Brooklyn’s Life Size Maps have a pretty huge slot to fill with their warbled noise pop— they’re on before Oberhofer and Celestial Shore at Glasslands this Thursday (5/2), so their airtight grooves had better stay that way. Mike McKeever’s deliberate vocal style and heavily effected, meandering guitar serve as fitting centerpieces for their proprietary brand of post-postmodern rock, and with a locked-in rhythm section there’s little to fault them on. With a name that came from a stoned friend’s musings and a sound that’s difficult to pin down to any one corner, this trio is destined for success—or at least to rock your face off at Glasslands. The band is currently in the studio finalizing their debut full length, in the meantime check out their recent video for single "Abstract Speed" below – Zack Kraimer
[Streaming content removed upon request of the artist, listen to Life Size Maps here]
How’s this for ambitious? VulpesVulpes‘ new EP ‘Reflets Dans LEAU’ is the first installment of what Bushwick resident Tanya Lam is deeming the ‘Elemental Suites,’ part of an exploration of our world’s basic building blocks through music… or something. As far as you are concerned, just be aware that these four intimate, jazzy folk tracks will burrow their way into your subconscious like that sensual dream you don’t want to wake up from.
Take a listen at the artist’s Soundcloud, and stay tuned for new shows to be announced. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
This artist submitted their music for review digitally to The Deli here.
In collaboration with the underground independent artist collective, Undead Music Festival, 5th Dimension at H&H building in downtown Baltimore is hosting an intimate night of experimental jazz on May 5th. Local bands Talking Points, Leap and Bombshelter are all ensembles of jazz aficionados who congregate as a multifaceted community of enthusiastic and talented musicians who play together as often as they can. Band members Chris Pumphy and Dan Ryan play in two out of three bands on the bill.
If you’ve never experienced downtown Baltimore’s buzzing young jazz community, the 5 Dimension loft space is a tucked away venue that will offer you the ambiance of a down to earth artist environment, and an intimate music venue that allows you to hear every note. –Jordannah Elizabeth
How many shades of weird color is your daily dose of awesome? In the grand fabric of your universe, how many textures from your pillow leave nebulous impressions on your forehead far into the afternoon? What tribe taught you to rain-dance? And did they encourage you to hold your lightning rod proudly? Regardless of your answers to these questions, if you’re not listening to Ava Luna, your cereal is getting soggy. The band was on the cover of The Deli in the winter 2012 issue just over one year ago, see them tonight at Brooklyn Bowl – more info in the post below.
Admit it, most Tuesday nights you don’t have any plans. The Deli is here to change that. We’re teaming up with BalconyTV Brooklyn to give you something fun to do on a Tuesday, and we’re bringing out – if not the big ones – some damn charming guns. We’ve got the airy avant-pop of Vensaire, indie rockers The Ugly Club, Modern Rivals own brand of indie dream pop, and the alternative soul of Ava Luna. This is going to be a show full of experimental sounds and great performances. So come and join us tonight (April 30th) at Brooklyn Bowl from 8pm-Midnight, and give yourself something to look forward to in the middle of the week. Facebook event here. – Lucy Sherman
It’s difficult to find any two people in the world able to communicate the same thing together at the same time. For The Mouth, jangly rock duo Alfie Comito and Joey Puleio have an eerie sense of one another that works to bring their over-the-top rants into stark harmony. For any fan of The Housemartins, The Mouth could be Brooklyn’s answer to upbeat folk-pop madness. The group promises more videos and shows are on the way, so stay tuned. And check out some cuts from their barn-burning EP ‘Talk About’ below. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
This artist submitted their music for review digitally to The Deli here.
Tunde Adebimpe (pictured) of TV on the Radio brought his experimental rock side project to Crossing Brooklyn Ferry a couple days before playing the main stage with TVOTR. The descriptively (and neverendingly!) named project, Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band, plays a collection of gritty, hypnotic jams without much structure. Loops of spoken chatter and Adebimpe’s signature yelping vocals cover psych and garage jams, grounded by persistent bass lines and drum marches. The project, begun last fall, has played a few selected shows around the city. Their Thursday set ran with a lineup of other artists playing side projects from their main bands like Olga Bell from The Dirty Projectors and Sarah Neufeld of Arcade Fire. – Bianca Seidman
For the second year of the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival, curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, the focus was a wider sample of indie music and short film. The small three-day fest at BAM included artists selected by and connected to the brothers, like their own house show, in a beaux-arts palace.
