How does quiet and cool come off as impassioned? One might ask lo-fi duo Old Fashioned Bleeding Hearts (a band we stumbled upon at Baby’s All Right in February), who offer up a cool blend of subdued, almost shy instrumentals, with hushed, yet incredibly heartfelt vocal harmonies, injected with very unabashed emotionality. Colton Tracy’s delicate guitar is almost completely self-aware, melding into Trevor Tattan’s drums patterns; the one being struck in the exact same timbre as the other. Delicate picking and calm strumming lovingly coats and caresses the light hits of snare drum, or the pitter of hi-hat, all creating a foundation on which the two vocalists can find footing, and soothe one another, and consequently, the audience. The instruments play as though they’re peeking out from behind a curtain, until they flourish into lushly strummed chords, and the stage is set for the main attraction of vocal tranquility. – JP Basileo
Velcro & the Slow Children harness some weird energy for “Enough to Die While Sleeping”
Enough to Die While Sleeping, the fruits of a collaboration between Syd Shanshala and Chandler Mills Brown, is the apex of bedroom music. That’s "bedroom music" as an aesthetic more than a description of technique—the cough syrup weirdness is here in full force, but the production values and planning are a step above what’s typically associated with outsider art. Every move is intentional, and each track and transition lands with its feet on the ground and its eight hands in the air.
As far as we can tell, this is the first release on Mesoamerica Records, a budding label/art collective founded by Brown. If this album, a freak-flags-high triumphant march heralding an evolution in outsider art, is any indication of what we’ll be seeing from them in the future, consider us psyched. –Austin Phy
Wally Clark releases “Dear Daniel” and “Year of the Goat”
If you’ve been sleeping on Wally Clark, it’s about time to fix that with a pair of albums released recently on Gummy Soul. One is a collection of original compositions with roots in soul and funk, and the other is a riff on tracks by MF DOOM. Clark follows through with the requisite amount of braggadocio on the albums, but fortunately it’s backed up his talent as a rapper. We would’ve pegged DOOM as a heavy influence even without the presence of the tribute EP, but while his flow comes straight from the mouth of the Madvillain with a little Atmosphere thrown in for good measure, Clark’s tonal range is, impressively, a bit stronger than that of his forebear.
Check out the pair of releases and find your song for summer ’16 well in advance. –Austin Phy
The Deli Philly’s April Record of the Month: Ugly Laugh – The Original Crooks and Nannies
Regatta teams with Josephine Moore for killer “Unlimited Class” EP
We’ve talked before about how much we like the music of Regatta, moniker of local dreampop songster extraordinaire Evan Hickman. He’s back at it with a new EP that doubles down on what drew us to his songs in the first place while adding some new elements that expand on the sound. The addition of Josephine Moore (of Wildfront) adds a surprising amount of levity to the album’s gloomy throwback dreampop, ending up sounding somewhat like Disintegration if Robert Smith had written it while staying in a beach house. Despite the tonal differences between the two singers, their voices are in an effortless-sounding lockstep that still demonstrates their individual talents. –Austin Phy
New Music Video: “Talking Quietly Of Anything With You” – Free Cake For Every Creature
It’s an early Friday morning, and the hushed vocals of Katie Bennett, a.k.a. Free Cake For Every Creature, is here to ease you into your day because we know that no loud noises and human interaction before your first cup of coffee is essential. Below is Bennett’s new video for the title track from her forthcoming album Talking Quietly Of Anything With You, due out April 15 via Double Double Whammy. The dreamy black & white footage was directed by Craig Scheihing.
Empty Markets Pours Out the Noise on “Rash Decisions,” Album Coming April 8
Ohhh crusted punk gods of death and ferocity be praised, we have found something nice for you guys today. From the riotous folds of the always-killer 12XU label (XETAS, Flesh Lights, etc.) comes yet another band as hard and fast as it is smart, this one going by the name Empty Markets.
Empty Markets is long-time heavy music maker Drew Schmitz’s new project (formerly of Cruddy, The Hex Dispensers, Brain Attack and more), and they’re just a few days from releasing their first album, the sure-to-be hard edged Stainless Steel. It’s not just the name that gives away that this record is going to be full of clean, devastatingly sharp hardcore tracks; in anticipation of the release, Empty Markets have put out the first two songs of the album on Bandcamp, and they are nothing if not dangerously loud and hard.
