We were glad to see Tom Petty’s name mentioned in the profile notes of NYC artist DL is OK, because we were going to mention it in this blurb, and sometimes artists don’t like their influences to be revealed (in particular when we get them wrong…) But, hey, there are a gazillion bands out there channeling The Ramones and Pavement, and some of them are nonetheless great and very original, just to say that influences means nothing. Point is, it’s actually very easy to be original and devastatingly boring, while writing a truly good song is a heck of a lot harder, even if you wear your influences on your sleeve. As far as Tom Petty is concerned, the man is incredibly underrated among emerging indie bands, so much so that hardly anybody seems interested in referencing his music. Truth is, he wrote some of the most timeless pop songs in the history of mainstream rock, without every sounding cheesy, forced or contrived. As far as we are concerned, we need more songwriters able to blend americana, pop and rock in earnest and memorable musical nuggets the way he could. DL is OK’s debut EP "Into the Flood" is a promising step in that direction – check out the titletrack below. The band just landed a residency at Pianos during the month of February, starting on the 7th.
We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Roots/Americana songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!