New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Recent Deli NYC Artist of the month Silverbird and Crystal Stilts’ keyboardist Kyle Forester (pictured) will be sharing Berlin’s stage on April 6th, for a free show belonging to the PURSUIT series, also featuring a DJ set from Erika Spring of Au Revoir Simone. Both bands offer quality songwriting with dreamy overtones, with Kyle Forester opting for a mellower and at times folkier sound. His full length record is scheduled for a May release.
Asbury Park’s fertile music scene has had a long history of influence on the NY metro area and beyond. Local psych rock revival quartet gods is a recent offshoot of The Parlor Mob, releasing their debut EP “Endless Stunner” in early 2015. Leadoff track “New Future” builds off a forward driving snare and bass drum beat with tambourine-jingle enhancements, as guitar chord structures playfully invert The Beatles’ “Ticket To Ride.” Vocals begin as the drums drop out, creating a harmony-induced dreamlike sequence before the beat kicks back in. The lyrics “I have been waiting it seems until eternity brings me the light” underscore a chorus enphasized by riff heavy guitars. “Creatures” rises out of an electronic bass pulse center, allowing space and sonic textures to float around it. With individual percussive elements emphasized through heightened studio effects, an overall sinister feel in rhythm emerges. One could imagine this as film score music behind a pivotal travel scene. The pure pop’n’roll single “Puttin’ Me On” (streaming) seems as if molded from prime era “Electric Warrior” T-Rex combined with joyous groove of 70’s psych-pop bands like Mungo Jerry. Bolan-esque vibrato infused verses are followed by the handclap punctuated hook “B-B-Baby, don’t you know you drive me crazy, you do!” As catchy a pop rocker you’re likely to hear, the best elements lock together bass, lead and rhythm guitars. Clocking in under two-minutes, “dream, dream, dream” moves things further back in time with its mid-60’s British blues feel. The vibe is early Yardbirds, Eric Burden’s Animals and the Van Morrison fronted Them. Title track “Endless Stunner” serves as the EP’s big time rave up grand finale. Epic guitar hooks share sonic space with raucous vocal screams, abruptly staggered drums and dreamlike plateaus, bringing together the best of hard rock and prog. gods will be performing at the Good Room in Greenpoint on May 11, while The Parlor Mob play on April 8 at House of Independents during the Asbury Park Music In Film Festival. – Dave Cromwell
After the disbandment of Kite Party in 2014, Russell Edling continued working on new material that would eventually fall under the umbrella of his new project Cherry. This past February, he released its debut EP Gloom (which consisted of three lo-fi, slacker-rock/pop originals and a cover of Fugazi’s "I’m So Tired") via Philly indie label Lame-O Records. They’ll finally get a chance to celebrate its arrival this evening at Kung Fu Necktie, where Cherry will be joined by labelmate Lowercase Roses as well as Cave People and Sun Organ. Tonight’s bill is certainly not a bad way to cap off a good weekend! Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $6, 21+ (Photo by Craig Scheihing) – H.M. Kauffman
The San Francisco based band, French Girls have released a cover of The Strokes´ The End Has No End. Take a listen and check them out TONIGHT at Hemlock Tavern with Everyone is Dirty and Fever Feel!