We’ve got our favorite here for you, a track called "Rash Decisions" that features absolutely one of the best intros of any noise song we’ve heard in a long time. "Rash Decisions" is a lesson in how to build a noise punk track, layering one-by-one a bass riff that’s fast even for standards of music like this (by which we mean punk-influenced heady shit; there’s not all that much music exatly like this), then an ear-gripping rolling thunder of a hardcore drum beat, and a droning, chundering guitar blast that busts the song wide open and sweeps everything up in a hurricane of sound that the track’s frantic dual vocalists ride on top of like harpies of art rock. It is savage, raging stuff, and we love the fuck out of it.
Now is truly a great time for heavy music in Austin, with seemingly band after band coming out of the gnarled punky woodwork with excellent hard music, and Empty Markets has absolutely carved its own space out in that genre with these tracks. We are awaiting the April 8 release of the full Stainless Steel with fists raised and a’ready to pump, and in the meantime, here’s somethin’ good and loud to throw your body and brain around to.
The Cabin Fever play Silverlake Lounge on 4.1
The Cabin Fever are an alternative rock trio whose sepia-toned brand of carefully considered dream pop heralds a spacey, psychedelic sound. Their latest single, "The Curse of Us", is a propulsive rocker that lays bare a patient, shimmering guitar tone alongside a tighy rhythm section that ends up providing a cathartic, blissful release.
Make sure to catch The Cabin Fever play at Silverlake Lounge tomorrow, April 1, where they’ll be performing songs off of their upcoming full-length Enjoy Yourself.
Ticket Giveaway: Autolux at Underground Arts This Saturday
Autolux is about to unleash its third full-length album, Pussy’s Dead, tomorrow via Danger Mouse’s new imprint 30th Century Records, and the trio will also be heading to Coachella and Sasquatch this spring. However, you can catch them this Saturday, April 2 at Underground Arts for FREE with Eureka The Butcher. To enter for a chance to win a pair of tix, just send an email to thedelimagazinephiladelphia@gmail.com with the subject line "Pussy’s Alive & Well!" Please also include your cell number in the body of the message (in case of an emergency). Good luck!
The Teen Age plays Rough Trade tonight (03.31) and tomorrow (04.01)
Even though The Teen Age‘s recently released EP ‘Bad Seed’ was written as an “ode to growing older,” single “Backwards” feels emotionally rooted in the now. Under the production eye of Jason Finkel at Converse Rubber Tracks studios, the band makes the most out of immediately catchy guitar riffs and a joyously propulsive rhythm. While the verses may bring to mind early days of The Strokes, the chorus serves to elevate the track into an instant classic. With its pairing of a guitar line melody with the vocal hook “I don’t want to live without you – I just keep on falling backwards,” the song is bound to woo fans of the heart-tugging surf-pop of Beach Fossils. This week the garagey quartet is playing two consecutive nights at Rough Trade: the first show is tonight (03.31) with Slaves, the second one tomorrow (4/1) with two other Deli NYC favorites Celestial Shore and Monogold. – Dave Cromwell
Vundabar takes on Great Scott on 4.30
Vundabar serves as a breath of fresh air out of the tidal waves of folk and hardcore rock that swamp Boston’s music scene. With indie rock at the core of its DNA, Vundabar infuses pop melodies and jangly guitar riffs to create their infectiously energetic sound. Often times switching up the tempo and rhythm mid-way through a song, these sudden changes of direction give their songs a welcomed air of unpredictability and a sharp edge to dance along on. What Vundabar manages to do wonderfully is probably how they take quiet moments in their songs and blow it up with bursts of jagged electric guitars and ragged vocals seamlessly, shocking you with currents of effervescence. The only thing that rivals their sound is their live performances, so catch them at Great Scott on April 30 and take listen below. – Adriana S Ballester
The Deli Presents Queen of Jeans May Residency Kickoff at Bourbon & Branch!
The "denimcore" ladies of Queen of Jeans will be hosting a series of shows this May at Bourbon & Branch, and The Deli Philly is happy to be presenting the kickoff bash for their month-long residency, which will also feature Suburban Living, The Soft Spots, Julia Rainer! And each Friday throughout May, they’ll join forces with an eclectic cast of local music folks like Abi Reimold, Vita and the Woolf, and Curtis Cooper, whose shows will also be co-sponsored by our friends at WXPN, Y-Not Radio, JUMP, and Art in the Age. You can purchase your tickets HERE, and we highly suggest that you grab yours for The Deli event beforehand. It’s a small room, and you don’t want to get shutout!