Alyx Poska is from Orange County, CA. He likes weird show locations, #smoothmusic and critique of the capitalist wasteland. He’s the founder of diy4lyfe records & zine and co-founder of OC DIY as well as local cult leader. He is a strong proponent of genres like bummer punk, yacht rock, new weird americana and smooth music.

Diners came through Southern California multiple times in 2015, each show gathering larger and larger crowds to watch their smooth desert pop jams. With the departure of drummer Tristan Jemsek to Seattle, frontman Tyler Broderick began 2016 with a “solo” tour that featured intimate performances throughout the great state of #Kali. I was lucky enough to catch him at Bridgetown DIY in La Puente, as well as in Orange County. This show, booked by Aaron Kovacs from Lauren Records, featured three locals that tended toward the indie rock and bummer punk side of the spectrum, and all three were quite loud in Bridgetown’s boomy but narrow space.

Panoramic started off the night with two bass amps but no bass player in sight. They were one of the two power trios playing, and by the time their set started a small crowd had formed. Heavy hitters Settling played second and pushed the limits of people’s eardrums with songs from their digital single “Ava/Pretty Dream” and their demo EP. Diners was a welcome relief for the ears as people crowded around Tyler’s guitar amp and keyboard. Tyler treated the crowd to old favorites (even tracks from their first EP “Throw Me a Ten”), and songs from the latest Diners 7”, “It’s All True”, put out by Asian Man Records. His subtle musical showmanship was captured in the different performance stunts like medley-ing short songs together, grand pauses, continually rising key changes, and repeated chordal motifs that would show up randomly in other songs. The crowd was enchanted and definitely left wanting more of his unique brand of smooth ‘60s and ‘70s pop music.

The band members of Winter Break were visibly under the weather but they still delivered a tight set of songs at the end of the night from their 2015 self-titled release, and some new songs. The anticipation is building for the new Diners LP, tentatively titled Diners III according to Tyler, which will be out on Asian Man Records before the end of the year! – Alyx Poska, photo credit: Ryan Mo

2016 is a leap year, and you know what that means: February gets five Mondays! Moonlight an extra night at these FREE Los Angeles residencies. Lena Fayre graces the Bootleg after a sold out show at Chicago’s Art Institute — and possibly with new songs from an upcoming release? The bar stage gets a fifth Monday sendoff from Marjorie Fair. From Aliso Viejo to Los Angeles, trio Adult Books begin their monthlong stay at The Echo, switching it up on the third Monday with a performance at the spaced out Echoplex — read their latest interview with Lo-Pie. Pom Poms and The Controversy share four nights at The Satellite. Finally, Bright Missiles tear it up on Tuesdays at Silverlake Lounge, after Silver Snakes‘ last free Monday with AEGES, Minnow, and The Royal. – Ryan Mo

Lena Fayre at The Bootleg (21+):

Feb. 1 — with Vox, AKW
Feb. 8 — with TRACE, Lush Guts
Feb. 15 — with YASSOU, Me Yow
Feb. 22 — with Phebe Starr

Adult Books at The Echo (21+):

Feb. 1 — with The Molochs, Drinking Flowers, Terminal A
Feb. 8 — with Colleen Green, Psychomagic, Mother Merry Go Round
Feb. 15 — with Numb.er, Tracy Bryant, Wyatt Blair
Feb. 22 — with Part Time, Billy Changer, Noah Kwid (at The Echoplex)

Pom Poms and The Controversy at The Satellite (21+):

Feb. 1 — with Mothertapes, Chasing Kings
Feb. 8 — with Artists TBA
Feb. 15 — with Artists TBA
Feb. 22 — with Artists TBA
Feb. 29 — with Artists TBA

Bright Missiles at Silverlake Lounge (21+):

Feb. 8 — with Steps of Doe, Fan Fiction, Judy Gloom
Feb. 15 — with The Modern Age, Yo, The Noogles
Feb. 22 — with Pizza Friday, Deep Breaths, V.V. Friendly
Feb. 29 — with Jubilo Drive, Bedbugs, Ghosts In Pocket

