Brooklyn Laughing Fingers‘ bandcamp profile includes the following tags: "rock," "cassette," "death rehearsal," "post-something" and "sometimes heavyish." This represents a wonderful example of how creative types and search engine optimization are not exactly made for each other. But who cares, really, if the post-something duo can produce, in 2014 alone, three intense and beautiful EPs full of sometimes heavyish (but often mellowish) rock that blends roots influences with ambient, slacker rock, and sparse psychedelia. Released as cassettes (we assume) their records are so tight these guys must be rehearsing them to death (hence, they like to jokingly refer to their weekly group meeting as "death rehearsal"). Well, I guess those tags made sense after all… so now you know that next time you feel like listening to "something heavyish" or "post-something" all you have to do is Google it!

Check out "Crutches," streaming below, the opening track from their latest double EP, appropriately titled "Two EPs," and if you like it, check out the rest of their repertoire here – you’ll find lots of good songs.

ROM has released a new video for "Micro," a track off their crooning, sizzling post-punk beauty soda christ. "Micro" is a fuzz-fueled simmer reminicent of The Jesus and Mary Chain with a little romantic twee a la The Pastels. The video shows the band in B+W trying to look serious in a picturesque graveyard, but they’re such happy handsome fellows that they can’t help but smile, and decide instead to go bowling, and play with puppies, before ending their day at the local pub, sharing drinks with other great local musicians, including members of Black Checker and BRNDA. I <3 DC. 

You can catch ROM tomorrow night at Comet Ping Pong, where they will be part of the lineup for the Get Lucid! show to raise funds for Say No To Food Waste. Bleached Bones and Galvanize fill the bill at Comet Ping Pong, tomorrow, Friday, January 30th, at 10pm. $12. All Ages. –Natan Press 

Deli Readers,

The Deli DC Area’s Best of 2014 Readers and Fans’ Poll for local emerging artists is over, thanks to all those who cast their vote in support of the emerging local bands and artists in our list of nominees.

Here is the top ten, and streaming track of the top four bands – which we congratulate!

1. Footwerk

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2. Peoples Blues of Richmond

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3.  Vexine

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4.  The Walking Sticks

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Here’s this poll’s top 10 chart, full results can be found here.

THE DELI’S BEST OF DC AREA 2014 – READERS’ POLL RESULTS   Artists Votes   1  Footwerk 855  2  Peoples Blues of Richmond  522 3  Vexine  114 4  The Walking Sticks  104 5  Party Like It’s  72 6  Sleepwalkers  51 7  Sean Barna  37 8  Walk The Plank  32 9  Fortress  31 10  The Cowards Choir 28

Stay tuned for the composite chart, to be released soon, which will include details about the point nominees accumulated from the jurors and Deli writers’ votes, and will crown The Deli’s Best Emerging DC Area Artist of 2014.

The Deli’s Staff

After touring extensively the US and Europe in support of last year’s album "Deleted Scenes," Brooklyn based solo electronic artist, Goste (aka Owen Ross), is already promoting a new release, entitled "Eugene EP." Lead single "Loaded Like a Pistol" (streaming below) is a darkwave track featuring Goste’s raspy vocals, that bring shape and character to the entrancing minimalistic track. You can catch Goste live in NYC tomorrow night (01.30) at Rockwood in Brooklyn next weekend (02/07) at Bar Matchless. – Jordannah Elizabeth

 Blankus Larry is garage rock done right. Recorded to tape, dirty and noisy, squeezing out the screech and holler of electric guitars. Blankus Larry released the album Hell Or High Larry in early 2013, a unblemished tour through classic analog psychedelic sounds and garage attitude, mixing indie-rock reminiscent of Frank Black with a cathartic punk-rock squall. Since then their only release (to my knowledge) was last year’s lone track, the psychobilly "Dead For Christmas." It looks now like they’re preparing a new wave of songs with this double-A Single "No Time No Money/Girl You Make Me Wanna" dropping in the past week.  

Not only does the single continue to demonstrate Blankus Larry’s command of the genre and the studio, it suggests the band is becoming even more adventurous, infusing old forms with new energy. "No Time No Money" is a gnarly beach jam, with a killer surf-rock guitar solo. You can wiggle and dance to it, or break things. "Girl You Make Me Wanna" is like a Sonics track done by Nirvana. It is a full on sonic assault and emotional release. I’m drooling thinking of seeing these guys play at The Pinch next Friday, February 6th with Ezra Mae & The Gypsy Moon and Calavera Skull (both previous DC Area Deli Artists of the month). –Natan Press 

What a beautiful world it would be if each one of us learned to argue without taking issue at diverging opinions! As you can see in the first few seconds of the video we are premiering here for single "Something I Said," the six guys in NYC folk pop band Side Saddle are not very good at that, but at least there’s enough of them to allow them to resolve their disagreements through a football match in the park. That’s a better way to settle disputes rather than screaming at (and secretly hating) each other, although admittedly not a very time-efficient one, in particular for bands, often cauldrons of conflicting egos. But this two year old project doesn’t seem to have that problem, since it’s coming out from a very productive year that saw the release of debut EP "The Postcard" and, more recently, full length album "The Astorian" (a reference to the NYC borough the band hails from). The latter features "Something I Said" and also their most popular single, the Simon and Garfunkel-esque "Don’t Wait For Him." Speaking of the legendary folk duo from the 60s, it’s obviously a strong influence on Side Saddle’s music, but the band wears it with impressive flair, churning out catchy and compelling folk pop gems, enriched by tasteful and absolutely spot on vocal harmonies.

