Little Racer‘s jangly guitar hooks and intricate percussive elements sound distantly familiar, as if the band had been making music for decades. Is it Talking Heads? Is it a band from the ’60s that opened for The Byrds? The trio’s concocts a sonic cauldron of influences that, though inspired by past musical traditions to the point of being downright nostalgic, perfectly represents the current state of indie rock. If you want to understand what I’m talking about, you can catch them in Brooklyn at Lantern Hall this Saturday, May 13th, or at Rough Trade on June 6th. – Andrew Strader
Nashville
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Mouth Reader’s Fuzzy Psychedelia
Mouth Reader takes a hybrid approach to constructing their sonic niche. They harness the timbre of fuzz rock classics like Dinosaur Jr. to create massive sounding psychedelic power ballads reminiscent of slow-moving but powerful shoegaze bands like Slowdive. The percussion is big and reverby and the vocals are belligerent in their tone, making for a band that sits perfectly in the dive and basement venues of Nashville and Murfreesboro. Their work is tastefully lo-fi, with production developed enough to be accessible, but carrying the kind of DIY nature that makes you wish you had made the songs yourself. Be sure to catch their next show on June 6th at Ddrkmttr.
-Andrew Strader
NYC
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Bellows tour with Big Ups + talk about their guitar, pedals & synths on Delicious Audio
Bellows is the bedroom project of Brooklyn songwriter/guitarist/producer Oliver Kalb, an ex member of now defunct NYC collective of songwriters collaborating with each other called The Epoch. Active with this solo project since the beginning of the decade, Oliver has developed a sound that’s at once melodic, edgy and delicately textured. Latest and third LP ‘Fist & Palm‘ showcases a preference for intimate atmospheres (at times reminiscent of Elliot Smith’s whispered folk-pop) and an effort to explore new sonic territories. The band just announced an east coast tour with hardcord punks Big Ups (strange pairing!) and unveiled a new video for single ‘Spring, Summer, Autums and Winter’ – streaming below the one for our favorite track from the latest album, ‘Thick Skin.’
Check out Bellows interview with Delicious Audio about Pedals and Synths.
We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best mellow songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!
Philadelphia
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Weekend Warrior May 12 – 14
An immediate, determined sense of soulful urgency drips from Sheer Mag. Shrouded in sticky grooves united with decisively climbing guitar licks, the band seizes the opportunity, gathering the collective energy within the room and harnessing it into an exhibition, showcasing the duality, when vulnerability transforms into power. Fresh off the announcement of their forthcoming debut full-length Need to Feel Your Love, which will be available on July 16 via Static Shock Records, the former Deli Philly Artist(s) of Year bring their rippin’ and roarin’ chew ‘em up and spit ‘em out rock ‘n’ roll to First Unitarian Church this Saturday. The melodic, fuzz-speckled, bass-thumping garage-punk of Marge help to fortify this billing, which also includes Vancouver’s Weed.
Meanwhile, over at PhilaMOCA on the same evening, the bright, bubbling, psych-venturing pop of six-piece collective Circadian Rhythms gently stacks instrumental layers, melding refreshingly with its slightly off-kilter arrangements. The band will be celebrating its new record, A Peculiar Kind of Afternoon, supported by the sunny instrumentals of R.R. Perkins and the casually cloudy exploits of Mavis the Dog. – Michael Colavita
More places to enjoy this weekend…
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI The Lawsuits, The Vernes, SAT DJ Emynd, Bo Bliz
Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) FRI Fully Glazed, SAT The Dead Anthem Choir
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Secret Nudist Friends, Spelling Reform/Dev79, Sideswipe/DJ Deejay, SAT Seeing Snakes, The Missile Toads/Mighty Mike Saga, Elijvh Vrms/The Engineer, Teknacolor Ninja, SUN Gibbous Moon, Disoriental, The Mojo Machine/Lawn Talk, Julia Rainer
PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th St.) SAT Circadian Rhythms (Album Release), R.R. Perkins, Mavis The Dog, John Morrison
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) SAT DJ Kirsh
Union Transfer (1026 Spring Garden St,) FRI The Brood
The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) FRI Nizzy Strawz, SAT Somethin’ Divine, Mauled By A Bear, Class!c/Steal Your Peach
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Upstairs) Three Fourteen, Local Smokes, SAT (Upstairs) Philly Gumbo, Badd Kitti, SUN (Upstairs) Minas
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Tigers + Thieves/Mason, SAT The Founders/Split Divo, SUN Godchild, Ronn Tetra, Mahatma X
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Hambone Relay, Las Palabras, The Barrel Fires, SAT Big Nothing, Goddamnit
The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave.) SUN Sea Offs, Seagulls, Shelf Life
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St) FRI Jacopo & The Late Saints, SAT Old Arrows (Record Release), Life Uniform, Inspector Moon, Crossed Keys
Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI Lee Mayjahs?, DJ Everyday, SAT DJ Deejay, SUN Francisco Collazo
Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT Dave Steel Blues Band
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI Bern the Bastard, Carefree Constant, Medusa’s Disco, Adventure Lost, Dead:Stop, SAT Polar Bear Lars, Oh Pears
The Grape Room (105 Grape St) FRI Bamboo Tommy, Cracker Rogers Gang, SAT White Limo, Rock The Nation
Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2nd St.) FRI Gene Wildest, Kodiak Park, Ronald Reagan? The Actor?, SAT Aaron Parnell Brown, Imani Roach, Allison Polans
Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.) FRI 25th Anniversary Celebration of The Black Crowes Southern Harmony & Musical Companion: Taller, Nik Greeley, Pawnshop Roses, Dan Reed, Ali Wadsworth, SAT Tommy Conwell & The Young Rumblers, Ben Arnold
Morgan’s Pier (221 N. Columbus Blvd.) FRI DJ Beat Street
First Unitarian Church (2125 Chestnut St.) SAT Sheer Mag, Marge
Everybody Hits (529 W. Girard Ave.) SAT Yankee Bluff, YCIB, Cherry
LAVA Space (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI King Azaz, Sarah M, Sour Spirit
Baird Mansion Atrium (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Loose Tooth, Blue Smiley
Philadelphia
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New Track: “Hardware” – Moor Mother x Mental Jewelry
In collaboration alongside local producer Mental Jewelry, Moor Mother will release a new EP Crime Waves via Don Giovanni Records on June 16. Utilizing an entrenching, bass-blasting beat, “Hardware” is a grimy tale of perseverance in spite of saddening violence. It’s a heavy sobering commentary. Moor Mother will also be appearing this evening at The Rotunda.
