Need plans for Valentine’s Day? DC9 has just the treat for you with an awesome triple feature: The Milestones, The Humble, and YUM. at 8:30 tonight! Opening the night, YUM. is one of DC’s rising indie acts, excelling at creating upbeat, dreamy melodies that hook the listener very quickly. The Humble hails from Philly, but these neighbors from up north are kicking off a northeastern tour to celebrate the release of their new album, Act Accordingly. Check the first single below, which is a mighty fine example of where alternative meets melodic rock. Headlining the night, Baltimore boys The Milestones are back in DC to spread some love via their hypnotically catchy alt jams. Get on your feet, head over to DC9, and dance the night away, date or no date! Doors at 8, $8. -Jonathan Goodwin

Two Inch Astronaut, accompanied by DC’s Hemlines and Laughing Man, kicked off their new album release with an energetic attack on the senses.

Hemlines, DC’s favorite feminist punks, got things going with The Bear, a powerful shout from the recently released All Your Homes. You’re instantly connected when the lyrics register. Guitarist Katie asked the crowd what came to mind when she said “reflection cottage”. While the general response was of something tranquil, she replaces the assumption of peace with a term for juvenile solitary confinement. “This next one’s about those”, says Katie.

Laughing Man took it down a notch with OM-esque string play and flowing, seamless drum rolls. Pictures were painted right away with a story of meeting a man who introduced the Quran, not as some tool to convert, but as a piece of art to express his love and passion. The guitarist led us down winding paths of daydreams that ended with Islamic prayers reverberating through unfamiliar ears.

TIA’s frontman Sam was eternally grateful for the turnout, with his love for Hemlines and Laughing Man nervously expressed. The guys went straight to it with ‘Good Behavior’, a coming of age story of premature nostalgia and regret. Maybe I’m projecting, but this one hit some deeper notes. This was quickly followed by ‘Sexual Prince of the Universe’, which seemed to be the distant observation of that preppy dude you knew in high school. “This one’s about Limp Bizkit”, shouted bassist Andy as they finished with ‘Woodstock ‘99.’

Personal Life is a nervous reminder of growing up. It was fun, but nerve-wracking. TIA’s unique perspective on the subject, surely heightened by Sam’s views, now as a teacher, will have you scrambling for that book you read ten times in high school. You know the one. -Justin Bieggar

Hollow Ran is hi-speed cyberpunk dissonance with an unstable core reactor—a locally-sourced organic alternative for the Tera Melos-starved patrician. They’re the lost ark, the result of Nick Reinhart and Damon Che performing a fusion dance, and like their now-deceased senpai 100 Onces (rip in peace), eschew the power trio and full band. They go hard. They go fast. And they will melt your face faster than a chemical burn.

If you caught their performance last Friday at the Frida Theater—where they played to a collage of anime sequences including FLCL and Cowboy Bebop—or at Top Acid’s Anniversary show, you’ve already fallen in love and you’ll agree the duo should have scored the soundtrack to Tekkonkinkreet. But if not, get acquainted with their 2015 four-way split with Jitters, Dagrons, and MILKIS before running off to see them this month.  – Ryan Mo

2/16 Costa Mesa, CA @ La Cave (presented by Wordovmouth)

2/20 Los Angeles, CA @ DIY Fest 3

2/26 Gardena, CA @ [location tba]

2/27 Fullerton, CA @ Programme HQ

It was our first night out to Highland Park’s newest music venue The Hi Hat, but we weren’t nervous. We were excited to see the spacious hall from floor to rafter, and the change of scenery was welcome.

Beyond the decor that whispered Bootleg in our ears, there was plenty of room to move, and plenty of room to sit and enjoy the coquetish charm of Family Hahas, whose reverb-bespoke guitars and Hofner thump rang out something familiar in the audience. But Nightgown‘s Laurel Noone, with her elastic expressions and fulltone swagger, gave the half-converted pool hall a fuzzy bear hug, blasting a Marcy Playground cover while residents sipped on disco lemonade. Her performance was topped, only marginally, by the joie de vivre of experimental pop sextet Easy, whose setup gave the sound technician a run for his money. We’d be lying if we said the cookies they passed around didn’t affect our judgment. Regardless, we wrote our number on the napkin and passed it on to the bartender. Check our Instagram for photos from the night @TheDeliLA! – Ryan Mo, photos by Michelle McCausland

