While most indie rock bands tend to rush into releasing their first debut album, others – probably more wisely – wait for things to slowly fall into place before they put out what is undeniably a major creative effort for any artist. Suckers‘ popularity has been growing slowly but steadily for at least 3-4 years, and finally, with the help of Frenchkiss Records, they have released their debut full length Wild Smile, available for streaming here. At a first listen, the album confirms the band’s strength in producing hypnotizing, slow paced, textured, trippy tunes, with a fascination for chanting and soulful harmonizations. The strongest track seems to belong to their older repertoire ("It Gets Your Body Moving") some sort of choral, timeless psychedelic lullaby, slowly building in intensity and power, that was already present in their debut EP. The band has also announced a fall tour with Menomena. See them live at The Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 18.

There’s nothing quite straight-forward about this four piece’s slippery, somewhat dissonant, winding folk music. With sounds of fingers sliding up and down acoustic guitars, crystalline vocals and blatantly strange electronic interjections, Sticklips’ tunes leave listeners curious as hell. There are so many unanswered questions in each song. Music that seems like it should be so easy to figure out, with nice female vocals and some quirky instrumental aspects, instead creates riddles with its lyrics and ever surprising musical changes. There’s a depth in Johanna Warren’s thin, yet enticing vocals that makes it more than what it seems. In a song like “Cattleships and Bruisers,” the bass line is low and whispering and it change in a heartbeat from sweet and acoustic to uplifting and electric as waves of feedback enter without a moment’s notice. There is an eerie, ghostly quality to Sticklips’ sound as it combines so many aspects but spits it out in a pretty unique way. – Read Lauren Piper’s interview with the band here.

This Brooklyn 3-piece rocks around town with a falsetto voice and nicely patterned rhythms which had them on the road this spring with The Stationary Set after an appearance at SXSW. Formed in 2006 they released an EP titled “Waves” in 2007 and are now promoting their newest release “We Animals” which came out last year. These recent road dates find the band’s live show played out more aggressively than their sleepily tinged album suggests. But in their love for all things mammalian, Monogold finds themselves situated somewhere between the sea and the land playing shows to friends and fans who can appreciate hand drawn cover art and self-recorded music. – See Monogold live at Kevchino.com‘s party at The knit on June 16 + read Simon Heggie’s interview with the band here.

Hello Fellow Deli Followers! Come on out to the Mercury Lounge on Sunday June 13th to check out Live Footage, Setting Sun, Quitzow, and Siwat. Live Footage is a Brooklyn based electronic Rock duo consisting of electronic Cello, and Drums/Keys. Setting Sun and Quitzow are fresh off their 4 week European tour and sounding great! Both will be celebrating a CD release "Fanstasurreal" (Setting Sun), and "Juice Water" (Quitzow). These bands have played multiple bills together, so be prepared for a jam packed show of fun! – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

Galaxy of Tar‘s Naima Mora has a face you’ve seen before – she won "America’s Next Top Model" in 2005 and went on to to be the CoverGirl contract model – but it’s high time for her to be heard and not just seen. Filling her role as front-woman with passion and dynamism, her voice soars skyward over the Latin-esque poly-rhythms and churning riffage of drummer/sonic-architect, Elias Diaz V.’s Volatile Glass, the latest free release from Lapdance Academy. Borrowing equally from Diaz’s Dominican roots and the industrial pulse of Brooklyn’s transit system, GALAXY OF TAR have created a unique sonic space between SANTANA’S "Abraxas" and TOOL’S "Lateralus." Rounded out by the torn, metallic shards of Nemanja Rebic’s guitars and the deep pockets of Samuel Fernandez’s bass lines, "Volatile Glass", the band’s debut album, is available for streaming preview and free download in 256 and 320 bit-rates here. The band’s next live show in NYC will be at Commodore Barry Park on June 27. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

Baby Alpaca arrive as yet-another Brooklyn based band attempting to make some kind of mark on the musical landscape. They are introduced by way of their first single “Vodka Lemonade.” “Let’s live our Marilyn dreams and dance away,” and “waste away in the sun,” is how the lyrics go. The vocals are deep and reverbed and the overall feel is lazy, lolling, relaxed and hazy. Musically, there is a 1950’s feel present, but by way of David Lynch’s filter. It is post punk, psychedelic, folk and a crooner feel to it as well. Like a male Nicole Atkins who’s chosen to sit on the sidelines and watch the world drift by in front of them. “This was our dream but it didn’t mean a thing ‘cause now you’re gone” is the cause to become “sunken in the vodka lemonade.” Heartbreak can do that to you. “Let’s live our heroin dreams, dance with coke fiends.” It’s like a gothic reply to MGMT’s “Time To Pretend.” “True Heart” continues the slow crooning aspects and again one wouldn’t be off base thinking of Ms. Atkins and the more eerily side of her catalogue (“Neptune City” “The Way It Is”). Vocalist Chris Kittrell modifies this style somewhat on “Driving To See You” which wouldn’t be out of place on, say a Cowboy Junkies album. The instrumental accompaniment is understated and sparse. Mostly consisting of a tambourine, single drum thump, mysterious organ line and a zither-like device. It all adds up to something quite unique. – Dave Cromwell

