Scam Avenue is a very new synth pop trio out of Brooklyn. They just released their debut single/video entitled "Mercury" (streaming) and announced their debut EP, to be released on June 23rd. From the single, the band’s approach to the genre seems rather minimalistic, but not immune from the occasional tension building through noisier sections. However, Devery Doleman and Tara Chacón’s clean melodies always return things to a chilled and controlled sonic place. Kudos to band member Lawrence Kim for directing this stylish video. The band will be playing a free show at Passenger Bar on June 3rd, while the release party is scheduled for 06.20 at Cameo Gallery.

Mercury from Scam Avenue on Vimeo.

By implicitly stating not only that originality trumps instrumental technique, but also that it’s more easily achievable by non formally trained musicians, the Post Punk bands of the late 70’s re-affirmed the concept of creative DIY in rock music – a trend the Velvet Underground had anticipated about a decade earlier. It’s only natural then that many bands in today’s DIY scene look back at that wave of groundbreaking music for inspiration. Brooklyn’s Pill, who’ve recently received praise from Pitchfork and made The L Mag’s list of the 8 NYC bands you need to hear, fully recreate the edgier and darker atmospheres of that music, always caught between repetitive droney elements and out of the box madness. In this circumstance, the saxophone functions as a wild sonic card, while Veronica Torres’ vocals reject any pop inclination with atonal rants in part reminiscent of Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. Check out below single "Misty Eyed Porn Reader" from their self titled debut EP, and see them live at Cameo on June 14 with Deli favorites Future Punx. – Image courtresy of The L Mag

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

Earlier this month, Brooklyn-by-way-of-Texas singer/songwriter Buck Meek released his Heart Was Beat EP. An understatedly beautiful collection of five country-folk tracks, the album has the smooth-voiced guitarist telling stories of drifters and loners over a calming blend of trailing strings and soft drums. Listening to tumbling songs such as “Misty” (streaming below) and “Fog Rolls,” one may recall Phosphorescent or Iron & Wine, but Buck Meek’s sheer musicianship and vivid writing prove his own promising, exciting talent. – Zach Weg

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

DC’s indie rockers Shark Week released their debut album on NYC’s Paper Cup Records on May 19. The band is about to depart on a East Coast tour that will see them play the Northside Festival in Brooklyn and Toronto’s NXNE. Check out single "Why Did I Let you Go" streaming below.

Active since 2012, NYC’s collective Motion Studies produce what they call "Weird Disco," which sounds to us like post punk inspired electronic music with a beat. Funky bass lines, bizarre sounding distorted guitars and samples flirting with industrial music are reoccurring elements in their music. Their latest single "In Our Days" (streaming) represent the peak of their reportoire so far, and it’s a driven tune full of sonic surprises that work within the context of the song. Definitely a band to keep an eye and two ears on, check them out at Mochmore’s on June 13 within their label’s Godmode’s three year anniversary party.

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

Let’s admit it, most true rockers feel a little uncomfortable whenever they read the words "Christian" and "Rock" next to each other – we do too. It’s probably time to get over this impulse, forget the past struggles with the church (and the permanent divergencies with the rising tide of bigotry in the US), and just enjoy the music. Besides, if we can tolerate lyrics like The Sex Pistols’ "I wanna destroy passerby," we can probably also deal with "Great is Our God," the title of one of Young Oceans‘ most popular songs. This band is a worship project that evolved from hymns penned and arranged within the Trinity Grace Church community in New York City. We are really enjoying the band’s single from 2014 entitled "Only You" (streaming below) which falls entirely in the dream pop category – dream and religion are themes that feed each other in a big way. And if you really can’t take the religious content in the lyrics, you have no excuse anyway: the band’s latest album "Steady the Stars" is entirely instrumental.
Young Ocean was recently included in New Music Seminar’s list of "Artist on the Verge 2015."

