Sometimes the most basic things are also the most rewarding: The Mystery Lights‘ songs may sound like every rocker’s first attempt at songwriting (and recording): 3 chords, lots o’ screams and waaay too much treble… but the energy and the freshness of their music is an antidote to the sometimes convoluted Brooklyn musical output. The NYC garage rock quartet will bring their acid sounds and wild antics to Baby’s All Right on May 26.

Flordingblast is the solo project of NYC’s Alex Goldberg, who is also drummer in Throw Vision & Double King. He recently released some rather experimental electronic material. We were intrigued by this video for glitchy and abstract track "RESULT," where the musician is put in front of a choice of glasses, which represent (and offer) different perceptions of the world. Quite unsurprisingly, he ends up picking the square ones – a Williamsburg hipster classic! But do not fear, triangular frames will be hot one day!

Dissonance in rock music is not infrequent, but we’d be hard pressed to find it in pop – except… we just did! Brooklyn’s Painted Zeros are not afraid to use discordant chords within their otherwise perfectly dream-pop tunes. The effect is rather interesting: that dreaminess becomes somewhat weird, and the concept itself of ‘dream’ assumes a deeper, more troubled meaning, reminiscent of the strident juxtaposition of good and awful dreams in David Lynch’s masterpiece Mulholland Drive. The band’s recent video for single "Too Drunk" (streaming) seem to reflect this ambivalence, portraying intoxicated fans in some kind of air-french-kissing competition – which is at once awesome and fucked up. The band will be playing at Union Pool on June 4th opening for Austin’s The Zoltars.

Under the apt moniker Bitter’s Kiss, New Jersey-based singer/songwriter Chloe Baker shares sweetly serious pop songs with her March-released eponymous debut record. With her gentle voice, the teenaged musician tells stories of longing and pain but also sheer joy in tracks that smoothly blend drum clasps and slightly fuzzy guitars. Although all of the eight songs are both pleasant and provocative, album highlight “No One Will” (streaming below) particularly intrigues with its ambiguous nature; is the yearning here hurtful or somehow helpful? The answer doesn’t really matter; Baker’s wisely ambiguous songwriting lets the listener interpret freely. – Zach Weg

We added Bitter’s Kiss single "Waste of it All" to The Deli’s playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC songwriters and folk artists – check it out!

It’s difficult to contemplate music absent of pop structure or influences in the age of genre-revivalism and commercialized indie. Difficult, but not impossible. Just ask Media Jeweler.

Formed in 2013 from three members of the now-defunct Moon Pearl, an “8+ piece tidal wave of uncomfortable party music” based in Irvine, the avant garde Media Jeweler has ties to Irvine’s DIY arm Acrobatics Everyday, and two of the members simultaneously create musical/sexual tension as part of Santa Ana post-hardcore band Windy. Self-described as free rock, i.e. "not grunge, not punk, not alt, not anything," Media Jeweler have confused listeners (in a good way) playing convention-defying music across California venues with freaky local acts like So Many Wizards, Roman Candles, and most recently Girlpool. In time these musical entrepreneurs hope to establish a travel agency, produce a cooking show, and create a Media Jeweler smartphone app with the end-goal of making millions by playing popular rock music. Fingers crossed.

Media Jeweler’s debut album $99 R/T Hawaii will "come out" sometime this summer. Expect to see their 7” debut single “Looking Back” in June, a song about “the feeling of thinking about the stuff you did before the moment that you are in at that moment. It has no words but that is the sort of feeling you are supposed to feel when you listen to the song.”

They’ll be playing a string of shows in San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles this week to support touring band Ava Luna and Young Lovers. Watch their album teaser below. – Ryan Mo

Heatwarmer have found an incredible recipe that involves one part Canterbury scene, one part Thrill jockey Records, and two parts Christopher Cross; mixed together and then tossed into Bob James’ oven for a hot minute. The final product is this amazingly dense, multi tiered, and progressive cake that is as sweet as it is heavy. Your tastes buds might not even realize all of the tiny orchestrations, and calculated cadences that go into a cake like this, yet they will be pleased to consume it and probably won’t even think twice about what the ingredients are. But if you are the inquisitive type and choose to dive face first into this cake, then be prepared for a wild journey through jazz hominy, heavy cream, and soft cheeses, as you attempt to make sense out of disparate elements that should be enjoyed as a whole.

