We missed this cute video by our 44th NYC issue cover band Stolen Jars, released in November 2015, check it out, and read our feature on the band here.

Fans of Prince at its poppiest should check out Wet Leather, a talented NYC band we covered a couple of times already, who specializes in super catchy, very well produced soul-pop nuggets. After releasing "Past Lives "EP" in 2014, the band released two singles in 2015, ‘Shame’ (streaming) and ‘Feel,’ from their upcoming album. You can see the quintet live at Shea Stadium tomorrow, January 28th.  

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

Bootblacks is a rather appropriate name for a band that plays electro-post-punk inspired to the early ’80s: a scene that was particularly attached to their black boots, preferably Dr. Martens ones – a paradoxical fixation, considering how anti-corporate the punk and post-punk movements have always been. The duo’s first single "8 Sub Rosa" (streaming) pairs an ultrafast, pulsating electronic rhythm section with clean, textural guitars. Traces of goth are evident – while listening to this track, echoes of Dead or Alive and early New Order keep haunting us, while Brooklyn Vegan, who premiered their song, hears a direct link to Clan of Xymox (we hear it too!) and Front Line Assembly (not so much). Hailing from Brooklyn, the three musicians will be self-releasing debut album "Veins" on March 11th and start a spring European tour with Berlin band Liste Noire (formerly Velvet Condom).

We’ve been waiting for some "proper" recordings from Brooklyn vintage pop quartet High Waisted since we booked them for our 40th NYC issue launch party back in 2014. The band only had these uber lo-fi recordings available online, until, finally, this week they announced the upcoming release of a full length album entitled "On Ludlow," unveiling this fun video for single "Party in the Back." A true and tried party band, High Waisted blends the classic NYC garage rock sound with pop melodies reminiscent of the early ’60s’ lightharted pop. Don’t miss their show on February 4 at Baby’s All Right celebrating the finale of their "Winter Whatever" Tour.

In a twist of events, Los Angeles’ occult punks Sextile were recently hand-picked to tour parts of the West Coast with self-actualized Oakland-turned-Venetian EBM project The Soft Moon, following the dropout of headliner Killing Joke due to health reasons. Taking financial difficulties into account, Sextile launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for touring expenses —  the band has reached almost $1000, nearly 120% of their goal, with 13 more days to go. The support does not come unwarranted, either — since the release of their debut album A Thousand Hands, Sextile have made a name for themselves performing across Los Angeles with darker dance partners like The Electric West, L.A. Drones, and Terminal A. With expanding coverage from shore to shore, their purgatory sounds evoke perfectly the spiritual unrest and emotional agitation that scrapes the back of our thoughts.  

In a recent interview with music blog Heathen Harvest, the band has announced that it will also perform at SXSW this year, and are currently writing new material for upcoming releases. Stream Sextile’s debut album A Thousand Hands on Bandcamp and catch them at The Casbah in San Diego tonight. – Ryan Mo

Providence-based singer/songwriter Steve Volkmann states that his songs are “inspired by everyday people and their stories” and, on tracks like “Slow Road” (streaming below), the mundane is imbued with meaning. As the poet C.K. Williams does with his quietly profound poems, Volkmann on his songs not only observes but sympathizes with lonely hearts. The guitar-ambled song “In the City” from this past November, for instance, has the speaker himself longing for a woman from afar, his pining redeemed by the ability to feel itself. Steve Volkmann plays at AS220 in Providence, Rhode Island on 2/2. – Zach Weg

Self-described "experimental pop" artist James Discovers puts some bizarre twists on "pop" conventions, while holding on to enough traditional pop structures to keep listeners engaged. Catchy hooks and bright guitars are frequently contrasted with wildy distorted, spastic guitar solos and effects-ladened vocals that feel as though the listener is at an undersea concert. If you’d rather stay above-water for a show, head to Arts at the Armory on January 28 and catch James’ set during The Loop Songwriter Showcase. You can also stay up-to-date on the latest James Discovers news via his Facebook page and, in the meantime, check out his song "Cannibal Eyes" (streaming below). -Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn) 

With regret, members are pulling the plug on Cruelty Code in two more shows. Known for their mixture of trepanating timbres and rusted-scalpel lyrics, the paragon of IE coldwave exemplified Salope Cassette‘s nursery of whispered auteurs including Contraciel, Shojo Winter, and Ambersmoke. The departure of Cruelty Code comes as a tragedy to Southern California’s close-knit and supportive communities of noise — the project is survived by The Victoriana and Pornography Ethics.