Astorians can see them at Old Prague on January 31, Manhattanites at Bowery Electric on 02.02, and Brooklynityes at Muchmore on 02.20. Staten Islanders and The Bronx… ites (?) get no love for now (but they rarely do anyway…).

We wish every NYC venue had residencies, like Pianos does; it would be so much easier to figure out what local emerging artists have the potential to get to the next level. The Fluids is a Brooklyn band so new we had a hard time finding a picture of them. Their round, slightly epic rock sound didn’t immediatiely strike us for its originality, but once Michael O’Donnell’s vocals hit our ears with his semi spoken-word style, we became hooked big time. The dude is without any doubt whatsoever the in vitro (or something) child of Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) and Gerard Langley of The Blue Aeroplanes… Science can "forge" a child out of two males now, right? Michael has the rare talent (inherited from his fathers) to create very interesting and evocative vocal lines without really relying on any discernible melody. Listen to their single "Just Like Me" (streaming below) if you won’t believe us. Check out The Fluids tonight at Pianos for the last night of their Wednesday residency. We dig.

With their unapologetic punk/garage rock that reinvents those genres in ways that are compositionally more mature (and satisfying), Brooklyn quartet Honduras has been a band on the rise in 2014, a year during which they released two EPs: the more produced and somewhat atmospheric "Morality Cuts" in February, and the tenser "Break," out in November. They are now unveiling a new video for one of their more Ramonesque tunes, "Mistake" (streaming), which is the third and closing track of their latest EP. If you are a fan of the sound of the 70’s, don’t miss their upcoming show at Bowery Electric on January 29.

If you’re looking for a little fiddle, banjo, and soul on Valentine’s weekend, Folk-pop septet Haint Blue is coming to the Velvet Lounge in Washington, D.C. on February 13th. This band’s sound is alive, with bluegrass fiddle and banjo, powerful harmonies, and melancholy lyrics. One lyric in “Company of Ghosts” (the title track to their newest album) is, “Promise myself I’d retire much older, but I still abide,” hauntingly beautiful due to the sparse instrumentation and seamless harmonies that go along with the words. Though the album is only seven tracks, it feels cohesive and complete, due to the range of emotion and sound of the songs. “Father Abraham” is an upbeat, foot-tapping song with spiritual lyrics, while “Wherever You Go” is a cynical, slower, and darker song with lyrics that are not afraid to surprise the listener. This band promises energy, passion, and musical finesse.

The show on the 13th is a must-see, with Big Hoax and Dear Creek joining them at The Lounge. If you have to miss it, though, Company of Ghosts is on sale on iTunes and Bandcamp. They are also playing closer to their Baltimore home the next night at Cafe Nola in Frederick, MD on February 14th. –Nancy Macmillan

Gals and lads, here are the results for the last category of our Best of NYC Year End Poll for Emerging Artists: it’s ALT FOLK! This is a genre that is rising in NYC, and that is producing some very interesting new bands dedicated to reinventing the American roots music. Kudos to Bonsai, who is also the band that received the highest score overall from our jury, and therefore has earned our NYC Artist of the Month banner.

Total submissions in this category: 26

Jurors: Jason Behrends (The Deli Chicago), Jordannah Elizabeth (The Deli SF), Paolo De Gregorio (The Deli NYC)

Artists qualified to the next stage (i.e. the Readers’ Poll, starting later this week):

1. Bonsai (8.33 out of 10)

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2. Johnnie Lee Jordan (7.16)

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3. Viktor Longo (7)

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Honorable Mentions (scores above 6.5)

Cave Cricket, Johnny Lewis, Jacknife Sympathy, Jesus On The Mainline, Dallas Heron, Bay Uno, The Slack Tide.

This is it as far os open submission results! As soon as we’ll have all the bands uploaded in the system, the Best of 2014 Readers’ Poll can begin!

The Deli’s Staff

It’s become quite rare to stumble upon the word "demo" these days, since the term was made somewhat obsolete by the rise to relevance of lo-fi (and even "mid-fi") music. However, NYC droney psych rockers Street Smells have a four song demo drenched in fuzz and reverb on their Soundcloud page, and since they recently played Pianos, it’s quite safe to assume that they’ll be releasing a new record soon. Fans of The Jesus and Mary Chain will rejoice. Check out the demo of ‘Rapture Of The Deep’ and single ‘Jerky Ride’ from their 2012 album ‘Creamy LP,’ both streaming below.

 

Deli Readers,

The Deli KC’s Best of 2014 Readers and Fans’ Poll for local emerging artists is over, thanks to all those who cast their vote in support of the emerging local bands and artists in our list of nominees.

1. Kangaroo Knife Fight

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Here’s this poll’s top 10 chart, full results can be found here. 

BEST OF KC 2014 – READERS’ POLL RESULTS   Artists Votes   1 Kangaroo Knife Fight 502 2 Yore 461 3 The Blackbird Revue 302 4 ATLAS 181 5 AY MusiK 57 6 Scruffy & The Janitors 34 7 Jorge Arana Trio 21 8 Riddles 18 9 The Gorlons 17 10 The Thunderclaps 15

Stay tuned for the composite chart, to be released soon, which will include the point nominees accumulated from the jurors and Deli writers’ votes, and will crown The Deli’s Best Emerging KC Artist of 2014.

The Deli’s Staff