¨The sound of our previous albums have ranged from surf rock to grunge, but we have spent the last year retooling our sound. These days our sound is somewhere in the middle of a 3 way standoff between T-Rex, Tame Impala, and The Talking Heads. Because we’ve been been hard at work developing an art direction to exist along side of our new album, our singles have been taking awhile to release. To make up for our lack of releasing anything new, I’ve recently produced a cover of The Strokes’ “The End Has No End” and had artist Oakland artist Salina Shelton design a single cover to accompany it.¨ -Charlie of Frenchgirls
Slingshot Dakota shoots into Everybody Hits, headlining a record release show for their latest album Break, which was released last month via Topshelf Records. The husband and wife duo of Tom Patterson and Carly Comando explore emotive, earnest territory, adapting to life’s curve balls one pitch at a time. They don’t shy away from challenges, embracing the rough edges with a charming, thick-skinned sincerity. However, toughness is only a segment of their sound – one which also exudes a positive outlook despite the momentary obstacles that lie in the day to day, finding triumphant joy. Mercury Girls deliver loose energetic pop that lyrically digs into pain, contrasting with its harmony-rich polish. Petal, a.k.a. Kiley Lotz, showcases beautiful determination through rousing, unshielded vulnerability. With their new LP Guided Meditation due out at month’s end via Lame-O Records, the infectious, expressive, hook-laden pop-rock of Hurry completes this lineup. Everybody Hits, 529 W. Girard Ave., 8:30pm, $10, All Ages – Michael Colavita
Tonight, come to one of Baltimore’s best music venues for one heck of a lineup. Opening up for the night is Baltimore’s indie rock group Slow Lights, with a sweetly soulful, melodic vibe to share. Following is another Baltimore band, the funky space rock quartet Greasy Hands. Their sound is fun and enthralling, blending guitar riffs and keys to make you move. Up next, Philly’s own progressive alt rock trio, The Humble. Working the pedals and belting out some guttural, yet hearty vocals, these guys are guaranteed to surprise. Closing out the night, headliners The Milestones hail from Baltimore and have mastered their unique blend of alt and dance rock. Make your Saturday night awesome and check out these great bands at Ottobar, doors at 9pm, just $10. -Jonathan Goodwin
Out of the musical maze that is Brooklyn’s synthpop scene rises Matt Koenig’s solo project Undercover Dream Lovers. The project’s intriguingly weird tracks have a knack for throwing together elements that would otherwise clash. With colorful bursts of synths and electronic textures, Undercover Dream Lover’s songs are equally fitting in an 80’s movie montage as in a futuristic space travel scene. “The Master” (streaming below) features undulating synths with distorted vocals that alternate between sounding close and distant, creating an interesting effect of fluctuating intersecting sonic waves. “When You Know It’s Alright” has piercing synths and spacey electronic bouts that burst in interspersed sections throughout the song, a track we could easily play over and over again as we drive down at night into whatever the future holds. Catch Undercover Dream Lover at Baby’s All Right for their EP release show on April 8.
Just a week after releasing its sophomore EP ‘Jackson’s Big Sky,’ steadily rising Brooklyn rock sextet Great Caesar now shares the achingly sublime music video (streaming below) for the track “Hey Mama." Showing the bandmembers singing the pining lyrics to the horn-blasted song in an abandoned warehouse that oozes an odd liquid, the crisp black-and-white clip conjures a creepy, almost Lynchian aura. Talking to Earmilk, Great Caesar frontman John-Michael Parker explains that the song does, in fact, tackle “disappointment and unfulfilled expectations, and the creeping anxiety of knowing you’ve done wrong by someone you love.” With his impassioned vocals and his bandmates’ wondrous playing, though, an undeniable warmth and hope for interpersonal reconciliation ultimately comes through. While Great Caesar doesn’t seem to have upcoming shows currently listed, keep posted on its Facebook page for future announcements. – Zach Weg
Not fool around as in hook up with people…unless you want to. That’s your own prerogative. I’m talking April Fools, which is today. This show, however, is not a joke. Korgy and Bass, Eric Fury and Coco Columbia will all be blasting their ecclectic and addictive beats in the basement space at the Dacha tonight for $5. Come out and bob your head a little bit. Or maybe even pull a Busta Rhymes and break ya’ neck. Whatever you choose to do, it’ll be fun. Just keep the pranking to a minimum, we’re all adults here. -Cervante Pope
Back in February Boston’s psych band Magic Shoppe released their second E.P. Interstellar Car Crash and it’s a trippy sonic masterpiece. The tracks are guitar centric pieces with distorted vocals floating in the background and cavernous reverb unabashedly pounding in your head. With beautifully languid melodies pulsing rhythmically throughout the E.P., Magic Shoppe succeeds at creating dynamic tunes that manage to maintain a sense of calm despite all that’s happening around them. The last track, “Interstella Car Crash” (streaming below), is the perfect example of that. Starting off with with an uniform tempo, vocals echoing in the distance the guitars sputter evenly before exploding into a spirited riff in the final minute. It’s like watching a star collapse into itself in slow motion and then witnessing it burst into a supernova of brilliant colors and sounds– a wondrous natural phenomena of galactic proportions that leaves us with our mouths agape, staring at the sky in awe.
