One of the most interesting bands to emerge from the NYC artist collective The Epoch,  Felix Walworth’s brainchild Told Slant have been picking up fans one by one with their touching indie folk celebration of sadness. Their 2012 debut album ‘Still Water‘ has been a sleeper, but many found it thanks to the band’s persistence in bringing their unique live performances around the country: Walworth is a drummer and, on stage, has found a way to be also a front man, without giving up his instrument. The group has just announced the release of sophomore album ”Going By’ and an extensive tour with the Hotelier, which will end with a homecoming show at Bowery Ballroom on July 15th. Check out preview single ‘Low Hymnal" below.

I don’t know if you’ve ever watched plastic melt, but there is something so beautiful and mesmerizing in the way it disintegrates. The way it moves and folds into itself. Listening to Boston’s psychedelic outfit Plastic Wave is much like that. Solo project of Andre Bellido, Plastic Waves weaves together fuzzy vocals over snarling reverb laden guitars and oscillating synths as a thick base rhythmically pulsates in the background, creating a rich aural texture. Their self-titled debut EP starts off gently, with delicate synths in “Intro” before climaxing into an eruption of kaleidoscopic proportions on “Pushing Me Down” and then easing into a dizzying electric comedown with “Melancholy Sleep.” Take a listen below and don’t forget to catch Plastic Waves entrancing sound at Great Scott on April 13. – Adriana S Ballester

ROMP follows the release of their 2015 evocative EP Sorry, Not Sorry with their equally powerful full length album Departure From Venus. Fueled by the end of a relationship, Sorry, Not Sorry was an adrenaline rush of emotions accompanied by high strung guitar riffs and piercing vocals. Departure From Venus is what happens once the dust settles. With a more poignant and polished sound ROMP maintains the zestful quality of their EP without sacrificing what makes them such a joy to listen to: the dance inducing, punch drunk energy of the undulating guitars and the beautifully emotive vocals. Just as comfortable playing in a basement party as in a rock club, New Jersey’s ROMP is a band to keep an eye (an d two ears) on. Show them some love this Wednesday, March 30, at Shea Stadium BK or at Rough Trade on April 14th, and give them a listen below. – Adriana S Ballester

Selected as our record of the month last summer, Puppy‘s "Shit in the Apple Pie" is a slacker rock gem that references the laziest of musical genres (no wonder we caught them playing pinball!) without being subdued by it. The quartet will be performing at Shea Stadium tomorrow with Caged Animals and Romp, a band we are going to write about next. Check out their song ‘Rodeo Clowns’ below.

Brooklyn sci-pop duo Glassio has just unveiled a new video for their single "Try Much Harder," which we highlighted about a month ago on this very blog. With an appropriately muted color palette perfectly matching the band’s soft sounds, the video illustrates a sci-fi trip started in the NYC subway, and ended on a tiny boat in some unspecified planet. You can catch the band live on Saturday April 9th at The Mercury Lounge at 9pm.

There was Eric B. and Rakim, BlackStar, Cannibal Ox and now We Are Not For Them; classic albums are born when certain rappers get paired with the right producers. Warren Britt is a rapper’s rapper; he’s in the front row of every show, every open mic, every cypher. Magnanimous doesn’t begin to describe his love for the culture and his MC brethren. A.M. Breakups is a prolific mega producer in the vein of El-P and Blockhead who runs the Reservoir Sound Womb, a standout Brooklyn-based label. Tha Gent is a culture clash DJ whose events bring together and stir up the best Hip Hop has to offer. Like the inimitable DELTRON, this mighty triumvirate offers the most vehement paradox: and album for you entitled We Are Not For Them. It’s a rally cry for the disenfranchised and a voice you must hear. Celebrate the release of this epic collaboration at Pandemic Gallery, Thursday April 7th at 7pm.

Garage Land is a weekly series of local and international live rock ‘n ‘roll, garage, psyche and punk acts, curated and hosted by relatively new Greenpoint venue The Good Room, which was born on the ashes of Europa. The next showcase is this coming Wednesday (03.30), and features five noisy local bands, in the order listed below (from headliner to opener). In the picture, Dead Sexy Sheila.

Kicking down the door right away with heavy percussion and cascading guitar work, Ménage À Garage‘s debut EP is a treat, put simply. With vocals ringing like They Might Be Giants’s John Flansburgh and cutting lyrical content, some of the largest classic tropes of punk prevail throughout the record: some storytelling, some angst, and a critical eye for life. You’ll be tapping your foot to the beats before you know and then banging your head with the crescendos along with anyone else listening to this fine group. Ménage À Garage has been very busy, playing show after show at staple DC venues, so look out for announcements for spring and summer gigs! -Jonathan Goodwin

Williamsburg’s favorite iconoclast HEEMS is rocking a late night set tonight (3/25) at Baby’s All Right before doing “some rapping in Ramallah, Haifa, Jaffa-Tel Aviv and Tel Aviv before Beijing.” Whereas hip hop group Das Racist garnered fame through their irreverence for their genre and lot in life, HEEMS rocks harder and stronger through direct assault. Focusing his furor at the ills of a racist society, the dysfunctional government, and the irony inherent in most modern hip hop, HEEMS elevates his art from every angle, often with poppier results (as in the streaming video of 2015’s appropriately titled single ‘Pop Song’). – BrokeMc

Here at The Deli we like to reward unconventinal artists – although unconventionality must be matched by talent – and New Zealand composer/musician/producer Leila Adu definitely belongs to this category. Her new EP "Scary Love Monsters" presents us with six unpredictable tracks (that’s a trendy adjective in these Trumpish days, isn’t it?), fluctuating between pop, weird jazz, dark lyrics and brainy experimentation at times reminiscent of Brian Eno’s early records. Not a music scene novice, Leila has been making records for over ten years now, and showed displayed a remarkably original sound since her 2003 debut full length ‘Dig A Hole.’ She’ll be celebrating the release of the EP tonight (03.25) at Cake Shop.

A few months ago, Brooklyn indie pop artist Lewis Lane (previously known as Lewis) released the refreshingly soulful EP, ‘Take.’ Starting with the drum-thumped title track, which infuses the marital vow of accepting both health and sickness with almost sexual energy, and featuring “Low” (streaming below), an alternately downtrodden and upbeat piano song that boldly depicts raw vulnerability, the five-song effort vividly displays deep pain but allows the listener to bob to the beat. Lewis Lane plays at Mercury Lounge on 4/16. – Zach Weg 

Imagine if you took The Beatles sound and put it through a DIY blender, what would you get out of it? Brooklyn based Def.GRLS, that’s what. The lo-fi garage psych trio takes the battered remnants of a retro style and build it up with a sense of jovial abandon, molding their work into a slightly deformed but very bright and fun creature. The guitars shimmy with an ecstatic electric pulse as Martinson and Brickman’s vocals, slightly garbled as if slipping through a worn out PA system, float above the tracks. This band is all energy and glitter punches, a sonic wave coming at you with full speed and no intention of stopping. Jump on and ride this wave as they take the stage at Palisades on March 27.  – Adriana S Ballester