This past Friday, New York-via-North Carolina singer/songwriter CF Watkins released her latest album, ‘I Am New’ and, as heard on the electronic/folk-tinged single “Linger” (streaming below), it is pleasantly plaintive. Looking back on a past lover with literary detail (“Well, I watched your hands/As they skimmed through those old books/That you once wrote in,” goes one of many quietly crushing lyrics), Watkins on this celestial track, with her preciously calm voice, ultimately goes forward with newfound vigor. CF Watkins will have an album release show for ‘I Am New’ (which features collaborations with fellow New York act, Wilder Maker) on 2/22 at Pianos Upstairs. – Zach Weg 

Brooklyn’s brothers band WRITER (James and Andy Ralph) announced today the release of their sophomore album ‘Principle Web,’ out on April 8th via Small Plates Records. While doing so they also took the opportunity to share single, "Mosquito Bitten," (streaming below). With its guttural, fuzzy, power chord propelled distorted guitars and slow melodies reminiscent of a darker, more menacing version of Weezer, the single inserts the band in the ’90s rock revival that has been taking Brooklyn by storm in the first half of the decade. Knowing the band, though (see our previous coverage here), we can expect more experimental and tense material in the rest of the record. For those who can’t wait, they can find out how their new songs sound on February 10, when the group will be playing at the Bowery Ballroom.

The Deli New England Readers’ Poll ended last week, and, after a few days churning the numbers and checking the votes, we can finally announce the winner and runners up!

1. Congrats to quirky Connecticut singer songwriter and pianist Danny Henry (pictured), who, nominated by one of our jurors (list coming soon), went to extreme(ly cold) lengths in promoting our poll, and broke the epic barrier of 1k votes to head the pack of nominated artists: he’s The Deli New England’s Readers Artist of 2015! Check out his single "Meliss" below, that manages to blend New Order and the sound of Motown.

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2. In second place, the roots music collective Cactus Attack surrounding Ryan "Stonewall" Jackson fought Danny tooth and nail, getting very close to the 1k vote threshold. These guys also shot a (hilariously earnest) video promoting our poll, check it out – we should totally do a contest of the videos next time! Cactus Attack released their charming and full of character self-title debut album in 2011 (you can listen to it here) but their Facebook profile shows them busy working on a follow up.

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3. In third place (with 548 votes) we have a female fronted alt rock group that, with their new single "Step Into The Light" (streaming) seems to be developing shoegazer overtones: Chaser Eight. Also hailing from Connecticut, this is a group whose music has been featured on TV and various radio station. Expect a new album release in the next few weeks.

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4. A few points below, at 540, stands our fourth place bands, Eldridge Rodriguez, a Boston quartet that plays rather epiuc rock with both electric and electronic elements. You can listen to theirr latest LP "The Castrati Menace" (released in October 2015) here.

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Also, don’t forget to check out the top ten artists below, they all promoted this poll hard and deserve your attention for doing so!

5. The Hempsteadys
6. Mission Zero
7. Carissa Johnson
8. Able Days
9. Ceschi

10. Dr. Martino

AND! If you are really eacher to go in depth, here are the results organized by genre!
ALT ROCK – GARAGE/DIY – INDIE POP – INDIE ROCK – PUNK ROCK – ROOTS/SONGWRITERS

Thanks to all the bands and artists for promoting this unique contest, and thanks to readers and fans for voting: we hope you all had fun and got introduced to some new, awesome local music.

The Folks at The Deli

On February 5th, local music collective Diy4lyfe lines an arthouse stage with five up-and-coming bands from disparate cities across Southern California. Originally billed as a release party for The Human Machine‘s Patterns, the event was postponed to add Young Lovers with Hollow Ran, Pedestrian, and Twentytwofourteen (who recently released the "Please Go Quietly" EP). Each band performs with their own projections, along with a special music video premiere by live-loop duo Time and Energy.

