With an old-school surf aesthetic, and some serious bad bitch vibes, the Saylavees are laying down totally dreamy garage rock. The NYC-based band features three-part vocal harmonies that feel both dulcet and haunting, and pair perfectly to their fuzzy guitar sounds and punchy beats. Think black sands and night-time, summer drives with the windows down, and you’ve captured some of the mystic surrounding the group. Check them out live at Union Pool 2/11 with Alana Amram and Greg Cartright, and be sure to hit the play button on the track below. – Olivia Sisinni 

A few years back The Deli covered the release of Baked‘s previous album, Debt, at Shea Stadium. The Brooklyn-based psych rockers will return to the legendary Bushwick venue on February 24th to release their brand-new record, titled Farnham in memory of frontman RJ Gordon’s late college roommate. 

The new album has plenty of the shoegazey haze that fans of Debt will love, though it’s a bit darker and refined. The supercharged sound — reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine and Gordon’s other band, Titus Andronicus — comes through on tracks like "Danelectroladyland" (streaming below.) 

Supporting acts Honduras, Grass Is Green, and Hounds will join Baked at their record release show. – Will Sisskind

Ladies and Gents,

We continue our Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists with the "Roots Music" category, you can see (and vote for) any of the 14 finalist here.

Lots of great talent, check them all out!

The Folks at The Deli

If you missed our review of Infinity Crush’s heartbreakingly pleasant release “Warmth Equation” read it here. 

Soothing, cathartic, comfy, and most of all warm, Infinity Crush’s “Warmth Equation” delivers as promised. Soloist Infinity Crush truly transcends the somber acoustic shtick with some well thought-out overdubs and some interesting audio effects, giving her music a nice full sound that should work wonderfully at 9:30. 

Catch Infinity crush with Los Campesinos! and Crying March 9^th at 9:30 club.

Our Best of NYC 2017 poll has begun last week with the Garage/Slack Rock category and, after you-the-people cast your vote, we have the results to share with you!

Overall Poll winner (Jurors vote + Readers’ vote): Baby Shakes

Readers’ Poll Winner (Readers’ Vote only): Stuyedeyed

We are superproud of these two NYC bands, that offer high octane garage rock inspired to completely different periods of the history of this genre. Stuyedeyed, with their insanely tense, obsessive tracks and screamed vocals, refer back to the proto-punk days of The Stooges, full of madness and debauchery – you can see them live at Alphaville on February 18th.

Baby Shakes, on the other hand, find inspiration in the melodic garage rock of NYC’s own The Ramones, infusing ultra-fun surf and doo-wop elements in it. Baby Shakes will be playing W’Burg Hall of Music on February 14th and then embark on a Japan tour in March.  

Honorable mentions go to Navy Gangs (second in the overall chart) and Thick (third in the Reader’s poll). The full list of nominees can be found under the streaming tracks.

About five years ago, NYC’s Ms Mr (now on an indefinite hiatus) were one of the first acts to kickstart the soul music reinassaince – single ‘Hurricane’ quite literally took the scene by storm, at the time. Lizzy Plapinger, the band’s singer (and co-founder of label Neon Gold), is now returning with a solo, self released and self produced project called LPX. First single "Tightrope" and press photos conjure up an image and sound a lot more aggressive than the one her break out band got us accustomed to: "I’m here to assert myself – harder, louder, and stronger – as a woman and an artist" – she states in the single’s press release. 

Recently released single “It Just Hits You” from appealingly named Brooklyn rockers Journalism recently made the Spotify’s Garage Jams and Fresh Finds Six Strings playlists. Structured around an open chord arpeggio over throbbing bass and driving drum beat, the song is an honest rumination on sobriety.  “Here I stand without a drink in hand,” immediately establish clear-eyed reflection on familiar social practices – now reined in. By the time the chorus hits with “I’m getting sober, but I’m getting so burnt out, it’s hard to act my age, when I can’t see through the haze,” rising melodic guitar lines deliver cathartic tension, with a final realization that such decisions come down to self-control and personal choice, because “sometimes it just hits you like a ton of bricks, and sometimes it just hits you.”  Journalism plays Sunnyvale on Friday 2/17 with DEF.Girls, Dumb Wolves + Fraidycat. – Dave Cromwell

Relying on a mix of stuttering club beats and spaced out chill jams, Southeast DC rapper NAPPYNAPPA puts on a convincing performance in his new EP “New Balance”. Released through indie DC label Babe City Records, NAPPA isn’t obsessed with looking hard, willing to show a more personal side on songs like “Shameless”. As far as flow goes, NAPPA is pretty smooth and does a rather good job channeling Kendrick Lamar on “DO MY DANCE”. Check out NAPPYNAPPA’s new EP “New Balance”.

Refreshingly original but still grounded in traditional post-punk sounds, Priests’ album “Nothing Feels Natural” is a commendable addition to the DC punk canon.  Like good post-punkers, Priests aren’t afraid to keep the sound sparse on songs like “Nothing Feels Natural” and “Leila 20”, letting the Sleater-Kinney vocals shine through over the rhythm section’s low Joy Division thing.  Other songs take a different instrumental approach, with the songs “JJ” and “Suck” even incorporating a piano and saxophone.  In total the band does a rather good job of bringing something new to post-punk’s trademark alienation.

Check out Priest’s new album "Nothing Feels Natural" now available on Bandcamp

It must be said that Brooklyn slack rockers Active Bird Community – a band we’ve been covering since 2013, when they submitted their music for coverage through our digital submission page – belongs to the "Spotify 1 percent." Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with that, not at all! It just means that they have at least one song with over one million plays on everybody’s least-favorite-but-unavoidable-music-streaming-platform-that-underpays-musicians. The guys actually have two songs above that numeric landmark, with "Pick Me Apart" ticking just above two millions! To impress our readers, we are streaming them both below, together with latest single ‘Dead Legs’ from their brand new album ‘Stick Around‘ – trickle down sonics!!! Perhaps their popularity is due, at least in part, to the fact that these guys have been perfecting their sound since they were 11 years old – there’s nothing like the bond and chemistry of friendship to keep a rock band united through the years! If you dig their ’90s influenced sound, you may want to get tickets now for their show at Asbury Park’s The Saint on February 23rd, before they sell out. – Jocelyn Huggler

Released in July of 2016, The Misters‘ single “Off My Mind (In the Summertime),” with its upbeat tempo and catchy, carefree melodies, is a stranger to NYC’s January, notwithstanding the fact that this year it’s been remarkably mild… With a well-mannered voice that exudes precocious wisdom, lead singer Michael Nitting (pictured) recites "…cause this cold keeps pouring down, but I won’t let it bring me down" – a good reminder to all of us to keep on plowing through life, notwithstanding the bothersome events we can’t control related to weather (or… politics). The Misters play live on February 21st at Pianos. – Jocelyn Huggler