Hey! Don’t you want to read about my exciting day 2 of the Crummy Music Jobs festival? Don’t you want to know about what an amazing time I’m having and all the amazing bands I’m seeing that you’re missing out on at the Crap Making Jerks festival? Of course you do, I mean, my word is law after all, and everything I say should be taken with complete seriousness. No funny business here at the Country Music Jazz festival. – Keep reading Jake’s report for Day 2 of the CMJ Music Marathone 2014

We liked Brooklyn power trio NoPop a lot the first time we stumbled upon their music, and the guys are doing their best to confirm that first impression. They just released this new track just in time for tonight’s The Deli’s DIY/Psych/Garage CMJ 2014 showcase at Spike Hill – a show they will open at 6.40 pm. Come check them out, we’ll be there!

This is my first time covering CMJ. I’d attended in the past, but never with an actual agenda. It’s overwhelming from the get-go. Having an under-established or unclear schedule is like being in a life raft with no oars, in the middle of the ocean. Alone. I made an all too familiar mistake from step one, getting in the artists’ line to pick up my press badge. It was a bit of a wait, but I met a cool dude from a band called Echo Bloom, who calmed my nerves (his band’s music excels at that too, see track below), as I was afraid of missing the first showcase I wanted to see, only to find out at the end of said line, that I didn’t have to wait at all. The press booth line was just about non-existent, and the performer booth was kind of spilling over, giving the illusion of two separate lines. What the hell. This kind of set the tone for the day. – Keep reading JP Basileo’s CMJ Music Marathon 2014 Day 1 report.

Since it was my first CMJ, I didn’t know what to expect in the beginning. As it got closer to the week I slowly began to realize that it’s more corporate than I expected. I don’t really know that much or care about any of the industry events or any of the ‘big’ shows, so I’m going to seek out as many great bills as I can and go from there. I will say that despite my grievances against the corporate shmuck-holes, my first CMJ night was pretty good; I saws four great bands consecutively at two venues and honestly, couldn’t have been happier. – Read More

She Keeps Bees has always delivered a brooding menace underneath layers of blues and folk, but now their kettle’s practically boiling over. For new record ‘Eight Houses,’ tales of war and revenge provide an ominous tone to the band’s stripped down texture. After exploring America’s hidden past during their 2012 tour, bandmates Jessica Larabee and Andy LePlant came away from the experience with a better idea of how much pain and forced assimiliation American Indians endured. Tracks like ‘Greasy Grass’ and ‘Breezy’ are practically brimming over with this rage, while still delivering an intimate warmth and emotional pull that makes you feel like you’ve known Jessica for years. It’s a multi-layered record, whose change-up in production from the band’s previous home recordings has only added to its complexities. We discussed these new paths in our recent interview with the band.

See the band live tonight (10.22) at The Deli’s CMJ 2014 Roots Stage at Rockwood at 7pm
Read Mike Levine’s interview with She Keeps Bees

Tuesday was our only day without CMJ showcases so we wondered from venue to venue looking for interesting emerging NYC acts, here’s a quick list of artists we stumbled upon:

BMI was having their showcase at The Knitting Factory with several locals, including fun garage pop quartet Charly Bliss, which we boooked for our Thursday show at Spike Hill. On that same stage we saw talented electro-pop internet sensation VÉRITÉ, who has already three mainstream-ish sounding songs on Soundcloud with more than 100k plays. In perfect Deli style, we prefer ‘Heartbeat’ the song that only has 15k plays, streaming below. She’s scheduled to play tonight as well at… The Knit again?

One of the opening acts at The Knit was Dreamshow, a dance/rock trio that plays anthemic songs full of attitude and passion, check out single "16" down here.

We later ventured to the OhMyRockness showcase at Cameo and were pleasently surprised by New Jersey’s instrumental post/math-rock trio Vasudeva (pictured), featuring two exceptional guitarists. This is a band that might bring back into fashion the lost art of tapping, often associated with the cheesiest of metal bands. The way they do it, it sounds cool (although it still looks nerdy). Check out single "In lieu of Youth," streaming below.

At Spike Hill there was the Audiofemme official CMJ showcase and cought a couple of songs by blues rock powerhouse STRNGRS. On the bill were also Born Cages, a NYC based melodic rock band we mentioned last week that seems to be getting places – check out the uber-catchy single "Rolling Down The Hill" below and you may understand why.

On that same showcase we didn’t catch but want to highlight Oracle Room, a super new band that has an interesting approach to electro-rock, at least in the single we are pasting below, entitled "The Knot."

So… yeah: the Marathon has begun, much more to follow!