Their three-date send-off began last night in Riverside with Shitgiver, Band Aparte, and Sashcloth & Axes. Kevin McVey (Shojo Winter, ex-Crisis Arm) fills in synth for Kevin Martin (ex-Apathean, Eisenhower). – Ryan Mo, photo credit: Shojo Winter

1/30 Temecula @ The Dial with MATH, Wreckage and Black Cat, Shojo Winter

2/05 Los Angeles @ Timewarp with OCD, Toner, Shojo Winter, The Unending Thread

As hinted at in its regal name, New York’s The Next Great American Novelist purveys an impressive literariness on its nerd rock-inflected song, "Wicked" (streaming below). Starting out with drum thuds that pleasantly hearken back to Queen’s "We Will Rock You," the guitar-tightened track shows project mastermind and singer/songwriter Sean Cahill as an unabashed romantic. Like Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo on the contemporary classic “Say It Ain’t So,” the warm-voiced Cahill may wear his heart on his sleeve but only because he has so much love to give. The Next Great American Novelist plays The Hall MP in Williamsburg, February 19th at 7pm. – Zach Weg

Leland Sundries is the portmanteau under which frontman Nick Loss-Eaton and an ever-evolving roster of Brooklyn, NYC musicians produce music that imagionatevly expands on Americana in ways reminiscent of the poppy and slightly psychedelic storytelling of Camper Van Beethoven later records – or at least that’s what we hear in preview single "Studebaker," out of upcoming debut album "Music for Outcasts," (preorder here) scheduled for a Februyary 5 release. Mostly written before overcoming alcoholism and survuivuing open heart surgery, and finalized during the resulting, forced "time off," partly spent in Europe, the record focuses on personal tales related to seeing the world through new, sober eyes, and feeling it through a finally healed body. Check out also the video for "Apocalypse Love Song" here. Leland Sundries plays Muchmore’s on 02,26.

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Rootsy songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

The ever expanding universe that is Brooklyn’s dreampop scene seemingly knows no bounds. While numerous bands explore that style’s noisier side, the recently released debut EP “Sea White Salt” by Joseph Sant (a "Honorable Mention" in our recent Best of NYC Psych Open Submission results) takes a more introspective approach. Although a prominent drum track initially propels featured single cut “Nor’easter” along, the emergence of soft surf-rock guitar lines and whisper-sung vocals establish an unmistakable ambient mindset. Textured guitar melodies appear within the tracks instrumental second minute, creating the sonic equivalent of swelling wind and ocean. A denser, layered crescendo explodes just after the 2:00 minute mark, and you get the sense that the storm has now peaked. The feeling is poetic without actually being able to pinpoint any clearly defined storyline. In fact, only at the very end when the instruments go quiet can you make out the lyric “all that I hated and struck at – lost its hold over me.” While readily acknowledging Beach Fossils and Wild Nothing as initial developers of this sound, emerging bands like Lazyeyes and now Joseph Sant continue its forward progression. – Dave Cromwell

The pikachu backpack threw a lot of people off, including a couple who stood left of The Echo’s stage. Earlier, Nylo had lulled the audience with ease despite being a last-minute add. She lulled me, too. An indigo summer bathed the alt-R&B singer as bodies swayed to her glass notes. So when Meishi Smile set up, half of the crowd were none the wiser. Hidden among chillwave hopefuls, Zoom Lens’ cult following showed their true colors as Nadia Ulerich sat, fingers curled like a full lotus and a masked Lindsay Anne drew out the gong. Obscured by a black lace veil, Garrett began and people were grounded, some wounded by its immediacy — noise and synth, autotune and scream. But in the din of cyberpunk closer "…Belong", they understood. Briefly.

Survivors and the sated scanned their surroundings as Jeremy Malvin took the stage. And together, they entered the chrome forest. Need more be said? – Ryan Mo, photo credit: Joey Tobin