The Loop Goddess Linafornia is about to bless 2016 in swaths of vinyl scratch and emerald shine with her debut YUNG, through Alpha Pup’s sibling Dome of Doom. Since last summer’s "wetttt" and the more recent "brownies", Leimert Park’s underground empress has made waves playing a bevy of shows, including November’s Manifestival at Los Globos. Galvanizing a crowd is nothing new to the beat battle veteran, whose diverse sampling and creative change-ups have recently led to her induction to the Beat Cinema podcast family. 

Having swept up the Leimert Park crowd yesterday with her record release party, Linafornia crosses the Rubicon tonight at The Airliner with Ras G, Astronautica, SWARVY, and the Low End Theory pantheon. 

Find YUNG digitally on iTunes and in limited edition cassettes through Dome of Doom this Friday.

1/22 Pasadena @ Poobah Records

1/28 Santa Ana @ Diego’s

1/29 Los Angeles @ Shambala Studios

Last Friday, 1/15, was a killer night for local music at the Rock & Roll Hotel. A crowd of excited, dancing fans mostly filled the space and the energy was palpable, all thanks to performances from The Duskwhales, Kid Claws, and YUM.

Opening the night was YUM., a three-piece from Northern Virginia that plays a fusion of surf, chillwave, and indie rock. For such a small band, their act packed the punch of a much larger outfit, striking listeners’ eardrums with a melodic and entrancing set. Their playing was smooth and their audience interaction was friendly and engaging. YUM.’s set had a dreamy vibe to it, casting a spell of chill and indie in the room.

Second on the call sheet was Kid Claws. They are a trio from Falls Church, VA, that dabbles in shoegaze, ambient, and noise pop, while firmly settled on dream punk. The band has quite the musicality as they made great use of negative space in multiple songs and their female vocals found their way right to the heart. With liberal cymbal crashing and ephemeral guitar fades, Kid Claws has a subgenre all to themselves and craft a comfortably unsettling atmosphere of distorted, atmospheric, and punky sounds. Their next show is at the Songbyrd Music House, 1/29, with Big Hush and Soda.

The Duskwhales headlined the night and did they ever. With a sound that’s at once familiar and fresh, their music makes you wanna dance and go crazy. Hailing from Manassas, VA, this trio has a uniquely bohemian stage presence that captures the audience’s attention. Their work is heavily influenced by the Beatles, Vampire Weekend, and the Smiths, compiling elements of indie rock, psyhedelic, and retrowave into a charming and energizing musical cocktail. At the show, they paid a touching tribute to cultural legend David Bowie with an inspired cover of "Ziggy Stardust" and a Bowie-inspired original. They recently put out a new single (see below) and you can catch them open for Broke Royals and Wylder (these guys will be playing a Weezer cover set) at DC9, 2/6. -Jonathan Goodwin

The renaissance and evolution of soul music has been accelerating in 2015, and NYC expressed several new talents in this department. 2015 was a breakout year for Brooklyn-based Kevin Garrett. Upon the release of his debut EP "Mello Drama," he charted on Spotify’s Viral 50 List and became known for his eclectic mix of classic soul and modern electronic textures. You’ll have a chance to see him perform live at Webster Hall on January 26th.

Open wide: tonight, decibel diner pehrspace serves up a five-course meal for East LA with sommelier Bed Weather and maître Diy4Lyfe. Alex Nevins (fka Songs for Ghosts to Haunt to) cleanses the palette with a selection of acoustic amuse-bouche as Simi Valley shoegazers SHEER stir a hunger fierce with their debut album Uneasy. 

Chicagoan settlers Young Jesus make good on their promise to sate volume-starved fans after a close call at Emerald House, and Portland touring bands Sioux Falls and Cool American will likely leave Echo Park yearning for seconds — you’ll be relieved to know that the Oregonians are also playing Thursday at Fullerton’s Programme HQ. Bon apetit. – Ryan Mo

—The Deli KC Staff 

[Links will highlight when results are available]

AUSTIN
Open Submission Results – Readers Poll (coming soon)

BOSTON + NEW ENGLAND
Open Submission Results – Readers Poll is on!

CHICAGO
Open Submission Results – Readers Poll (coming soon)

DC AREA
Open Submission Results – Readers Poll is on!

KANSAS CITY
Open Submission Results – Readers Poll (coming soon)

LOS ANGELES
Open Submission Results – Readers Poll (coming soon)

NASHVILLE
Open Submission Results – Readers Poll is on!

NEW YORK CITY
– Open Submission Results (list below):
Alt Folk – Alt Rock – Electronic – Folk/Soul/Americana – Hip Hop + Other – Indie Pop – Indie Rock – Psych Rock/Dream Pop – Songwriters/Rootsy Pop.

Jury’s Vote Results (coming soon) – Readers Poll (coming soon)

PHILADELPHIA
Open Submission Results – Readers Poll (coming soon)

PORTLAND
Open Submission Results – Readers Poll is on!

