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

Born from two ribs of The Kickdrums, Fake Guns is the Manhattan based, electro pop/rock project of Alex Fitts and Chris Wall. They only have two songs streaming on their Soundcloud page (plus two remixes for singles by Mainland and Swimm), but it sounds like there will be more coming soon – we are streaming them both below. Fake Guns will be performing live at The Mercury Lounge on February 7th.

A noteworthy NYC artist we completely missed in 2016 (and 2015! – probably because she seems to tour the experimental circuit, rather than the rock/DIY one) is Queens based Eartheater, the solo project of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Alexandra Drewchin. Propelled by impressive confidence and multi-disciplinary talent (she is also a dancer), Alexandra creates music that’s experimental and textural at heart and, in its most accessible expressions, could be described as a more abstract version of Cocteau Twins, bordering on Dead Can Dance’s arcane desolation. Streaming video for 2015 single ‘Homonyms’ (from LP ‘Metalepsis‘) reveals a bold and articulate artist blessed by the gift of uniqueness. Eartheater’s shows have often an original coregraphy (yep, she does that too…) and recently caught the attention of The Wire, which is why we have the feeling that those who dig art that’s "out there" might enjoy her upcoming show at The Kitchen on February 9th.

P.S. Clever name! is it "Earth Eater" or "Ear Theater"?

It’s the end of January, and if you’re like most people, the enthusiasm behind those New Year’s resolutions are slowy starting to melt away. Though we can’t help you with that new gym membership losing its initial allure, if "seeing more live music" happened to chart on your New Year to-do list, you’re in luck. Deal Casino, a hard-working, indie rock four-piece from industrious Asbury Park, is coming to a venue near you, and we totally recommend catching them live. The band utilizies a mixture of minimalist sounds and hard-hitting riffs to create grooves that are as infectious as they are instantlly compelling. Their latest release, The Cannonball EP, features tunes like "Panama Papers," a timely state of the nation track, and "Purple," a wistful song that seems to capture the general, 20-something maliase. Catch the band live at theire Arlene’s Grocery residency (playing alongside Gillian on 01.31) and stream single ‘Panama Papers below. – Olivia Sisinni

Looking at their social media pages, Stringer seems to be having a blast. They are playing shows, traveling, dressing up, and enjoying the company of cute dogs (yeah, even rockers have their soft spots). The quartet released debut EP “Dead Ass” back in 2015. The album consists of six tracks overflowing with distorted guitars, grounded in ’90s influences ranging from grunge to slak rock. These guys are also living it up (the DIY way) on March 4th when they play Shea Stadium with No Parents, Surfbort, and Plain Dog. – Jocelyn Huggler

If music is language, Delicate Steve‘s mother tongue is electric guitar – with an assorted stompbox accent. Few contemporary guitarists master the six strings’ vocabulary the way he does, unafraid as he is to experiment with tone, effects, and parts. The NJ based musician made ears turn in 2011-2012 with two instrumental records (‘Wondervisions‘ and ‘Positive Force‘) that showcased his imaginative, world music infused compositions. After a lot of touring, and a live album dated 2015, Delicate Steve is about to return with his third full length, entitled ‘This is Steve’ and scheduled for a January 27 release on Anti Records. Don’t miss the show at Bowery on February 3rd!

Our friends at Delicious Audio asked Steve a few questions about his sound. Read what he had to say here.