NYC-based folk rockers Evening Darling are bringing something a little different to the city: a country vein. You can hear it in their tasteful harmonies on "Live Where You Lay," reminiscent of Lady Antebellum, and the straightforward boom-chuck country/americana drum sound. There is a darkness to the slicing guitar solos and groovy keys, however, dare to make it more of a rock tune. The band has just released their self-titled debut album and will be playing The Mercury Lounge on May 18th in support of LA indie poppers Valley Queen. – Geena Kloeppel

The first few seconds of Near Northeast‘s Indali are ethereal, almost like the sound we imagine people hear when they are approaching the gates of heaven. Slowly creeping through the ambiance are reverb heavy guitar lines, keeping the music somewhere in between shoegaze and indie pop, with the legato feel helping the music steer clear of twee.

A certain seriousness is essential for the song given its subject matter: a mother and child being dragged out to sea by riptide. The video’s visuals underscore the tragedy in the music, with images of playful beachgoers intermingled with footage of people being drowned in tsunamis. As drummer Antonio Skarica put it in an interview with DC Music Download, “The line is so thin between carefree frolicking and complete destruction.”

Near Northeast’s new album True Mirror drops May 3rd.  You can catch the album release show at St Stephen’s church on Newton St this Friday night.

 -Written by Michael Dranove

Shoegazer John Lutkevich of Soft Fangs will play Baby’s All Right on Friday night, opening for Wildhoney from Baltimore and Froth from LA. This will mark Soft Fangs’ second show with both bands; the three of them performed at Boot & Saddle in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Lutkevich will also play to support his latest release, a split EP with fellow Brooklyn bedroom pop band Bellows. You can stream the whole record — which includes Soft Fangs’ tracks "Sugarblood" and "Nine Lives" – below. – Will Sisskind

This debut solo entry by percussionist Sam Sowyrda (also of Brooklyn psychedelic-pop sextet Cloud Becomes Your Hand) is the sound of a well-oiled machine running full efficiency just moments before it breaks down. Its two instrumental tracks—each clocking in over twenty-minutes—recall the trance-inducing Terry Riley of In C and the eremitic Brian Eno of Ambient 1-4. Of his two cuts, the title-track is the more diverse, featuring a spate of maddening, industrial-sounding tones, which transform midway through into wistfulness and end in hints of melodicism. "Occidental Error," instead, remains the more eerie: its layered patterns of minimal vibraphones pushing the limits of the instrument as a lead voice. In all, there is much anguish to behold here; yet there’s also refuge from it, as Sowydra’s primary inclination seems to be both esoteric and ambiguous. Experience his music-of-the-head in a live setting at Trans Pecos, May 13th, where the LP officially launches. Kindred spirits the Hallowed Bells (Philadelphia) and Ashcab Orchestra (Brooklyn) fill out the show. – Brian Chidester

Twiggy Branches plays the kind of rock ‘n’ roll you thought was dead. With snarling vocals and driving instrumentals, the NY-based artist is making a strong argument that it’s worth reviving. The band’s music straddles the line between garage-punk and old-school glam, but it’s the loose, uncalculating "classic rock" grit that really makes their tracks worthy of multiple plays. Check out Twiggy Branches’ "Never Gonna Be Tall" streaming below, and catch them tonight live at The Gateway alongside Plaid Dracula and Better Head. – Olivia Sisinni

Brooklyn’s Savants is the living proof that it is possible to play a slacking variety of rock’n’roll without sounding like Pavement or Dinosaur Jr. – hurrah! We are particularly fond of the quartet’s recent single ‘Sneak E. Gardner’ (streaming below), part of a split 7" with Californian label mates Tomorrow Tulips. The track’s minimalist approach and rustic production conjure up an atmonsphere that’s at once intense and playful, but always extremely musical. Savant will be celebrating the release of a new 7" tomorrow (April 26th) at Cape House, with other deserving locals Sam Kogon and Toyzanne, and Philadelphia’s Needle  Points. 