Considering that Starring features members of Pterodactyl, Talibam! and Skeleton$, it could not possibly be a non noisy project. The band’s tunes are dominated by chanting vocals, tense and staccato organ sounds, frantic drumming, and clangy guitar tones – perhaps inspired by Arto Lindsay’s atonal style which he pioneered in his glorious "no wave" days. All the instruments are played in some sort of "maximalistic" way here – no room for space or subtleties. The result is some kind of weird, crowded, explosive party music with a prog rock flavor… here comes a new genre: prog-orgy-rock?! Quoting Pere Ubu, we could really call this "The New Modern Dance (for the horny post punk hipster)". The band is releasing their debut CD "The Wife of God" with a show at Death by Audio on June 10. After that they will embark on a East Coast tour that will keep them busy until the end of June, when they will play Brooklyn again (Union Pool on June 25).

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

After hearing Hospitality’s soundcheck, singer-songwriter Karl Blau offered to record the trio’s music in exchange for serving as his backing band for a few shows. The result of this unusual barter is the band’s self titled EP, which features six poppy, captivating songs recorded on a 4-track. It’s difficult not to fall for Hospitality’s charms.: the lo-fi songs project such warmth through Amber Papini’s tender vocals and charismatic melodies, that bear a hint of ‘60s nostalgia. Although their songs are infused with a darling amount of sweetness, their roughness in the recording department balance things out – they recorded some tracks using the telephone as their only microphone! (That’s what we call "no-fi".) Well, those tunes still sound surprisingly awesome. – Nancy Chow

French Horn Rebellion are slowly conquering the world country by country, with their irresisble 70s infused disco-pop. The band has recently opened on major European stages for Matt & Kim, Major Lazer, The Drums and Sleigh Bells. They are now busy touring the Americas, starting in Montreal, stopping in NYC at the Bklyn Bowl on June 12th, and ending in Sao Paulo on June 27th!
A recent visual collaboration betrays deeper, creative connection with Canada and Brasil. Montreal based Canadian film maker DEFASTEN (aka Patrick Doan) with this video visualised The Twelves remix of “Beaches & Friends”, French Horn Rebellion’s collaboration with Brazilian duo Database, a track which provides a clearing for the long awaited French Horn Rebellion debut album recently completed aboard trains, planes, and hotel rooms across Europe. 

We had been wondering for a while when The Drums were going to release their debut full length – now we know: June 8 (digital version), August 10 (vinyl), September (CD). The band hit the NYC scene like a sandstorm in the summer of 2009 soon after moving here from Florida, gaining almost instant buzz in the local music blogs. Their uplifting, minimalistic pop songs, and their melancholic lyrics often recalling memories of Floridian summer and sunny beaches, are a perfect sonic appetizer for anybody’s upcoming summer vacation. The Drums are currently touring Europe, and it looks like the buzz followed them there – their two shows in London on June 8-9 sold out.

Josh Mease belongs to the rather recent school of "adventurous orchestral songwriters", which has a strong presence in NYC. The Houston transplant feels mostly comfortable in what we call "Mellow Core" territory (i.e. ballads that are too sophisticated to be called just "ballads"). His voice alone it’s a monument to mellowness, while his arrangements dabble in psychedelic atmospheres. Josh will be opening for Angus and Julia Stone at TribecaY92 on June 10.

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

Liturgy are New York’s first black metal band to truly feel like New York—the hypnotic churn of Glenn Branca or Rhys Chatham; the transcendent ecstasy of La Monte Young’s Dream Syndicate; the art-punker cutter sprawl of the Swans or Suicide; the everydude psych of Oneida. Dudes are more likely to wear a Michael Jordan shirt than corpsepaint, more likely to attack metal with a noise-punkers zeal, more likely to make love than war. To wit: Drummer Greg Fox clearly values power and theatrics over speed, watching his BPM increase over the last two years has been nothing short of mesmerizing. – Christopher R. Weingarten