Paco Cathcart lets his evocative storytelling ride backseat on his 2018 release, Bag of Holding, his illustrious world-building a secondary component to the lush instrumentation that characterizes each defiantly quiet track. That’s not to say that Cathcart, who records under project name The Cradle, doesn’t have something to say – rather, the sparse anecdotes of past people and places are shared in a way that feels dreamily distant, accented best by a swell of chamber pop orchestration that embeds the entirety of Holding with a sense of pleasant nostalgia and good times. Memories of last year’s New Years Eve, of driving along the eastern seaboard, the long strange trip that lead Cathcart to the present-tense, are presented in a way that feels hazy and bright, the sonic equivalent of looking at an aged photograph of old friends – to speak those memories into the present too aggressively does a disservice to the contemporary, albeit slightly faded context that gives them meaning.

You can catch The Cradle speak truth to memory at The Glove on 11.19, performing alongside Floury, Privacy Issues, and No One & The Somebodies – in the meantime, stream Bag of Holding below. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt), Photo by Craig Zirpolo

Dread, anxiety, and social discomfort permeate the discography of Dead Tenants, a Queens-based noise rock trio whose forthcoming full-length, LP II, drops 10.05. Their last effort, a 2016 split release with Brooklyn’s Drome entitled Ten Dead Ants / Peter Milk, is a scorched earth release in which lofi, acid soaked guitars hum and squeal, all the while barreling forward in an uneven percussive shuffle; occasional brief remises of calm are offered only in the form of spoken word verses, delivered in deadpan haze by frontman (and band namesake) Doug Tenant.

Dead Tenants bring a larger-than-life sound by way of their minimalist instrumental setup (a cut-and-dry guitar, bass, and drums), with LP II promising to deliver the same grandiose noise later this year – you can catch them at their album release show at Secret Project Robot on 10.13, joined by Kal Marks, Weeping Icon, Outside World, and other secret guests. – Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt), Photo by Walter Wlodarczyk

Rarely is an artist able to evoke the spirit of “night time” in a way that encapsulates all its mysterious, ethereal, and melancholic characteristics as Sandy Davis does on her most recent effort, After Dark. Over the course of six sparse tracks, Davis, who records under the project name Pecas, employs somber and occasionally haunting vocals that leads listeners on an interpersonal nocturne journey, capturing the nuance of sentiments we all occasionally feel when the lights go down – like a lonely evening wishing for company on “Tuesdays,” or self-deprecating thoughts gone awry on “French Kiss.” This, in tandem with acute retro synth accents and discordant, noodling guitar work, solidifies After Hours as a landmark release for Pecas; Davis’ ability to perfectly fit form to function in terms of the linkage between lyricism and instrumentation puts this record in a league of its own, and a standout among recent releases.
Pecas will bring her evening soundscapes to Union Pool on 10.11, performing alongside Nathan Xander. You can stream After Hours now on Bandcamp. – Connor McInerney (@b_ck_tt), Photo by Matt Allen.

BOYTOY are a self-described “summer strut down a New York sidewalk,” but their most recent effort (and sophomore release) Night Leaf is the product of a West Coast environment, recorded at Pump House Studio in Topanga Canyon, California. The synthesis of a bi-coastal environment is immediately apparent on Night: we’re presented with tight, sundrenched guitar lines interwoven between raucous, New York-punk inspired vox and lyrics, manifesting a final product that reads as Mike Love by-way-of the Lower East Side. While many bands struggle to break free from the musical zeitgeist of their home environment, BOYTOY effortlessly bounds outwards into new sonic territory on Night Leaf, proving themselves as one of the more adaptable and exciting bands in NYC today.

BOYTOY will bring their coast-to-coast vision to new shores this September as they embark on their tour of Australia, beginning at Collingwood’s The Tote on 9/27. You can find the rest of their Aussie dates here – in the meantime, check out their video for “NY Rip Off” below if you want a taste of their Northeast origins. –Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)