As their two releases, ‘Gorgeous’ and ‘Victor,’ from this past January make vividly clear, Boston’s The Heavies intrigue in reflectively freewheeling country-rock. The drum-thudded third song from the former, “The Jailbreak Blues” (streaming below), for example, details a man’s escape from prison with the kind of gruff warmth that Johnny Cash made his own. “Take Me Back” from the latter effort, a keys-backed song that is delightfully honky-tonk, similarly tells of longing for home but in such a way that is more raw than sappy, more real than fake, yet still allows for pure warmth. The Heavies play at Midway Café in Jamaica Plains, Massachussetts on Tuesday (2/16). – Zach Weg

Deli Lovers,

Our infamous Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists has been – as usual – a lengthy and painstaking journey which took us through prairies of numbers, horizons filled with band names, and a dense, (mostly) joyous rain of music. We have finally reached our destination and we can announce the final results! In case you are not aware, the winner of this poll end up on the cover of our Spring Issue of The Deli! Last year it was Porches. The year before Big Ups.

And the winner is…

1. ACID DAD
Our jury of NYC scenesters converged towards this quartet of young Brooklyn residents devoted to a modern, "shoegazi-er" reinterpretation of the psychedelic garage rock sound of the ’80s – a rather obscure wave that had NYC as its epicenter thanks to legendary – and still very much active – bands like The Fleshtones and The Fuzztones. Through songwriting that tames the outdated bluesy overtones typical of those pioneers in favor of poppier melodies, these guys may have found the recipe to bring psych-garage out of the underground. Check out their latest single "Fool’s Gold," from their upcoming EP, scheduled for a late February release. Oh and yes: you’ll see these guys on the cover of the Spring Issue of The Deli NYC!

2. DONNA MISSAL
The jurors who voted for New Jersey’s soul rocker Donna Missal swear she’s gonna be a star. Now, that’s rare, because anybody employed full time in the record industry is perfectly aware of how slim those chances are. But listening to this young lady’s two debut singles – both released at the end of 2015 and immediately gone viral – it’s very hard to disagree with them: great songs, incredible energy, powerful, pitch perfect vocals, production that’s dark and edgy without being too weird for the mainstream; and – what’s crucial these days – stage presence and actual vocal prowess.We are sold!

3. HONDURAS
Channeling similar influences as this poll’s winners, but in more sober, post punk-influenced ways, the guys in Honduras have the NYC running in their blood (and sound). 2015 marked the release of their very well received debut LP "Rituals," and because of it, although they haven’t gotten to tour in their moniker-lending country just yet (which would certainly be a sign of world wide fame!), they landed a series of high profile gigs and got a ton of press out of it, with this very blog being second to none in that department. They are set to tour with Deli darlings Sunflower Beans in the spring. Don’t miss the two of them at Bowery Ballroom on February 25th. Here’s a new single from their upcoming EP, entitled "Hollywood" and recently premiered by none other legendary British publication NME.

Check out our poll’s top thirty below, and don’t forget to get even deeper, exploring all the finalists organized by genre:

ALT FOLK – ALT ROCK – ALT SOUL – DREAM POP – ELECTRONIC – HIP HOP/OTHER – INDIE POP – INDIE/POST PUNK – PSYCH/SHOEGAZE – SLACKER ROCK – REVIVAL POP/ROCK – SOUL

BEST OF 2015 POLL FOR EMERGING NYC ARTISTS ****** FINAL RESULTS – TOP THIRTY ******

ARTIST J OS W R TOT   1 Acid Dad 8.5   1 0.012 9.512 2 Donna Missal 6.5   1 0.002 7.502 3 Honduras 5.5   1 0.022 6.522 4 Lewis Del Mar 6.5     0.003 6.503 5 The Mystery Lights 4.5   1 0.121 5.621 6 Born Cages 3 2   0.009 5.009 7 Buscabulla 3   2 0.002 5.002 8 Pam Steebler   2.5   2.019 4.519 9 Sunflower Bean 4.5     0.006 4.506 10 Lawrence 3.5     0.77 4.27 11 Pavo Pavo 3   1 0.01 4.01 12 The New Tarot   3 1 0 4 13 Dayan   2.5 1 0.229 3.729 14 Alexia Bontempo 3     0.563 3.563 15 Howard 3.5     0.004 3.504 16 RANN   1.5   1.985 3.485 17 Kevin Garrett 3     0.243 3.243 18 Girls on Grass 2   1 0.179 3.179 19 Janelle Kroll 3     0.153 3.153 20 PMS and The Moodswings 3     0.128 3.128 21 Strange Names 2   1 0.124 3.124 22 CAFUNÉ   3   0.077 3.077 23 Mobile Steam Unit 3     0.048 3.048 24 Amy Leon 3     0.038 3.038 25 surf rock is dead   2 1 0.035 3.035 26 Pink Mexico 3     0.024 3.024 27 EVVY 3     0.014 3.014 28 Yours Are the Only Ears 3     0.011 3.011 29 LVL Up 3     0.01 3.01 30 Belle Mare   3   0.004 3.004 Legend: J = Jurors, W = Deli Writers, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

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If you wonder how this chart came into existence, here is how it all went down: first, we let the local bands submit their music (for free), and got our Deli editors to pick the nominees. Then we polled a list of 20+ NYC scene expert (our jury) and asked them to nominate 3 more bands of their choice each (3 points for the top choice, then 2 and 1). Then we polled our readers. We tried to keep things open to the genres we cover, from Indie Rock to Roots Music, from electronic to Hip Hop (no jazz, no seriously experimental music).