SAN FRANCISCO
Open Submission Results – Readers Poll (coming soon)

TORONTO
Open Submission Results – Readers Poll (coming soon)

The Deli’s Staff

LATEST NEWS: KC final chart is out – Yes You Are wins! – Los Angeles final chart is out – James Supercave wins! –  Toronto final chart is out – Sate wins! – SF Bay Area final chart is out – Heartwatch wins! – Chicago final chart is out – Meat Wave wins! – Philly final chart is out – Alex G wins! – Austin final chart is out! CAPYAC wins! – NYC Final Poll Chart is out: Acid Dad wins! –  Portland Final Poll Chart is out: Cat Hoch wins! – DC Area Final Chart is out: The Walking Sticks win! – Nashville Final Chart is out: All Them Witches win! – New England Final Chart is out: Rebuilder wins!

For the full summary click… HERE!

The impending drop of Golden Daze is nigh — one month away, to be exact — as Ben Schwab and Jacob Loeb release another of their dreamy psych colorations: the second track to their self-titled debut, "Low". With its springy, slack-luster lyrics and overwashed, sand-blasted paisley, the song hovers somewhere between the birds and the pavement. Or, as the duo describes, "[like] our version of ‘I Believe I Can Fly’."

Listen to "Low" by Golden Daze and pre-order their debut album, out February 19th via Autumn Tone with a release show at Non Plus Ultra on February 27th. – Ryan Mo, photo credit: Kai Hugo

This year’s Best of NYC Open Submissions for the Psych Rock/Dream Pop category were so good that 20 out of 21 bands got ranked with 6 or more (out of 10) and 12 received marks above 7! So, it is with a broken heart that we announce the three winners – we wish we could select more! You can see the other NYC Open Submission results here.

CATEGORY: PSYCH ROCK/DREAM POP

Total submissions: 21

Jurors: Juan Rodriguez (The Deli LA) Ryan Mo (The Deli LA) PDG (The Deli NYC)

1. Belle Mare – 8.33 (out of 10)

Here at The Deli NYC we’ve been fans of Brooklyn uber mellow dream pop duo Belle Mare for quite some time – they were our record of the month back in March 2013. It feels good to see that our non NYC Deli colleagues, whose opinion was central to this poll’s results, agree with us. But after all, who can resist the charm of a song like "Dark of My Evening" (streaming), and Amelia Bushell’s casual vocals, suddenly erupting in the most celestial of melodies? Evidently, The Deli’s staff can’t.

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2. Surf Rock Is Dead – 7.833 

NYC is fertile ground for dream pop with surf influences, and Brooklyn based duo Surf Rock Is Dead, hailing from Chicago and Melbourne, has been making the most of it in 2015. The four tracks in their debut EP "SRiD" helped them build a loyal fan base, also gathering uniform interest on the internet, with Soundcloud listeners obsessing about single "Never Be The Same" and Spotify ones preferring "Late Risers" (streaming). The band has two upcoming shows scheduled in NYC: at Aviv on 01.22 and Pianos on 02.09.

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2. Twiga – 7.833 

Well, it really looks like Dream Pop had the best of Psych Rock this year… although Twiga, out of the three band we are highlighting here, nicely marries these two closely related genres in ways that don’t feel incestuous at all! Opening single and latest EP title-track "Kites" (streaming below) features luscious guitars reminiscent of Real Estate, but the droney vocals take us for a trip back to the days of Paysley Underground bands like Rain Parade, or British neo-psychedelic acts like Doves.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS (above 7):

Zuli, Joseph Sant, HEAVY BIRDS, Goodman, No Honeymoon, The Makeout Club, Auramics, IYEZ.

The Deli’s Folks

Hey we didn’t know the House of Yes was back! The DIY venue/performance space will host an explosive bill with some strictly speaking rock’n’roll bands tomorrow night (Wednesday January 20th) at their new location by the Jefferson Street’s L train stop. Check out the bands on the bill below, including Deli Record of the Month The Othermen and The Nuclears (pictured), featuring at the drums our own mag’s distribution coordinator Kevin Blatchford! On the bill also The Bothers and Art Gray Noizz Quintet.

We don’t really want to start a discussion about politics here, but it’s impossible to deny that one candidate is winning hands down the support of the NYC emerging band vote… Six local acts will perform at Cake Shop on Saturday January 23rd in support of Bernie Sanders, and, since we’ve never covered some of them, we’ll take the opportunity to do so, check them out below! In the picture, Shark?

Like a black hole, digital punk Garrett Yim distorts the boundaries of pop and noise; their binary opposition has always been a subject of interest to the California native. Raised in Anaheim Hills, Yim fashioned harsh sounds under the moniker Yuko Imada, taken previously by a late-’80s Japanese serial killer. Following Yuko Imada’s cacophonic denouement Roppongi Nightlife, Yim reappeared in 2014 as Meishi Smile, and has pervaded the digital space with a musical aesthetic that mixes shibuya-kei and shoegaze.

While Meishi Smile’s album debut LUST flickered pink noise with overcast picopop, 2015’s fall follow-up …Belong erodes saccharine gestures with a downpour of static. Ten provocative songs explore youth, death, dysphoria, and identity through the eyes and ears of a digital native.

Catch Meishi Smile supporting the Western tail of Chrome Sparks tour this week, and listen to "Belong". You can still win tickets to the sold-out Echo show; follow @MeishiSmile on Twitter for more details. – Ryan Mo, photo credit: Anthony Thompson

1/20 Vancouver, BC @ Fortune Sound Club

1/21 Seattle, WA @ Barboza

1/22 Los Angeles @ The Echo (Sold Out)

1/23 San Francisco @ Monarch