Brooklyn’s own The Boobies are a garage pop four-piece with some instant-earworm songwriting chops, but don’t let that fool you—the group isn’t afraid to get dirty and bare their fangs when they mean it. With the recent release of their single, “Children of the Dark Art” (streaming below)  the band agreed to give our sister blog Delicious Audio a peek at what goes into their songwriting process, and what gear they’re currently using to achieve their distinctive sound – check out the feature here, and don’t miss the band live when they play Mercury on May 19th. – Olivia Sisinni

Haunting, gratifying, and very indie, Den-Mate‘s Entropii is a pleasing blend of Icelandic dream rock and the sounds of synthwave/witch-house pioneers Crystal Castles. With an eerie aesthetic that is very much 2010s-dark indie, Den-Mate is making music that is not only very trendy, but also quite high-level. This is quality material, well produced, full of crisp and clean melodies clashing with unsettling backing tracks.

The impressive craftsmanship on display here is a sign of the young Virginia native’s potential, Den-Mate is definitely a band to look out for in the near future.

-Written by Michael Dranove

Brooklyn folk/punk troubadour Radiator King (Adam Silvestri) has a lot to tell us about being on the road. "You meet people, you have these connections with strangers you’d never cross paths with if you weren’t playing a show… when you’re traveling, you can’t help but notice how vast this country is." And his music certainly portrays the grit of touring and the diversity of his experiences: it’s rough around the edges. Radiator King has taken different elements of America’s homegrown genres, namely rock and Americana, to shape that beaten-up, worn-yet-lively sound. Catch him live at the Bowery Electric in New York on April 29th. – Geena Kloeppel

Fruit & Flowers return to ALPHAVILLE in Bushwick on April 28th, this time to headline a show after supporting Monograms’ LP release show there last week. After performing at SXSW in March, the psych rock quartet has had a busy April playing gigs with other fellow Brooklyn bands and wrapping up a tour across the Midwest. At ALPHAVILLE, they’ll share a bill with punk groups C’yotes and Teen Vice, the latter of which includes Tammy Hart of MEN and Joshua Ackley of The Dead Betties. Catch below their latest track "Way Out", written for Speak Into My Good Eye‘s 3rd Annual 24 Hour Song Writing Challenge, and the live version as the band performed it on Manhattan Neighborhood Network’s The Special Without Brett Davis, here. – Will Sisskind

Following up on their critically acclaimed 2014 debut album “Departure,” the NYC/Burlington duo Vacant Lots have released sophomore LP “Endless Night.”  Building off of a previously established psych-drone base, Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen introduce new sonic elements to their sound. Uncharacteristically, “Night Nurse” (streaming below) adds mechanized electronics and robotic vocals to twangy guitar lines, suggesting a digitized outlaw world portrayed in sci-fi dramas like HBO’s Westworld; the Krafter-esque experiment works.  “Pleasure & Pain” mimic Rolling Stones-style chords and sprinkle otherworldly keyboard elements around an attenuated vocal delivery, while  “Elevation” delves further into electro-dance patterns that skirt the appeal of a band like Depeche Mode.  Reaching the albums longest track at over five and a half minutes, “Empty Space” serves up a trance groove paired with spoken-word vocals.  Eight new tracks in all, the inclusion of nyc underground legend Alan Vega of Suicide’s posthumous scream-of-conscious poetic howl on closer “Suicide Note” delivers the desired validation.  The album can be heard in its entirety here on Spotify. – Dave Cromwell

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

Bewitching enough to draw you in, but posessing the raw power of an ever edging powder keg, Brooklyn-based duo, Shiny Wet Machine is a sublime blend of indie rock and punk aesthetic. A project uniting Sizzy Rocket and Alex Fitts (aka the Kickdrums), Shiny Wet Machine’s tracks are infectious, hip-shaking tunes with unapologetically jagged teeth–sugar and spice and whatever manages to fall in between. Check out what can only be an explosive set when the band plays the Studio at Webster Hall 4/23, but in the meantime stream new track "Euphoria" below. – Olivia Sisinni