If you are a geek interested in all the subtelties related to how this poll works, you can read its rules here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music NYC produced in the year 2015, this list is all you need. Enjoy!

Many Thanks to our Jurors: Alex Rossiter (The Studio, Webster Hall) Andy Bodor (Cake Shop), Ariel Bitran (Palisades), Billy Jones (Baby’s All Right), Christine Cook (Sofar Sound NYC), Claire and Patrick McNamara (OhMyRockness.com), Diane (Bowery Ballroom), George Flanagan (Rough Trade NYC), Greg (The Delancey), Kelly Bruce (doNYC/RedBull) Lucas Sacks (Brooklyn Bowl), Matt Currie (Rockwood Music Hall), Max Brennan (The Flat), Nora Dabdoub (Shea Stadium), Rachael Pazdan (The Hum), Rami Haykal (Popgun Presents), Richard Sloven (The Knitting Factory), Sam Cox (BMI), Steven King (The Rock Shop), Steven Matrick (Pianos), Tim Maginnis (Ascap), Todd Abramson (independent promoter), Tyler Bates (Communiom Music).

Hope you’ll find some awesome new artists you weren’t aware of!

The Deli’s Staff

Based in Baltimore, Steadfast is the next face to find in the hip hop scene. She’s building a sound grounded in alternative and DIY, making the beat and writing the thoughtful and catchy lyrics for the new track all on her own. She released her debut single a few days ago, so be sure to give it a listen. Her musical flow is smooth and fast, backed by a tight beat, and the lyrical content is sharply tongue-in-cheek. Keep an eye on this songstress as she’s displaying great potential and will surely lay down more sick tracks in the days ahead. -Jonathan Goodwin

The uber-vague word "dreamscape" makes suddenly perfect sense when applied to Field Trip‘s repertoire, where songs are marked by seriously sleepy vocals yawning beautiful melodies, while psychedelic inflections and waves of reverb tidal over the listener. It’s no accident that they recorded a cover of The Smith’s ‘Asleep.’ The psych pop bedroom project, founded by Noah Champ Davies when he moved from LA to NYC in 2014, takes cues from dreampop, new wave and 90’s synthpop, merging them to create songs that ooze nostalgia and longing. At the top of the project’s sophomore EP ‘Deep Blue‘ is “Never (b)” (streaming), a song that sounds precisely like the sonic equivalent of watching an old, homemade Super 8 film that’s flickered and tinted with light leaks, and that slowly comes apart towards the end, as the tail catches fire and all the images melt away – the holes of flashing color gaping on the screen. Field Trip will be playing Shea Stadium alongside Iris Lune and Gods tonight (02.11). – Adriana S Ballester

This artist submitted music for coverage here.

NYC based Colombians Salt Cathedral have been treating us to some really good synthpop with soul tinges in the last few years, and the magic isn’t over yet. Check out their new, uber-mellow single ‘No Ordinary Man,’ released less than 24 hours ago, and don’t miss their live show at Baby’s All Right on March 5th.

—Michelle Bacon 

Shoare will be touring in support of the album starting tonight in Columbia at Café Berlin. Facebook event page. You can also check out his website for other upcoming dates at matshoare.com.   

If music be the food of love, then consider The Golden Tongues polyamorous. That’s the name of a new project by Chris Garcia, one half of Whittier’s electronic post-rock duo Let’s Drive to Alaska. 

In the first track to Golden Tongues’ upcoming b/w, "Always On My Mind," Garcia sings in heart-on-sleeve cadence with an airy inflection that calms interjections of cardamom synths and guitar jangle. It’s a measured effort, not to mention a solo effort since last year. And while the result might not capture the naiveté of Wild Nothing or Real Estate, it does rekindle the fluttery feeling of a new crush. As with his debut EP "Extractions," Garcia is still finding his love, but takes greater pleasure exploring musical flings than brooding in alexithymic solitude.

Hang out tonight at Lot 1 Café as The Golden Tongues play a Counter Culture-curated show with Ablebody and Foliage — it’s free and starts at 8 pm. – Ryan Mo