We can’t think of anything better, for a musician, than finding a like-minded band mate that ends up becoming also a lover – or vice versa. That’s he idyllic situation Brooklyn duo Crushed Out is in, which brought to life their new album ‘TEETH.’ presented by the the band as an "ode to all the potential energy wrapped up in life, in the ocean, and in love." Often described as a surf pop duo, in the new record Crushed Out seems to shifts its inspiration towards the roots of American music, filtered through the songwriting lens of guitarist/vocalist Franklin Russell Hoier. Here’s what the couple has to say about the video we are premiering below: "Two Lovebirds is a song for all you outlaw lovers. Sometimes you have to be a rebel and an outlaw to love the way you wanna love. We wrote it with the underdog feeling of being two small birds in a big bad world, yet your love for each other is a secret super power."

Crushed Out is currently on an intensive US tour that will last until early December.

 It’s finally here! Last night, Baby Bry Bry & The Apologists played the release show for their new "single," a four song digital/casette release titled I Learned to Drown Myself Out, Part I (Part II is coming "soon"–I want it NOW!). Baby Bry Bry’s live shows are action packed and exhilarating. The Apologists, some of the most accomplished musicians in DC, provide the rocket fuel that launches Bry Bry’s stage presence into the stratosphere. Every show wins an entire new room full of fans, and as the rooms get bigger, they stay just as crowded with crazy kids rocking their faces off. It’s been a year since Bry Bry’s last release, Is It Anything Or Is It Everything, but it feels longer. 

Bry Bry’s style is all over the place, ranging from blue-eyed soul to wild and crazy punk, and the first two songs off I Learned to Drown Myself Out, Part I are a perfect example of his range. "Lately"  starts similarly to Nirvana’s "Territorial Pissings," and for about a minute it’s a straight up old-school punk-rocker. But then there’s a little bridge with a sweet vocal melody and background harmonies. And then a vicious guitar solo. And then more sweetness.

"Just Because It’s Art (Doesn’t Mean It’s Good)" could be on a late Ween album, or The Pretenders. It’s a dancey island kind of thing. Yacht-rocky, but with punk-rock sounds. Humorous and hummable and head-bobbing good, with some fun changes throughout.

If you get the cassette you also get a cover of Big Black’s "Bad Penny" and a song called "Slumzzz." There are only 50 copies of the cassette, and a lot of them got scooped up at the show, so ACT NOW! –Natan Press

If there’s one non-electronic genre the Brooklyn scene of the early aughts will be remembered for, this will undoubtly be lo-fi. A big segment of Brooklyn musicians dispute the importance of quality recordings – in part because they can’t afford them. But there’s more to it: there is a widespread awareness that lo-fi recording doesn’t spoil a song, but in some cases actually add character to it. Considering the circumstances of their formation, Truthers could be called a quintessential Brooklyn DIY band: Oscar Guinn (vocals/guitar) and Gryphon Graham (guitar/vocals, and former keyboardist/vocalist for DIIV) met while both were crashing at the Market Hotel, the legendary and (at least for now) defunct Bushwick space that came to symbolize the peak of the local DIY scene (even a Deli cover was shot there). On the surface, their songs sound simple and rough, even quirky at times, but they actually feature sophisticated chord progressions, changes and melodies, in the best Beach Boys tradition. See them live at Cake Shop/Capeshock CMJ show on 10.24.

Expanded to a full band for their 2014 album, "Memory Palace," Brooklyn’s Stone Cold Fox deliver a collection of songs that’re like the early Strokes in both sonic texture and easygoing vocal phrasing. (Elsewhere, there are hints of Bob Dylan’s lyricism and the emotional drama of the Killers.) All of these influences from across the decades are made fresh by the band’s intimate keyboard flourishes and succinct sound design.

Stone Cold Fox will be headlining The Deli’s CMJ show at Rockwood’s Stage 2 tomorrow October 22 at 11pm.
Read Dave Cromwell‘s interview with Stone Cold Fox.

We are not sure how Brooklyn quartet Savants managed to land a gig at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 24, since – from the numbers we gather from their Facebook and Soundcloud profiles – it looks like they might have trouble filling that huge room. What we know, though, is that, at least musically, the guys totally deserve to play that venue. We are especially fond of their debut limited cassette ‘s opener "Think!" (streaming), which sounds like our beloved musical hero Syd Barrett fronting – dunno – a lo-fi version of The Kinks? The rest of the album is full of psychedelic slacker-style sketches, in perfect early Weezer style, but just a little more sober. Interesting ideas and melodies emerge from every single song, from the Lou Reed-esque "Something (Part 1)" to the laid back and bizarre "Us," where the slightly out of tune, gliding vocals add character to the track rather than detracting from it.

This band submitted their music for coverage here.
We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Psych Rock songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!