Clear Plastic Masks is a rootsy, bluesy 4 piece rock band in the classic mold – with occasional psychedelic influences straight out of the 60s (see streaming single "Pegasus in Glue"). If you’re staying in town this weekend and rough, raw guitars, loose, jammy drumming and passionate build-ups are your kinda thing, then don’t miss their show at Goodbye Blue Monday on… Monday September 3. – Read Dave Cromwell interview with the band here.

Doe Paoro is actually Sonia Kreitzer, a New York state native who wears the mythical façade after an unforgettable trip through the Himalayas. It was in the southern Asian mountains that Kreitzer discovered “Lhamo,” a Tibetan opera style characterized by songs and dance of the region. With a unique vocal delivery and heavy spiritual elements, Doe Paoro stands out from her Brooklyn peers by forging a musical genre she calls "Ghost Soul." – See Doe Paoro Live at Irving plaza on September 29 opening for First Aid Kit – Watch the video of "Born Whole" here. – Read Devon Antonetti’s interview with the artist here.

A band perfectly balancing the risks you’ll remember from At The Drive-In with the spunky brattiness of Arctic Monkeys, Brick + Mortar seems to sound bigger every time I listen to them. And indeed, it’s been a couple months now since I have. But recently, they’ve scored the front cover of Aquarian (congrats!), thanks to the Asbury Park, NJ band’s new 7" available here and streaming below.

Members Brandon Asraf and John Tacon have also recently released this video to their new rabble-rousing ‘Bangs.’ Don’t watch it if you’re not into hot women or skull-splitting riffs.  – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

With an etheral blend of airy, earnest vocals and driving melodies, Sticklips‘ sophomore album has a space-aged pop tone that haunts with each note. "Zemi" highlights the chilling and tender vocals of frontwoman Johanna Warren, who croons with a sleepy force, while the band maintains their mantra to “keep it weird” in honor their late founding member Jonathan Nocera (passed away in 2011), who helped create their electro-folk sound. On September 5th Sticklips will appear live at the Fisher Center at Bard College in the Hudson Valley, where they will open for New England Piano-Alt-Pop queen Amanda Palmer. – Devon Antonetti

Between a cover of Plastic Bertrand’s iconic ‘Ca Plane Pour Moi’, some sweet synth-pop with a touch of irony, some celtic-pop punk floating between slow stripped down drinking songs and anthemic foot-stomping jams (and a whole lot more, let’s not ruin the fun), the ‘pop’ label Team Genius has loosely been attributed is nothing but reductive; if anything, it’s merely a conducting thread to this troupe’s project that’ll certainly put a smile on the faces of those who spent the last decade ranting about how spaced out bands’ releases are today. These brave guys will be releasing not one, not two but THREE EPs on the same DAY via Paper Garden Records and a second LP shortly after. Now what d’you think of THAT? If you’re eager to get a taste of this eclectically festive, deliciously tacky package, two of the forthcoming sets are available to stream (Pop & Loud). The triple-release show will take place at Union Hall on September 29th.- Tracy Mamoun

Photo Source: Seattle Peach

Nightmare Fortress are headlining at The Black Lodge on Thursday, September 6th, with Mass Games, Trash Fire, and Wishbeard also on the bill. It is the vinyl release show for their debut EP Until The Air Runs Out.

The self-dubbed "grave rave" group are sure to rob listeners of shut-eye; their music is made of many layers, delving ever deeper into a fathomless core. "Hang You On The Wall" is one of the darkest and most infectious bone-rattling tracks of late. Its beginning sounds an alarm, as if forecasting the terror and wonder that lies ahead. A wall of buzzing synth, coupled with Alicia Amiri’s evocative vocals, generates a concoction with viable portions of post-punk, shoegaze, and dance music.

"The Castle" starts off with a more pensive air. The beat-making on the song is haunting, as if in desperate search of the voice that accompanies its music. Rather than rote head-bobbing, "The Castle" causes a wave-like flow to pass through you again and again. One’s listening becomes a vessel for Nightmare Fortress’ eerie soundscapes to articulate themselves.

Check out The Black Lodge on the 6th of September to see Nightmare Fortress. The show starts at 8pm. They will be a natural fit – one can easily imagine their music playing on the set of Twin Peaks. Stream "Hang You On The Wall" to start and then check out their Soundcloud page for the entire EP. Sweating Tapes is releasing the record; it is available for $6 digitally, or $12 on wax.

– Cameron LaFlam

Here at The Deli NYC we TOTALLY relate to quirky bands, maybe because we are writing from the place They Might Be Giants and Mixel Pixel call home. Ball of Flame Shoot Fire insert themselves in this bizarre, originality driven musical tradition with a sound that shares with those two bands a poppy approach to songwriting, although replacing their electronic tendencies with orchestral ones, and filtering the results with chaotic Captain Beefheart-ish influences. The outcome is a charmingly soulful, slightly crooked, and entertainingly unpredictable orchestral pop.

The band has been around since 2009 and is about to release their fourth album, entitled " Zileur (Mi-Mi-Mo-Mo)". They advanced a couple of free mp3s from it – the first one, entitled "Bad Thing," is pasted below. See them live at Cake Shop on September 7 with Miniboone, I’m Turning Into and The Meaning of Life.

Mp3: Ball Of Flame Shoot Fire – Bad Thing

Like the aim of any good John Hughes film, Fan-Tan’s new single ‘Window’ seeks that defining moment that comes after some serious heartbreak, and some serious choices made. What could only be described as a feel-good moment captured by heady tenor Ryan Lee Dunlap, ‘Window’ bounces at the altitude of an international flight and a positive emotional turn.

Look for this and more shoe gaze soul on their upcoming record ‘A Strange Game’ out on Goodnight Records, and see the power trio when they play at Glasslands with Heliotropes, Cloudeater + Grandfather on Oct 2nd.

It sounds like Brooklyn pop-rock quartet The Veda Rays has been rather busy in the studio lately: they released the EP "Die Fast" on August 21st, and they already have a following EP (entitled "Life Kills") slated for an October 9th release. At that point they’ll just need an extra, similarly titled EP, to have what might one day be remembered as the band’s "death trilogy"!

From the former record, the smooth vocals of the single "Better the Devil" and its layered melody make for a sound reminiscent of a peppier, more upbeat Coldplay. The song may open the EP with foot-tapping shenanigans, but it’s markedly livelier than the rest of the album; the three tracks that follow are shimmery indie rock. These twinkly numbers, dressed with psych edges, are very pretty at times, almost wistfully so. Guitar riffs flow underneath it all, uniting and carrying the EP forward. – Corinne Bagish

Railbird is the kind of band that doesn’t mind sharing their secrets with you, even if some of these details might make you a little nervous. Singer Sarah Pedinotti seems to whisper these tell-all remarks with a mysterious honesty requiring a certain amount of courage on both sides of the microphone. This isn’t an easy-going ride, but is certainly worth the time. Latest video ‘Jump Ship’ (streaming below, which premiered on Brooklyn Vegan a few days ago) plays with these conflicted feelings, bouncing between intimacy and moodiness amid kaleidoscopic bubbles and cameo appearances from Sean Rowe and Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel. Check it out below and catch the band live when they play The Rock Shop on September 7. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)