If Heatwarmer is cake, then Spyn Reset would definitely be the video game at your 8 year old birthday-party-sleepover. This Electro-prog-gamecore band breezes through groovy workouts in odd time signatures, conjuring the sounds of Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood as if fronted by Daft Punk, all while covering the Contra theme song. Though mostly instrumental the occasional vocoder chimes in to let you know that you’re about to enter the boss’ lair… But don’t worry! Armed with laser synthesizers, shredding guitars, and loaded drums, you are more than well equiped (even without using the cheat!) to face the Red Falcon at the end of the game and claim victory (and bragging rights) over all your friends.

Check out this prog-rock showdown at Barboza on May 21st featuring special guest Hildegard (feat. Cliff Hines) from NOLA.

After releasing their self-titled debut EP in 2013, Brooklyn pop-rock group Rocket & the Ghost just shared a new two track single. Featuring anthemic mid tempo ballad ‘Albuquerque’ and driving single ‘Come In From the Outside’ (streaming) the record melds Arcade Fire-like kinetics and Muse-esque grandeur into its own uplifting yet somewhat ominous energy. The band will be performing at the Highline Ballroom on 05.15 with Polaris. – Zach Weg

Turbo Fruits‘ new album ‘No Control’ sees the Nashville quartet tackle more "adult" themes like relationships, break-ups and losses, conveying a full range of not-so-fun emotion without ever giving up their signature, punchy rock’n’roll sound. While on tour with Eternal Summers and Surfer Blood, front man Jonas Stein answered a few questions about the creative process of being in a band – check out the Q&A on our sister blog Delicious Audio.

On Thursday May 14, garage-pop rockers SKATERS will headline an all NYC bill for one of the last shows at Brooklyn Night Bazaar in Williamsburg (the venue will close its doors on May 23rd). THey’ll be joined on stage by raucous foursome Team Spirit and new to us husband and wife alt-pop duo, The Bergamot. The event is the last of 3 free private parties sponsored by Jack Daniels and doNYC. Check out The Bergamot’s brand new single, "Forget About Tomorrow" that was just released yesterday. To gain access to the show RSVP here. – Cece Port

We’re sad to hear 5-piece, surf-angst band Clouder might not be long for this world—this June guitarist Steve Spinella will be disappearing into that speculated wormhole between Brooklyn and California. In a rather elegiac sounding Facebook post the band wrote “we just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us throughout the years– we’ve played with some really fantastic bands and made a lot of wacky friends along the way. thank you for getting sticky with us and for catching eric every time he jumped off the stage mid-song.” In better news, they’ve announced a split EP coming out this spring with their buds Pow Wow!, so keep a look out. – Leora Mandel

Coldplay cinematics, Massive Attack instrumentation, and Depeche Mode lineage. That’s a pretty good triangulation of [debut]’s sound. While songwriter/producer Gareth Thomas is the locus of the project, he’s recently expanded the lineup for full-bodied live performances. And with his recent release party at Complex LA, things are off to a great start. Older albums had a more granular texture with plenty of analog synth action, but the new Kickstarter’d album Postcards from Berlin, released April 4, features significant amounts of piano and strings, adding dynamic to the bread and butter of 80’s sounds. Thomas also contributes vocals for the first time here, along with project mainstays Cyd Claire, Angela Bartys, and Sammi Doll.

Watch the video for “More Than This,” from the new album Postcards from Berlin. – Ryan Mo

Garage-dreamfuzz trio The Yin Yangs will be playing Palisades May 23rd and Bohemian Grove’s super scrumptious BBQ Festival on May 30th. If you can understand more than half of the lyrics on their debut record, “Cowgirl”, you might want to think about offering your talents to a top-secret government organization, or that X-Men mansion supposedly placed up in Westchester County. These songs are smoky, spacey, and sometimes the guitars turn into ray guns. Available both digitally and on cassette. Sounds like a healthy helping to us. – Leora Mandel

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