The bands, mostly from Brooklyn, were an eclectic mix–electro, folk, noise rock and funk met classical and jazz. The Roots, Solange and TV on the Radio headlined. Several up-and- coming artists played the BAM café, serving as the second stage. Acts often covered by The Deli filled the bill, including Clare & The Reasons (on our cover a few years ago, check out a recent video here), People Get Ready (on the cover of our latest NYC issue), Here We Go Magic, Doe Paoro, Eddi Front, Exitmusic, Porcelain Raft, Olga Bell and many others. – Bianca Seidman
Bellwether is a new Pop-Punk band coming at you straight from the infamous Long Island scene. The name Bellwether literally means the lead sheep in a flock, chosen by the band to indicate their commitment to change and disinterest in the mundane sound and egotistical vibe that they feel a lot of today’s Pop-Punkers display. Their newest EP titled “…but I have to” dropped on April 9th and is currently available for streaming via Spotify. Their vibrant guitar riffs paired with frontman Desmond Zantua’s catchy and well-suited vocals make Bellwether a band to keep an ear on. Stream the band’s last single titled “…But I Have to” here. – Michael Haskoor (@Tweetskoor)
Coming out of the nascent VVYNL stable of acts that inhabit the Knitting Factory on Monday nights, Zachary Allen Starkey bucks the trend of erstwhile Lady Gaga acolytes that dominate VVYNL and offers a more socially- distressed alternative. He’s less, well, pretty. But by combining basic darkwave synths with Gary Numan-esque vocals, Starky’s newest single, “Into the Sun,” paints personal loss in simple poetic strokes that feel prescient despite its retro proclivities. 5 minutes, however, was quite enough and he’ll need to switch the formula up greatly to make this vocal style work over an album’s length. – Brian Chidester
South of the Mountain has been in the works for a while now. After a successful Kickstarter campaign in January of last year, Bears and Company set out to “create a dynamically driven record fueled by honest emotion,” according to its Kickstarter page. Dynamically driven it is, and hot damn, is it emotionally honest. This brand-new album will melt your face with heavy indie jams and just as easily melt your heart with brutal, beautiful lyrics.
If you’ve seen Bears and Company live, you’ll be insanely content as soon as you press play. “I Dreamt I Destroyed the World” tears into the audible plane with fast, riffy guitars—a live show favorite. This is one of many songs that entices the whole crowd to sing along to. Not to mention this song was released on a limited demo album the band put out last summer as an acoustic track.
Pay attention, because before you know it, “Occurrence in the Wildwood” is on. A graceful guitar reverb sound blends the songs wonderfully. You’ll find yourself lost in an entanglement of Logan Tyler’s smooth voice and Alex McClain’s angsty screams as they combat for the attention of your ears.
Again, you barely blink before “Susannah and the Elders” hits your playlist. I’d love to say this is the catchiest song on the ten-track album, but truth is, that’s just in my ears. Sitting in class, or on the clock at work, and I find myself shamelessly humming the tune to any song on the album at any time. Large sounds from gang vocals spice up the tune.
The Bears finally key things down from the seemingly customary heavy and fast songs with “Carroll A. Deering,” the fourth song featured on South of the Mountain. The song is a lullaby compared to what we’ve heard so far. Slow, sentimental, and heartfelt. It takes an uphill aesthetic, getting louder and more intricate during the four minute and fifty second duration. Don’t understand? Close your eyes and listen to the song, you’ll get it.
Keeping the tempo down and the tunes quiet, track five is just as chill as four. “When the Sky Opened” is another limited acoustic track from the Bears’ summer demos. A chillingly soft timbre emits from this song. This is the closest thing to an anthem you’ll find on this album. Starting off with a daunting and melancholy tone, the song does pick up a brighter message near the end, powering into the last half of the album.
“‘Return of the Hunters” and “After the Quake” are two other crowd pleasers at any Bears’ show; crowd pleaser is putting it lightly. As the band plays these songs live, the whole ambiance of the room shifts. Show patrons get closer and for several minutes every individual molds into one. It’s a weird, eerie phenomenon that is spectacular at the same time.
After these two powerhouse songs, you’ll run into the album’s title track, which serves as an interlude—an all-instrumental arrangement. To be the bearer of great news, this is not a break from the hard-hitting action that you’ve become accustomed to for the past half hour. This song stands just as tall and strong as any other of the nine tracks.
A personal favorite of mine comes next: “We Were Brothers.” It’s a sorry, remorseful song that has a plethora of ups and downs, musically and lyrically. On the latter half of the song comes a haunting, spoken-word-esque, poetic verse. Combining the screams of McClain and the angst-driven voice of Tyler, an otherworldly sound is created. This song takes the cake for the most emotional arrangement, for me at least. Just as mentioned about the catchiness of all the tracks, any given song on South of the Mountain can be claimed as the most emotional.
The Bears finish strong with the finale, “Moskstraumen.” In alignment with the title, this song is a perfect soundtrack for imagining large swirling bodies of water. Again, if you don’t get it, listen close, eyes closed. It’ll become clear. The dynamic shift of the heavy indie jams blending into subtle “la da da’s” pushes the song around and around, further and farther. This song was by far the best choice for an outro track.
The production and mastering of this album is top notch. Recording artist Aaron Crawford kept Tyler sounding sweet and soulful, his bass prominent and plucky. McClain’s voice was very vivid, but not overshadowing. McClain and lead guitarist Zachariah Knoll’s guitar works sounded perfect. Coming in loud, merging into a soft embodiment, resonating and producing feedback; gentle plucks and fast power chords fill the rest of the guitars out. The production of Allan Latini’s drum work was excellent: loud when they needed to be, heavy where appropriate, and epically proportioned to keep each and every track moving along.
South of the Mountain is an extremely emotional ride. The music may suggest otherwise, but listen for the meaning of each song and you’ll find several heartbreaks lurking for you. I recall a show a few months ago where I was talking to McClain after their set. He informed that this album would be his most emotional and honest work to date. That really shines through.
DC based indie rock band Bells and Hunters released their second LP Weddings and Funerals last month (check out a track below) and perform on the regular around the DMV. Having perfected their sound over the past five years they’ve been together, the fans have voiced that they are indeed our Band of the Month. We wanted to find out more about the quintet, so we got a hold of three members Kelly Ann Beaver (vocals,) Keith Fishcer (guitar/vocals,) and Eric Putnam (bass.) Here they talk about their upcoming music video, recording their 3rd album, and more. Now onto the interview…
