Philadelphia

Weekend Warrior, April 22 – 24

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Philly’s own Ranch Records is hosting a Ram 1500-sized event at First Unitarian this Saturday, and I can guarantee there will be a hemi under that hood, a.k.a. top tier performances by your favorite Ranch Jams bands. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ranch’s output, they’re the ones behind Philadelphia’s finest gloom-punk and junk-rock bands like The Spirit of The Beehive, whose grunge re-meets shoegaze sound ranges from mudflap grit to pure, synthetic motor oil, open road ramblers Dogs on Acid with their whimsical and unfurling power pop, GUNK, whose smudgy slacker-pop songs drawl and tweak like truck-stop thugs, NAH, whose noisy, heavily percussive, electronic glitch music is the sonic equivalent of that rusty, rattling but reliable hemi engine passing the 200,000 mark, and Congenital Death, the reckless, passing-on-the-right power drivers, whose sheer velocity and bellicosity will make you scared for your life. All of the bands mentioned above and more will be playing the Big Gig Truck festival so truck it on over to First Unitarian for a piece of the action. First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 6pm, $12, All Ages – Bryce Woodcock
 
Other places where you can mourn the loss of Prince this weekend…
 
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) SAT Philly Loves Phife
 
Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) SAT The Dead Anthem Choir, SUN Dreambook
 
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Teenage Bigfoot, The Mad Splatter, Assemble/Jesse Tyler, Sean Hearn, SAT Buzzherd, YottaWatt, Highburnator/Gun$ Garcia, Wassup Gina, SUN Moonstriker, Lord Bulldog/Pet
 
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) SAT Fight Amp Krieg
 
The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.)  SUN RAHKETZ
 
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.)  FRI (Downstairs) Matt Wheeler, SAT (Downstairs) Marc Silver and The Stonethrowers
 
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) SAT Fell into Yesterday, Last Minute Hero, In The Pines, Shots Called, SUN Jam Traffic, The Jumping Juvies, The Cultour, Larry Nodder
 
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) XPN Fest: FRI Ill Doots, Kate Faust, Hardwork Movement, Joie Kathos, SAT Kississippi, Shelf Life, Cherry, Madalean Gauze, SUN Hezekiah Jones, Howlish, Lou, Friendship
 
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St) FRI MCA Day: DJ Brownske, SAT Blood Sound, Suburban Living (DJ Set)
 
Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.)  FRI Francisco Collazo, DJ Phsh, SAT DJ Deejay, SUN Mike Nyce, DJ Lil’ Dave
 
Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT New Pony, SUN Rusty Cadillac
 
Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd St.) SAT Heart Harbor (EP Release), Julia Rainer, SUN Christine Havrilla
 
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI Molly Rhythym, APE!, George Engel Brooks, SAT Voltheque, The One2s, Stellarscope, Toy Cannons
 
Voltage Lounge (421 N. 7th St.) FRI Crash Course In Science
 
Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2nd St.) FRI Residuels (EP Release), Throbbing Chakra, Remote Control, SAT Adam Travis & The Soul, The Color 25, Archawah, SUN Spent Flesh, Janelle, Heavy Medical
 
Morgan’s Pier (221 N. Columbus Boulevard)  FRI DJ Beatstreet, SAT Mr. Sonny James, SUN DJ Skipmode
 
Frankie Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.) FRI Ben Aire, SAT DJ Chris Urban
 
The Foundry (1000 Frankford Ave.) FRI Grayscale
 
The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave.) FRI Jake Clarke
 
The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI Chalk & The Beige Americans, SAT Dorkosaurus
 
W/N W/N (931 Spring Garden St.) SUN DJ Stateschoolgirl
 
The Pharmacy (1300/02 S. 18th St.) SAT Carl Kavorkian, E. Grizzly SUN Hound, The Cloth
 
Birdhouse (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Zach Darrup, Wrong Mantra
 
Slime Time Live (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Interminable, Trash Boy
 
LAVA Space (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) The Afterglows, Attendant, Teenage Bigfoot, King Azaz
 