Philadelphia
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New Video: “Down Your Street” (Live – Out Of Town Films) – RFA
Courtesy of Out of Town Films, RFA have released a new song, “Down Your Street.” Kickstarted by backend, agitated, yearning vocals take the lead, strolling at a steady pace that when sparked, increases into a jarring momentary jam, before tempering back into form. The quartet is set to perform next in Philly on Wednesday, May 31 at PhilaMOCA with Dear Forbidden and The Coax.
NYC
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Noisy indie rockers, Wives, to play Rough Trade 6/6
Next month, Wives will be performing at Brooklyn’s Rough Trade, but any facts beyond that are difficult to ascertain. According to the group’s Bandcamp page, they hail from Queens, but with no Facebook links, a dead Instagram URL and no other social presence, just who Wives is remains a mystery. What isn’t a mystery is that the band is writing some straight, kick-ass tunes that are good enough to share even though details are scarce. Wives deals in noisy indie rock, with an air of apathetic street cool. The band’s vocals radiate a Lou Reed-type swagger, talk-singing smart lyrics against simple yet potent instrumentals. "So Far Removed," their latest (only?) multi-track release is 4 songs worth of what the band has tagged as "grunge, noise, pop," which serve as unlikely but accurate descriptors. If you want to learn anything more than that, you may just have to check out the show on 6/6, when Wives will play alongside Jay Som, but in the meantime, you can start your own detective work by hitting that play button below. – Olivia Sisinni
Chicago
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Kevin Andrew Prchal
Kevin Andrew Prchal is preparing to release his third full-length album, Love & Summer, on June 30th. Below is the trailer for the album, and we hope to be able to premiere a song from the release soon.
You can help Kevin celebrate the release on August 5 at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn.
Nashville
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Promweather’s Raw Fuzz Rock Power
Sharing members with popular Nashville psych outfit The Pills, Promweather harnesses the kind of garage rock sloppiness that garnered the early work of bands like Dinosaur Jr. and modern derivatives like Car Seat Headrest so much attention. Dissonant guitar chords provide layers of sound that drone in key, odd television samples usher the songs in and out, feedback layers swallow otherwise empty sonic space. This band loves noise, but not in the blissed out psychedelic sense. The drums are tight. The guitars are close and dry, cutting through layers of feedback and chaotic noise. Promweather brings us raw form and raw energy straight from the garage. They’re as interested in raw fuzz rock power as they are in delay and reverb and all the conventions of psych. Making dissonant, supposedly undesirable instrument noise beautifully contribute to songs is Promweather’s surest talent and they certainly deliver it in their live shows. Be sure to check them out the next time you see them on a bill in town. You won’t regret it.
-Andrew Strader
NYC
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Deli sponsored series The Hum returns on Monday 05.15 at Good Room with Elysse, Brittany Campbell and more
The two wonderful soul voices of Elysse and Brittany Campbell will be among the sound you’ll hear reverberating this coming Monday May 15 at Greenpoint’s Good Room during the third appointment with the Deli-sponsored, LPR Presents organized concert series The Hum. While we covered Campbell at length (she was on the cover of our magazine last year), Elysse is a new face in the NYC scene, and a very promising one. The only track she has currently available online showcases a delicately expressive artist supported by an uber-intriguing production that strikes a balance between classic soul and trippy, Lynchian atmospheres.
Check out the full list of Monday’s collaborations, tickets can be found here:
Caroline Rose + Zoe Brecher (Sad13) + Noga Shefi + Joy Morales ///
Little Kruta + H3R ///
Brittany Campbell + Maya Lazaro + Kate Ferber ///
Joy Elysse + Bria Monet + Adi Meyerson + Taylor Zaro + Savannah Harris ///
NYC
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The Deli interviews Chamber Band
With pure, dulcet vocals and driving, twangy instrumentals, Brooklyn-based Chamber Band serves up folk rock in a style all their own. Recently, The Deli was able to talk with the band a bit about their background, and how they manage to churn out such powerfully penned tracks. Read the full interview here.
P.S. The band won this interview through The Music Building‘s Expose Yourself Campaign – you can sign up here to be considered!
L.A.
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Heavy psych rockers PETYR release debut full-length of 6/9
Psychedelic rockers PETYR live by the thrill of adrenaline. The San Diego foursome are motivated by equal parts skateboarding and hard rock, activities that fuel their stoner jams with a free-flowing and deeply emotional energy. Inspired by those long drives up the Pacific coast, their upcoming debut full-length features eight smoldering tracks that capture the band’s self-described "sonic heaviness", playing against the dynamics of a live setting through and through.
PETYR comes out on June 9 via Outer Battery Records.