Led by Tom Contarino, Empty Stable‘ self-titled EP ties into a straightforward, earnest, musical thread. Coasting on an acoustic folk-country-blues plain, the songs take on a wise and weathered tone of experience. As the temperatures shift in a pleasant direction, listening to Empty Stable ushers the desire to branch outward and explore the possibilities. It’s bare in its minimalistic nature, but full of feeling.
NYC
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A Deli video premiere: Retail Space – “Dreams”
The new video for "Dreams," by Brooklynites Isabelle Burnet and Jacob Rosse (aka Retail Space) was filmed lakeside in the hauntingly beautiful fading winter. First, the duo is captured performing in a bedroom, but then the bed and window are displaced to the banks of the lake. Dressed in furs and feathered hats, the duo looks ethereal and eye-catching. The song itself, off of their debut record "In The Lotia," is just as appealing, with fuzzy synths and clean electric guitars, accentuated by a driving drum kit and hollowed, harrowing harmonies. “Dreams” shows craft and attention to detail, portraying a sense of utopia and a pureness of heart. Retail Space recently completed a west coast tour and will be performing at Brooklyn’s Muchmore’s on June 2nd. – Geena Kloeppel
Toronto
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STARS ALGONQUIN – “KEEP ON DREAMING”
This indie rock band based in Toronto has a very earthy name…Stars Algonquin and their tunes have a sense of nature to them. There is an Americana influence heavily weaved into the alt-rock sounds however the vibes lead you to the northern wilderness rather than anything in the USA. Their new record "Keep On Dreaming" was released in December 2016 featuring 6 tunes that could be the theme songs for your next road trip. Available on their bandcamp page. – Kris Gies
Philadelphia
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Krust Toons: “If There’s Two Things I Hate… ” by Tedd Hazard
Krust Toons: "If There’s Two Things I Hate… " by Tedd Hazard – please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.
Philadelphia
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New Track: “SICKO” – Psychic Teens
It feels like it’s been a minute since we’ve heard new material from Philly gothic post-punk power trio Psychic Teens. And the wait was well worth it! "SICKO," the band’s latest incendiary single, sets ablaze all in its path with bloodcurdling guitar slashes and unrelenting percussive bombardments. No one will be spared. It’s an unfiltered, revealing, dystopian depiction of our modern day society. "SICKO" can be found on the group’s forthcoming EP HEX, due out April 21 via Hex Records.
Nashville
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NYC Record of the Month: Tiny Hazard’s “Greyland”
There aren’t a lot of bands like Tiny Hazard floating around these days. Their brand of avant-pop is quite unique and that’s certainly also due to the fact that the music they’ve strived to master is difficult to conceive, let alone perform. Maybe that’s why their new record "Greyland" took about five years to be finalized. Alena Spanger’s vocals are the core of the record, leading the tracks’ twists and turn with her beautiful soprano, never afraid to get downright complex/intense. There’s a paradoxical stance taken with the composition, with the melodies pivoting back and forth from sweet to dissonant, and the arrangements from orchestral to utterly noisy. The songs are sparse in their instrumentation but tease the ear with their stops and starts, time changes, odd tempos, and dynamic and melodic shifts. There’s so much to be worked out for the listener of this album that a repeated close listening is required to appreciate it fully: it’s truly a gift that keeps on giving. Be sure to pick up a copy of "Greyland," it’s a worthy investment, and don’t miss the band live at The Silent Barn on April 14. – Andrew Strader
Nashville
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The Bad Signs Share Single “Blue Love” Ahead of 12″ Release
The Bad Signs‘ new single, "Blue Love," is a 50s style rock ballad that captures an aching heart. Samantha Harlow’s vocal ability shines in the outfit’s new release, carrying the sentimental number smoothly to the end. There’s something unique about the sonic niche the band occupies that sets them apart from other reverb loving Nashville rockers. They infuse straightforward indie rock with an occult meets biker gang aesthetic and sonic touch, making their work both haunting and badass. Be on the lookout for an exclusive record store day release of a 12", Black Magic Moments, featuring the new single as well as four other new numbers.