Philadelphia

WXPN’s Key Fest Returns at MilkBoy Philly April 22 – 24

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WXPN returns to MilkBoy Philly this weekend with its second annual Key Fest. Each bill has been tailored to bring together performances by like-minded local artists for an evening. Kicking things off tonight, you’ll find plenty of hip-hop grooves and electro-soul with Ill Doots, Kate Faust, Hardwork Movement, and Joie Kathos. On Saturday, indie rock/pop-tinged singer-songwriters will be the focus. The Deli Philly’s 2015 runner-up for Emerging Artist(s) of the Year, Kississippi, will be holding down the primetime slot as the evening’s headliner, supported by Shelf Life, Cherry, and Madalean Gauze. And finally, the folkies will be out in Center City this Sunday, and bringing the mellow will be the sweet sounds of Hezekiah Jones, Howlish, Lou, and Friendship. MilkBoy Philly, 1200 Chestnut St., 8pm, $12, 21+ – H.M. Kaufman
NYC

NYC artist on the rise: Arlene Gould brings her edgy Afrobeat to Rockwood on 04.30

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Good luck keeping up with Arlene Gould. The Brooklyn artist balances her creative energies between the worlds of Israeli pop (with Afro Hebrew band Milk and Honeys), performing highly danceable Afrobeat under the pseudonym AG, and delivering dating advice via JDate. Gould’s schedule may be intense, but you’ll be able to see her when she plays Rockwood Stage 2 on Saturday, April 30th. Listen to new track ‘Rollin’ (ft. Lucille Crew) below, the raucous lead single off her upcoming LP of the same name.- Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

NYC

Acoustic folk duo Joan & Joni to perform at the National Colonial Farm, 4/23

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Remember Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell? These legendary ladies of folk have laid down lasting legacies and two accomplished women in the DC area are a product of that influence. Meet Joan & Joni, a duo dedicated to the works of Baez and Mitchell and comprising Allison Shapira and Kipyn Martin. Both performers possess amazing vocals, creating transcendental melodies, and they pluck their guitars in the most elegant ways, crafting an intimate and enveloping sound that you should check out. They display a rich stage presence and a level of talent not to be taken lightly. Catch them tomorrow night, 4/23, at the National Colonial Farm in Accokeek, MD. Doors at 6, $12. -Jonathan Goodwin

Philadelphia

Residuels EP Release Show at Bourbon & Branch April 22

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Raunchy, raw rippers with a primal howl, Residuels sweat rock ‘n’ roll. Celebrating their latest EP Love Songs via Suicide Bong Tapes, before heading off on a West Coast tour with the Buzzcocks, the power trio unearths an unbending energetic stomp that never goes away because it hits the core. That unfiltered take-it-as-it-is expression tears through all types of terrain – quickly, nastily and unflinchingly. The searching, heady post-punk of Throbbing Chakra helps set the table, stirring up the floating aspects of one’s mind, while the sticky dark synth of Remote Control gets things started. Bourbon & Branch, 705 N. 2nd St., 9pm, $10, 21+ – Michael Colavita

Nashville

Ferdinand’s “Proud Honey” is a dreamy sound collage

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Proud Honey is something akin to a rush of cars driving by. There isn’t much to latch on to other than the constant flow itself and all the colors and makes and models and faces subconsciously blend together into a patchwork slipstream. You lose track of the individual pieces and forget that the entire process is a very inorganic, man-made thing as it fades into something as natural as a school of fish. The pieces here are even more abstract—new wave, post-punk, goth, surf—and the result is an EP that passes by all too quickly and demands another listen or two. –Austin Phy