The show is one of many efforts to fundraise for The Frida Cinema, a non-profit community-driven arthouse cinema in Santa Ana. Founded in 2014 by director and OC native Logan Crow, The Frida Cinema has featured critically acclaimed and underrepresented films for Orange County residents. Last May, Crow announced to LA Times that once the theater developed a solid audience, he would celebrate with a screening of The Room. Godspeed.

Set times and ticket information on the event page. – Ryan Mo

Less than a year since his last album Ghost, the animated avant-pop statue Julius Smack releases Tomb Songs, a collection of works expressing the individual pains of the post-industrial world. The San Francisco transplant’s effete voice swims through isopropyl synths, reappropriated samples, and layered drums to create maximalist narratives ("Poetics I") as dance-y as they are contemplative. Catch Julius Smack as he performs at pehrspace tonight with Practical Records siblings Michael Vidal, Lucky Dragons, Grand Lady Dance House, and Mo Dotti. – Ryan Mo

It’s no easy task to reference, in a musical video, a classic movie from the past, but Karla Rose‘s black and white video for single ‘Girl Next Door,’ featuring images of the 1954 film noir by the same title, pulls off this feat in style, feeling uniform and well produced, with Karla’s song functioning as a perfectly suspenceful soundtrack. The singer’s slightly detached delivery and bluesy melodies, reminiscent of a less pretentious Lana Del Rey, are enhanced by the track’s Morriconian references and soft jazz overtones – it’s no accident that she used to play with Morricone Youth.

We’re enthralled with "Gravity", the first track from Alex Rajabi’s alias Plaster Cast since last year’s debut "Sunless". A spiritual transmigration of the prophecized "future of R&B" duo Malta, Rajabi shifts weight in this tandem production with the self-proclaimed GodKing BRAH1M. A current that rides the minimal structure of "Gravity" exemplifies the sublation of hip-hop and electronic music without washing out the je ne sais quoi of Plaster Cast’s past life, from the vocals of Michaela Wilson (previously featured in Malta’s "Out of Bounds") to the permeating future rhythms. But something was left behind in the metempsychosis, whether real or perceived, and we can’t help but listen again and again to find this void, this absence that haunts and beckons our ears.

Stream "Gravity", the first track from Plaster Cast’s debut EP "Permanence" — out March 4th on Los Angeles’ Zoom Lens. – Ryan Mo

Noisy duo-plus-drummer Dirty Dishes, who moved from LA to NYC in 2015, just released this video for single "Thank You Come Again," which definitely betrays influences from the loud/quiet/loud sound of the best Nirvana songs. If you are into cathartic, dyonisiac music, this is definitely something you want to experience live: the band will be playing Shea Stadium on February 4th, and then venture for an extensive west coast tour starting February 16.

You really don’t need much to create a compelling video, and Brooklyn self-defined "slop-folk" band Paul Meadow knows that: all you need is a good two minute song, and – in this case – the footage of a cute dog stretching by the beach (in slow motion). "Heart of a Dog" sounds like a more Americana version of Mercury Rev from the days of Deserter’s Songs, which should be taken as a compliment, since the Buffalo based collective is one of the most imaginative psych rock acts of the last twenty years. "Paul Meadow is the creation of Sunset Park, Brooklyn’s Stirling Krusing and Chris Lee, and their upcoming EP ‘Cheap & Easy’ is the host of a series of "reflections engulfed in the symbolism of meaninglessness." Stuff that dog doesn’t seem too concerned about.

Paul Meadow_Heart of a Dog from Paul Meadow on Vimeo.

Drawing on traditions of old-timey doo wop and proto-surf rock, Cinema Hearts bring a uniquely catchy sound out of Fairfax, VA, to the DC music scene. Incorporating contemporary elements of lo-fi indie and dream pop, this innovative trio brings a sound that evokes flashes of the Greatest Generation’s dance halls and of DIY basement stages. The playful lyrical content is amplified by vocalist Caroline Weinroth’s deep, mellifluous tones, which the guitar and drums are crisp and tight. Catch them play Songbyrd Music House, 2/11, after which they’ll be dropping their first LP, Feels Like Forever, on Valentine’s Day, 2/14. -Jonathan Goodwin