-Andrew Strader
NYC
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Simon Doom shares single from debut LP, plays Pyramid Club on 4/25
Reverberated guitars, insightful lyrics and lush backing vocals come together on Simon Doom’s new release “I Feel Unloved” (streaming below). Taken from the debut full-length “Babyman” due out this May, the production hand of MGMT duo Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden accounts for much of its sheen. Opening lines “In the seminaries, in the shopping malls, think so eloquently, but I can’t speak at all,” depict a sense of confusion and loss. Familiar routines involving “business centers” and “concert halls” provide no relief leading to the question “what did I do to earn this?”. Simon O’Connor delivers the creative force on this project, after spending time with like-minded artists in the bands Kuroma and Amazing Baby. Using the experience of parenthood as a motivator to complete this record, its sentiment appears wrapped up in the album’s title. Catch Simon Doom live at The Pyramid Club on 4/25, as well as significant support slots with Piebald on 5/24 and The Lemon Twigs on 6/1. – Dave Cromwell
L.A.
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Best Emerging LA Bands 2017, the Deli’s List!
Dear Deli Readers,
We have finally reached the end of the road for The Deli’s Best Emerging LA Artists Poll. As usual, it’s been a lengthy, exhausting, painstaking journey through an abundance of numbers, band names, and some seriously rad tunes. Now, before we get to our list of this year’s Top Performers, we would like to thank our wonderful, knowledgeable jury of local music experts/enthusiasts (which you can view below), dedicated Deli writers and all those who took the time to check out our nominees and cast their votes. You’re the best, and we wouldn’t be able to do this without you!
The Deli LA Jurors:
Janette Ayub (Girl Underground), Brandon (The Burning Ear), David Evanko (Minivan Photography), Grant Owen (We Found New Music), Deborah Farnault, Dan Frazier (Free Bike Valet), Brandon (SUPERGOODMUSIC), Matt Draper, LA Weekly, The Regent Theater, The Hi-Hat, Liz Garo (The Echo), Juan Rodríguez (The Deli LA), Paolo de Gregorio (The Deli NYC).
BEST OF LA POLL – The FINAL RESULTS
1. THE TRACKS
The East L.A. quartet is giving indie rock a new face with their brash guitar dynamics, contributing a big sound that operates on a grander scale. But as they tackle themes that range from race to social class, these garage rockers punctuate their rising anthems with plenty of smarts, too.
2. LAEL NEALE
The evocative singer-songwriter writes stripped-down, spacious ballads that gain potency with her fragile croon.
3. MIND MONOGRAM
The trippy quartet creates rapturous soundscapes that have a classic songwriting mold even when they’re at their most experimental.
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OVERALL TOP 20
Here’s the top 20 of the Best of LA Poll for Emerging Artists!
1. The Tracks
2. Lael Neale
3. Mind Monogram
4. Test
5. Death Valley Girls
6. Shannon Lay
7. Feels
8. Doe Paoro
9. Starcrawler
10. DYAN
11. Numb.er
12. Sky Chefs
13. Andrew Kehogan
14. Weyes Blood
15. Gallant
16. Spencer Ludwig
17. EXES
18. Mating Ritual
19. Mind Meld
20. Ramonda Hammer
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BEST OF LA ELECTRONIC CATEGORY
Overall Winner: Doe Paoro
Readers’ Poll Winner: Satchmode
BEST OF LA GARAGE/PSYCH/ POST PUNK CATEGORY
Overall Winner: Test
Readers’ Poll Winner: Melted Bodies
BEST OF LA INDIE ROCK CATEGORY
Overall Winner: The Tracks + Readers’ Poll Winner: The Tracks
BEST OF LA SOUL/HIP HOP CATEGORY
Overall Winner: Weyes Blood
Readers’ Poll Winner: Stalgia
BEST OF LA INDIE POP CATEGORY
Overall Winner + Readers’ Poll Winner: Mind Monogram
BEST OF LA FOLK/AMERICANA CATEGORY
Overall Winner: Lael Neale
Readers’ Poll Winner: Shannon Lay
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See you next year, best of LA Poll!
The Folks at The Deli
Philadelphia
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The Deli Philly’s April Record of the Month: Dark Web – Dark Web
Self-proclaimed "sewer punks" Dark Web’s debut self-titled EP (now available on cassette via Suicide Bong Tapes) is the perfect remedy for a politically apocalyptic landscape. Their latest slew of anthems is unabashedly aggro (but in a good way), rooted in anxiety, angst, and audaciously messy emotions like paranoia and fear. Thematically grim yet cathartic, Dark Web’s mosh-ready riffs and punk-as-fuck swagger make heartbreak, alien invasion, and atomic bombs palatable.
