Last week, Brooklyn indie rock quartet Stone Cold Fox released its electric new EP, ‘Tunnel Vision.’ Reportedly recorded over the course of two years yet bursting with urgency, the five-song effort starts its ominous magic with the reverb-backed “Contagion” (streaming below), a track that pleasantly melds The Strokes’ early ruggedness with Tame Impala’s solid psych rock. Middle track “Morning Light,” similarly, radiates with a guitar-based warmth that could be a refreshing antedote to a gray day, recalling the great ELO tracks of the late ‘70s. In short, ‘Tunnel Vision’ illuminates wonderfully strange magic. To celebrate the EP, Stone Cold Fox plays at Mercury Lounge tomorrow (5/7). – Zach Weg

Give a listen to one of Baltimore’s hot bands, Gotham Theory. They’re a heavy blend of blues and alt rock, effusing jam-worthy vibes. This quartet released their debut album, Why’d You Break Up With Me, last month and it’s filled with rich guitar solos, throaty vocals, and energized melodies, striking a sound similar to Sublime and Bush. Catch their next big show at Baltimore Soundstage on June 10, playing with The Henchmen, Edjacated Phools, Sunbathers, and Matt Baden & The Backflip Yetis. -Jonathan Goodwin

Dilly Dally is not a new band in the Toronto scene (they were born in 2009), but it’s one of those rare ones that get better with time. 2015 was their year, thanks to their deliciously noisy debut album ‘Sore,’ a record that aims straight at the hearts of those who can relate to a perfect balance of fuzz, melody and slacking attitude – as well as those who, like us, miss like crazy the early Pixies (in this regard, check out single ‘Desire‘). To celebrate our upcoming Toronto Stompbox Exhibit, we asked band’s songwriter (and lead guitarist) Katie Monks a quick question about pedals, here’s what she had to say in our Delicious Audio piece! Oh, and don’t miss them live at Lee’s Place this Saturday May 7th!

We are happy to premiere Brooklyn Dream Wave purveyors Dead Leaf Echo‘s new single "child.glass.heart" exclusively on The Deli Mag today. The A Side of a split 7" with The Harrow on Moon Sounds Records, the track officially drops on May 13th. A limited edition ‘Lathe cut’ 7" vinyl has already sold out, however digital copies can still be ordered. Amid an opening wash of guitar atmospherics, prominent glockenspiel accents add dramatic sonic emphasis creating a cinematic feeling of slow motion water droplets. The percussion is forceful, yet kept purposely minimal, giving the bell chime accents space to highlight significant lyrical moments. Returning to themes explored on their imaginative full length album “Thought & Language,” this story is told from a mother’s perspective. With Ana’s emotional vocals stating “a memory trace of a child’s life in repeat -glass will break and pain will stain.” Check out also the B Side ‘Dirty Minds.’ The band will make a television appearance during MNN’s The Special Without Brett Davis on May 11, with a full record release show on May 14 at Sunnyvale. – Dave Cromwell

Nobody in the music scene likes to be called a "veteran" – it implies loss of youth, in a youth obsessed field – but it’s undeniable that bands surviving in the Big Apple for 5+ years are rare and should be honored with a title… what about "Pillars of the NYC Scene"? There will be four of them performing at Shea Stadium this Saturday May 7th:  Parlor Tricks, Starlight Girls, Not Blood Paint, and A Deer A Horse (pictured). Check out their latest releases below.

“You got your path, oh I got mine” sings Tyler Burwood in Boston’s quartet Bellwire’s new single “Time Out.” The song, a jangly reflection speckled with vibrant guitar chords, bubbling drums, and monotone vocals, is a single off their upcoming album Dog Thoughts, which is set to be released on May 24. The album, if the singles are any indication, ranges from mellow, borderline melancholic ruminations evident in “JAKL” to spastic bouts in “Let It Shine,” (streaming below) another single with energetic guitars sputtering exuberantly into a solo where the chords stretch out and slacken the pace before dying out into feedback. A quirky aural exploration of age and relationships, Dog Thoughts seems to be shaping up to an entertaining listen. Keep tabs on Bellwire’s Facebook page for any upcoming shows and take a listen to their single below.

We believe the health of a musical scene can be measured by the amount of bands that are completely out of their mind, and also by the amount of music fans interested in attending their shows. In this regard, there’s a quality gig at Palisades in about a month (Saturday June 4th) that shines a bright, although rather psychotic, light on NYC, involving two local bands that sound nothing short of irrational (Palberta – pictured – and Guerilla Toss) and one coming across as "seriously disturbed" (PC Worship). Taking inspiration from subversive movements like No Wave and early Post Punk, without sounding simply amateurish (that’s the hard part!), these groups represent NYC’s current sound of "uncompromise" – and the sparkle that keeps the Rock’n’Roll flame alive in this problematic and increasingly art-hostile city.

Combining pop sensibilities with the classical textures of violins and twinkling pianos, Brooklyn’s beguiling trio, Half Waif, sends un on a dazzling journey in her album Probable Depths – which we had the chance to preview, or rather, pre-hear. With swelling vocals, billowing synths, and blinking electronic melodies that lull us into a dream, the album is both achingly private and daringly open, as if each song was a stolen glance into Plunkett’s sonic world, each painting an acutely fine and deliberate stroke of her emotive life. A mellifluous pirouette of musical resplendence, Half Waif’s Probable Depths is an aural triumph set to be released on May 6. Catch Half Waif at Baby’s All Right on May 12 for their album release show and tour kick-off. – Adriana S Ballester, photo by Adan Carlo.

NYC’s own Psych rockers Caveman are back with this new video for ‘Never Going Back’ – don’t forget about this cover from 2011! They are currently touring with Frightened Rabbit.

‘Kandy,’ by Brooklyn electronic chanteause Lavachild, is a song (as singer Chantel Marie puts it) about ‘greed and lost perspective,’ so it’s kind of appropriate for us to blog about it on the day Donal Trump has de facto won the Republican Presidential Nomination. (Ok, ok, this is not a political song at all, but… you know, today Trump is all we can think about!). This is Lavachild’s eeriest and edgiest tune to date, developing on top of abstract, moody and ever-changing layers of synths and a simple, tenuous electronic drum pattern. Chantel Marie’s voice – as sensual as always – carves delicate, haunting melodies. The track makes us look forward to the band’s debut EP, scheduled to be released later this year.

Brooklyn bastion of boom bap iLLspokinn teams up with French producer Zajazza to take you down the “Vagabond Road.” It’s a lyrical smashfest with too many quotables to list here — not unprecedented from the ten-year plus stalwart host of the Freestyle Mondays Open Mic. “Feeble minds are miniscule. Manipulate your vision pool. Dive inside your consciousness and confiscate the inner you,” raps iLL as he waxes philosophical about life on the road and the tribulations of being the best MC ever. He doesn’t claim the title in so many words, but demonstrates the ownership with every phrase he flips. – BrokeMC

Cecilia Della Peruti is a creative force to be reckoned with in the LA scene. Her band Gothic Tropic‘s musical output could be seen as a permanent effort to defy categorizations: disparate influences like rock, pop, ambient, African melodies and even jazz find a place in her repertoire, without affecting its cohesiveness. The band is about to unveil a new single on May 30th at Resident, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to refresh your memory about their music with their best single to date ("Flesh Dance, streaming below). We also took the opportunity to organize a Delicious Audio feature focused on Cecilia’s guitar pedals!