Brooklyn noise devotees Hunters have been pulling out the big guns as of late. The duo is slated to release a debut LP via Mom + Pop this summer and will be touring with Bleached and Jeff the Brotherhood in the meantime. Guitarist/vocalist Derek Watson and cotton candy pink-coiffed vocalist Izzy Almeida feed off each other, growing intensity with fierce, instinctive on-stage rapport. And they go all out – there’s uncensored drama in every wave of distortion and punchy yowl. This hasn’t gone unnoticed; these press sweethearts recently graced the cover of the Village Voice and have been featured in Spin and The New York Times. You could say The Deli was an early convert; we awarded Hunters’ debut EP (mixed by mixed by Yeah Yeah Yeah’s guitarist Nick Zinner) album of the month in February 2012. – Check out a live video of "Deadbeat" below, and read a Deli interview with the band from early 2012 here. – Corinne Bagish

Four-piece Brooklyn band Vinyette is set to play some shows around town as they gear up to release their debut album, "Every Little Mouse Run," on May 7th. The alt rock band has four upcoming shows in New York City, including two this weekend: March 29th at The Paper Box, and March 30th at SPiN Galactic. Devised so that each song contributes to the album collection as a series of vignettes in a story, the upcoming album features at once classic and atmospheric rock undertones and contemporary art references ranging from Dalí to Kubrick. Check out the video for single "Meatball Love Tone" here.

It’s sometimes quite comical how bands grossly miscategorize themselves when they subscribe to our charts or when they submit a record for review. The most common example is singer-songwriters who want to be perceived as "indie rock," even though they sound nothing like that… without mentioning all the artists who think that they are "experimental" or "avant-garde" – which is why we decided to remove those genres from the list in the first place. If on one hand it’s true that we can all be experimental in our little world ("I experimented with a new awesome chord I never tried before, it was an E major!"), on the other hand, it can’t be denied that the label requires some serious musical adventurousness. 

We found that adventurousness when we stumbled upon Placerville based band Pregnant‘s new single "Strangers" – streaming below – which sounds like a beautifully organized but still rather sparse form of musical… chaos. A snare drum, a blip, a few random cymbal sounds, and 3 recurring mellowtron notes keep an irregular, fluctuating tempo plodding along, while a captivating chanting melody and a subdued guitar bring the song together.

The musical pipe of once described hillbilly savant (and producer and visual artist) Daniel Trudeau, Pregnant will be releasing new album "Pottery Mill" on April 30. Check out also the video for Crush On here.

Aaron Lee Tasjan is a dangerous man. With his pulse equally on electric blues, folk and rock jams, he’s already been involved in some NYC bands The Deli celebrated not that long ago. As co-founder of Semi Precious Weapons and The Madison Square Gardeners, he’s been bringing his mission for rock n’ roll’s original soul to the masses for the greater part of a decade. Now he’s doing it solo. New record ‘The Thinking Man’s Filth’ keeps the blues humming in fave track ‘Junk Food & Drugs,’ a song extolling new corners turned in life, and how much fun bad habits can be. Check it out below and see him live when he plays Rockwood Music Hall, May 7th. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

This song was added to our SoundCloud playlist of emerging NYC Folk artists here.

The recent, collector/nostalgia driven phenomenon of the limited-edition-cassette revival is becoming more and more popular, and we wonder if anybody is really playing these quaint old relics when the music is available online, just one click away… the four dudes from Brooklyn’ power pop mainstays Shark? will be putting out such old fashioned release featuring their new single "California Grrls" from their forthcoming album, along with b-side "Roadrunner Roadrunner" (not included in the record). The single – a catchy noise pop song about those (nasty) girls Foxygen obviously chose over our awesome Brooklyn ladiez! – will be out April 2nd through Old Flame Records, while the band will be finalizing their upcoming album "Savior" expected to drop sometime in the summer. We are sure listening to the single through an old cassette player will somehow make your experience sublime, but if all you care about is the music, well, you can stream it right here under this blurb. For some (nostalgia and hiss free) live fun, you can catch the band at Death by Audio on May 16.

This song was added to our SoundCloud playlist of emerging NYC artists here.