Starting off with the fast-paced, sci-fi escapism of “Alien Vacation,” Dark Web upcycle a narrative, horror-punk trope by coupling it with searing humor and growling guitar that turn a tentatively terrifying scenario into a catchy dramedy laced with subtle sci-fi B-flick meets surf vibes. “Party’s Over” is a brief but persistent post-rager plea that announces frankly to listeners – fictive stand-ins for party-goers – that “it’s time for you to cruise.” Like Semisonic’s “Closing Time,” but less coy, “Party’s Over” is a tenacious reminder that all things – even the sickest parties – are temporal and meant to end.
Perhaps the most provocative cut on the album, “Toxic America” sums up the current state of the Land of the Free via buzzing chords and hissing cymbals. An inarguably political commentary reminiscent of The Misfits’ “Bullet” and The Spits’ Kill the Kool, the urgency and perceptiveness of “Toxic America” isn’t just subversive; it’s radical. “No Hope” is indulgently gloomy in a satisfying way, a ready-made dirge for nihilists and pessimists alike. Despite its overtly melancholy message, Dark Web’s “Iron Man II,” delves into the tortured psyche of a plausibly jilted lover, whose lamentations highlight the limitations that technology can impose on intimacy and human closeness: “This is not the way that things were supposed to be/and now I am more a man than a machine.”
In “A-Bomb,” an even more cataclysmic form of technological doom is explored, tapping into one of post-modernity’s most primal fears: nuclear annihilation. Whether interpreted as an allusion-laden metaphor or pure camp, the track forces listeners to contemplate the fragility of their mortality or at least humanity’s capacity for destruction, a theme that oozes into the eerie onset of “Pig Blood,” the album’s closer. Part psych, part haunt, the band’s final song makes Charles Manson’s Lie sound like a lullaby.
Slightly sinister, morbid, and relentlessly rock ‘n’ roll, Dark Web’s grime-y ballads will ensnare you at an instant and worm their way into your heart. “Resistance is futile.” You’ve been warned. – Dianca London
Portland
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Cedar Teeth Celebrate “Winter” in Spring
*photo by David Greenwald
Cedar Teeth‘s indie roots run deep. Their genre bending nod to roots rock and Americana has warranted them show slots with famed Pacific Northwesterners Hillstomp and Fruition, but their upcoming second album, Farewell To Green Mountain, is sure to take them steps closer to that historic bluesy status.
"Winter" is the first single to come off the sophomore effort, and ties the romantic adventure of budding love to the glories of the seasons. Lead singer Dylan Martell sweetly sings of his personal and positive experiences on the matter, with lyrics including “When we meet, there won’t be winters.” Such a beautiful sentiment is backed by incredibly powerful plucking, driving this ballad home in all of its sweetness.
Listen to "Winter" below and be sure to check out the release show tonight at the White Eagle with General Mojo’s and MOsley WOtta.
Portland
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Echo Pearl Varsity are our #1 players
Finding ways to make jazz even more ecclectic and interesting than it already is might seem a creative challenge. There are so many ways in which jazz commands attention that finding a way to make it individually intriguing requires some alternative approach. For Echo Pearl Varsity, Portland’s jazz fusion post-rock hybrid group, that approach was near effortless and incredibly fitting.
It all started back in 2015, when lead songwriter Sam Luna, bassist Nolan Henderson and drummer Ian Taylor were working at a pizza shop together, yearning to add something original to Portland’s (and, the general) music scene. Once they were joined by saxophonist Levi Downey, Echo Pearl Varsity was complete, and their sophisticated innovation of post-fusion came to be.
Their EP Tragic Bronson debuted their mellow yet mercurial production but their first full length, Fires, takes it to the next level. Establishing the band as leaders in this avant category, Fires shows EPV as masterful yet mallable and commanding yet flexible, with a willingness to flow with the orchestrative freedom post-rock and jazz allow. They’ll be releasing an EP of cover songs in the next few months, coinciding with another tour.
Congrats to Echo Pearl Varsity for winning our poll and our hearts. Listen to Fires in full below.