NYC

Three NYC bands playing NYC Popfest in May: Lake Ruth, The Hairs, and Big Quiet

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We are always curious to see what local bands make it into the yearly NYC Popfest – a festival that deserves credit for scouting talented emerging pop acts and keeping things on a medium to small scale, which is what The Deli is all about. This year’s edition will see three NYC based acts involved, and we are very intrigued in particular by Lake Ruth (pictured), a band that evokes aural specters of early Belle & Sebastian led by Trish Keenan of Broadcast. The trio is really, reall new, but its members have played in established acts like Enon and Holy Fuck, although they sound like a development of NYC’s guitarist Hewson Chen’s psych-pop project The New Lines – with a different singer. They have dropped two digital releases so far, for a total of three tracks, debuting in February 2016 with two stylish and mellow songs in ‘The Inconsolable Jean​-​Claude’ EP, followed just two months later by the more uptempo and summery ‘Through The Lychgates,’ streaming below. Singer Allison Brice’s soprano is honey for the ears, and the band knows how to let it flow.

The other two local acts playing this year’s popfest are garage pop trio Big Quiet, which we booked at one of our latest CMJ shows, and self-defined "freak-pop" band The Hairs, brainchild of Brooklyn songwriter Kevin Alvir, who are about to drop their first release since 2013, a n LP entitled ‘While, I Hated Life, Barbarian.’ Check out preview single ‘Fave Shit 15.’

NYC

Caught live: Kennan Moving Company

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Led by singer songwriter Oliver Kennan, Kennan Moving Company is a NYC based quartet that plays loungy pop-rock with vintage overtones – we caught them live this past Sunday at a "Feel The Bern" event at Black Bear Bar. Their music is soulful and refined, with Kennan’s crisp and youthful voice juxtaposed to jazzy arrangements, for a modern throwback sound. Released earlier in 2016, their debut EP "New Colors" features tracks like ‘Easy Coast‘ that are relaxing but upbeat, and smooth opening single ‘Charades’ (streaming below) which conjures up images of romantic flicks and their sentimental narratives. – Amanda McCall

Philadelphia

New Track: “EVERYTHING” (Feat. Miranda Taylor) – Psychic Teens

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Psychic Teens just shared the second single off their forthcoming album, NERVE, called "EVERYTHING". The track features guest vocals from Black Wine’s Miranda Taylor, and the record will be officially released on May 13 via SRA Records. The band is set to hold its hometown record release show at Johnny Brenda’s on Saturday, May 28; however, if you can’t wait that long for your live Psychic Teens fix, the horror trio will be opening for Youth Code at The Foundry on Sunday, May 1, along with Void Vision.

San Francisco

Foxtails Brigade Release New Album

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Foxtails Brigade has released their new self-titled album, out today, April 8th on OIM Records. Produced in the Bay Area by Jeff Saltzman (Blondie, The Killers), this record marks the Oakland-based band’s third full-length LP, but serves as a cohesive statement of who they are and the direction they’re headed. Baeble stated that the record “propels itself forward on the airy but piercing voice of Laura Weinbach, soaring almost vaudeville-esque strings, and a sound that combines Sondheim-esque theatrics with contemporary pop intimacy.”  The band recently celebrated with a record release show at Swedish American Hall in San Francisco and are now on the road in the midst of a month-long April tour.

Chicago

Verbal Kent

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Verbal Kent has teamed up producer !llMind to release a new album, Weight of You World, on Mellow Music Group. The album dropped today and is completely free on bandcamp. Kent also partnered with Jash and Homeless Cop to release a video for the track "Roll With Me".

NYC

Mellow NJ shogazer trio Overlake plays Mercury on 04.24

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Based in Jersey City, Overlake is the moderately shoegaze trio born from the songwriting chemestry of Tom Barrett (guitar, vocals) and Lysa Opfer (bass, backing vocals). We say "moderately" because the band’s sound steers clear of the insanely effected guitar tones that characterize some of the classic of the genre (see My Blood Valentine, who still influenced the band in the melodic department). The mellower sound, which seems to blend in a good amount of clean guitars, suits Barret’s whispered tenor and Opfer ethereal harmonies, resulting in a mix of shoegazer and dream pop. The band released two albums since 2012 and single ‘Travelogue’ (streaming below) in October 2015. You can see them live at The Mercury Lounge on April 23rd.