Hair, girls, money, (partial) nudity, and parties. That’s rock n’ roll, and that’s The VeeVees and their debut video for single “Dog Day Revel.” Garret Cillo (guitar/vocals) and Andrea Belifiore (drums) create a volatile blues-rock sound embodying the attitude and power of many. “Dog Day Revel” offers a sample of what The VeeVees are all about, no-apologies, 70’s-inspired, riff-ridden rock ‘n roll. The track opens with a recurring guitar lick that drives the song forward and is amplified by crashing cymbals, explosive snare hits, and howling vocals. The accompanying music video is just as captivating, imagining dreamlike scenes of rock stardom, featuring the band shirtless with adoring women surrounding the band and money swirling through the air in a chic-looking club. The VeeVees take the stage at Arlene’s Grocery this Wednesday, March 27 at 10pm. – Meijin Bruttomesso

The Guggenheim Grotto, the Dublin, Ireland band that’s (thankfully) now situated here in Brooklyn, have just finished recording their latest record and are set to play a couple shows around town to celebrate. After completing national tours with everyone from Ani DiFranco to They Might Be Giants, it’ll be exciting to hear what’s next for the folksy indie pop group.

For any fan of The Pogues or Glen Hansard, listen to the band’s airy approach to love’s lessons hard learned) in latest single ‘Her Beautiful Ideas.’ The video (below) complains about how hard it is to get out of bed, while exhibiting a highly ambitious set of rotating colors and toys in a stop-motion bonanza… so I guess something’s got him out of bed.

Catch the quintet live when they play Rockwood Stage 2, 8 pm tomorrow night (March 26). – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

At SXSW 2013 we caught live Austin based songwriter Rob Baird during BMI’s Howdy Texas  event. Wearing his Tennessee roots on his sleeves, Rob plays quality Alt Country that winks at the obvious but un-celebrated fathers of the genre (Tom Petty and Neil Young among others). He enterteined the crowd with a flawless performance of his intense songs about redemption and personal journeys – check out one of our favorite "Same Damn Thing" streaming below. 

Brooklyn dream-pop quartet Lazyeyes show a lot of promise, even if they haven’t put out a full-length album yet. With a freshly released debut EP under their belt and a 13th place in The Deli’s list of the best NYC Emerging Artists of 2012, this year could be one of growth for the band. Their music calls for the long summer days ahead even more than the Manhattan wind tunnels, and as warm weather approaches their songs will resonate more and more with the many dreamers out there (and in here). Lucy Sherman had the chance to ask Abrishami a few questions about Lazyeyes and their music.

The work of Morgan Z. Whirledge, an architect of dense, multi-layered instrumental soundscapes who releases music under the moniker Chrome Canyon, is often said to resonate as though it was intended to soundtrack a piece of cinema – his soaring arrangements boasting the grand sweep of a Hollywood epic. A surprising addition to the Stones Throw family, Morgan not only offers the great soul, funk and hip-hop label something different, but even in the multi-tiered world of the NYC music scene, Chrome Canyon is a wholly unique entity. – Read Dean Van Nguyen’s interview with Chrome Canyon here, see it live at Cameo Gallery on March 28 with Brother Tiger, Pictureplane, and Psychic Twin.

Technicolor opens with the quirky and cleverly written “Tower of Babel,” which sets an intriguing backdrop for the EP. And two things are immediately made clear about Claire and the Crowded Stage. First, the band’s handler, Claire Adams, does not need a crowded stage to capture an audience’s attention—her voice alone will do the job. And, second, nothing about this band is superficial. Its music is a unique combination of raw emotion and refined sound. The nine-piece, coupled with Adams’s knack for songwriting and compelling vocals, radiates with talent and versatility.  

Adams’ vocals haunt the heart-wrenching “Tower of Babel” [and “Tower of Babel (minimal mix)”] as she sings: “I never lost you / You were never mine.” The strong piano, clarinet, and accordion parts make the ballad memorable and unique. The album’s title track, “Technicolor,” is perhaps the most danceable track on the EP. It carries a rolling-‘20s-esque feel—breaking out into the jitterbug certainly wouldn’t be inappropriate. “Songbird” starts slow and instrumental with an exotic sound unlike any other on the EP. About halfway through the track, however, the tempo, chords and mood change completely and the song becomes very upbeat. It’s another example of the group’s ambidextrous abilities.