock’n’roll blast. Recommended.

Young Magic is the Brooklyn based collaboration between two Australian musicians (Isaac Emmanuel and Michael Italia) and Indonesian singer songwriter Melati Malay, who made it into our Best of NYC emerging artists poll last year (see our writeup about her here). This project sounds like a more mature development of the direction taken by Malay in her most recent solo material, in which world music influences are rendered through lush and atmospheric arrangements rich in percussions, layered electronic sounds and celestial choirs. The band recently signed to Carpark Records – their LP "Melt" is scheduled to be released on February 14th 2012.

Brooklyn-bred band We Are Augustines’ debut album ‘Rise Ye Sunken Ships’ was just named “Best Alternative Album” of 2011 in the iTunes "REWIND" Year End Round Up. Guitarist and lead vocalist Billy McCarthy (ex Pela) and bassist and keyboardist Eric Sanderson poured incredible amounts of emotion into the band’s debut album — which tells the story of McCarthy’s difficult past. We Are Augustines is scheduled to perform at the Xfm Winter Wonderland concert in London alongside The Horrors, Band of Skulls and more on Wednesday, December 14. – Christine Cauthen

Self described as "orchestral space-pop," Miracles of Modern Science present themselves through a press picture that looks like a kids guide to the string section. Although they play violin, mandolin, cello, and double bass, the quintet’s music has nothing classical about it – besides the instrumentation of course. Two highlights from their first LP "Dog Year" (out now) are the fast paced opener "MOMS AWAY!," with throbbing drums and raw-ish vocals, and "Tensity," with its contained, intricately plucked verse which unexpectedly explodes in a rock-estral chorus. Check out also "Eating Me Alive, streaming below. – Molly Horan

Folk rock group The Wooden Birds, led by Andrew Kenny (American Analog Set, Broken Social Scene), and also featuring NYC songwriter Matt Pond (of Matt Pond PA fame) just released the video for “Criminals Win,” the second from their sophomore effort "Two Matchsticks." Directed by Alex R. Johnson, the video depicts life in the Wooden Birds hometown of Austin, TX, while simultaneously paying homage to the 1977 Burt Reynolds beer-running classic "Smokey & The Bandit." The band is offering a free download of this single and a previously unreleased cover of Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s Baby” on their website.