While we were blogging about a million other NYC artists, a relatively unknown local band we booked at our Best of NYC Fest in 2011 (as an opening act) kept working hard at their music and live show. Fast forward four years, and we find the group signed to Epic, putting out records produced by Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine fame), shooting awesome videos inspired by Western movies (streaming below) and… playing arenas in Europe opening for The Who! We are referring to alt rockers The Last Internationale, a band that deserves huge kudos for their achievement – and also a little apology from The Deli for not seeing it coming. The band released their debut album ‘We Will Reign‘ last year, a powerful record that combines blues rock and Morriconian influences with their politically aware story-telling.

Deli readers and magazine eaters,

The issue #42 of The Deli NYC is out digitally – it’s the Best of NYC 2015!

READ IT ONLINE HERE

The Deli’s Staff

Facebook likes aren’t everything; just ask Crown Dancer. Formed in 2013 somewhere in South East LA, the five musicians Fernando Nunez, Keith Hernandez, Jesus Barron, Marlow Coloma, and AJ Dungo were more interested in crafting wildly poppy songs from their prismatic and far-flung influences: outwards from Japanese post-rock math group Toe and the British jazz-punk King Krule, to the hip hop messiah Kendrick Lamar and late soul wonder Lee Moses.

What came out from hours in the studio was a sound consciously inflected by emotive synth, crash, and fuzz. With noisy-yet-catchy compositions and high-energy lives fit to open for acts like No Age, Future Islands, and The War On Drugs, it’s almost heinous that they’re still infants in the social media scene.

But don’t take their sparse Internet presence as a sign of youth: Crown Dancer have performed with the finest underground acts in all corners of city, sounding off with the progpunk duo The Littlest Viking, glistening noise trio Take Pictures, and the Gutter Trunk hip hop muse Bizzart aka GOTHIC CHOLO.

Crown Dancer are currently working on their first EP “Leftovers”. Recorded and mixed by Dylan Wood (Pageants, Time of Wolves, ex- 60-Watt Kidd), this year-long labor of love is slated to finish by the end of June. They have plans to begin recording a full-length soon, and will make their last appearance (for a while) tomorrow at Young Lovers’ third night of residency with The Littlest Viking. Listen to the first three demos of “Leftovers” EP and see them live tomorrow night at Pehrspace! – Ryan Mo

Culture Remixed and Sumo Hair come together for the third Cutting Room experience, celebrating four years of beat coverage by Culture Remixed! Come early to clean it up at downtown LA’s Studio R with cuts from Sumo Hair, then get dirty with sets from Aztlan Quetzal, Luke Cage, Josh Spoon, Nite N Dae, Point 10, and Rob Bliss.

Julián Félix is the man behind Culture Remixed, covering the Los Angeles Beat scene, emerging Latina/o electronic artists, and independent labels around the globe. As a writer, community college professor, and moonlighting DJ/visual artist, Félix began covering Lincoln Height’s experimental hip hop and electronic music purveyor Low End Theory, and started Culture Remixed as a way to improve his DJing. He has since branched out to write and feature producers across the country and in LA’s backyard, including Open Mike Eagle, Bür Gür, and Kenny Segal. Along with his bread-and-butter, Félix also spins jazz, soul, funk, R&B, Afro beat, and more from Boyle Heights’ Radio Sombra.

Stream Culture Remixed at Radio Sombra every Saturday Night from 6-8pm PST, and check out the eclectic lineup tomorrow, free from 7pm – 1am! – Ryan Mo

Over the past few months, Brooklyn-via-Maryland singer/songwriter Keenan O’Meara has released admittedly heavy but undeniably beautiful folk songs on his Soundcloud. The more recent track “Mania,” for example, has the Berklee-educated musician telling of pained lovers over a slowly involving mix of guitar curls and ominous background effects. “Might As Well Swim,” (streaming below), a nimble yet resolute guitar-based song that recalls Department of Eagles’ great ‘In Ear Park’ LP, is similarly striking in its imaginative lyrics and apparent subject (a troubled “child of privilege the world will never need”). Like a great tragedian, O’Meara offers the possibility of redemption with his harsh but gorgeously-rendered dramas. See him at Rockwood Music Hall this Sunday 5/24. – Zach Weg

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