Songwriter Rachael Sage makes no secret of her scars. Her open attitude in discussing life’s myriad frustrations and pains makes her music all the more real and personal: like an old friend lending a sympathetic ear. Tracks like the rootsy ‘Delancey Street’ discuss the hardships of the struggling artist’s life, while new song cycle ‘Haunted by You’ finds the singer in and out of relationships and heartache.

Along with her band The Sequins, Sage takes her candid personality to the kind of roots jams only a city like New York could produce, and that’s the best place to see her live too. See her when she officially releases her latest record on May 19 at Joe’s Pub. – Mike Levine, photo by Laura Crosta

A quintessential expression of the recently deceased Manhattan label/studio Olive Juice Music, Kung Fu Crimewave is a band of brothers (and sister) featuring the Kelly family of Brooklyn — “Kung Fu” Luke, “Tae Kwon” Jo, and Neil Kelly. Rounding out the five piece is Deenah Vollmer on electric mandolin and Preston Spurlock on keys. Charming male and female vocals twinkle on Kung Fu Crimewave’s 2011 effort “Capitol Punishment,” a record filled with unpretentious melodies, crooked guitars lines and imaginative lyrics, in the best lo-fi pop tradition. The band, who recently released this DIY video of the song "Forgot about Rock’n’Roll, will be opening The Deli’s B.E.A.F. Indie Rock Stage at Spike Hill on Friday May 25 – more info here. – Corinne Bagish

Vocalist Hannah Amdahl and guitarist Robert Kemp are living proof that road trips can lead to great things. The duo played music together in Florida under the name of Hannah and the Halfway House, when they decided to pack it up and make the trek to Seattle, listening to “Highway to Hell” upon crossing each state line. Once in Seattle, the pair connected with percussionist Alex Noble, bassist Michael Plotke, and engineer David Miner, forming a new indie pop sound in The Last Temptations.
There is something very sassy about the group’s six track Penny Dreadfuls. The record, heavy with witty lyrics, kicks off with “Trigger Finger”. The track immediately sucks the listener in with its straightforward rifts, addictive beat, and satisfying breakdowns. Hannah’s voice is sultry as she sings “I don’t want to possess you I just want to caress you sometimes.  I don’t want to control you, I just want to own you sometimes.”  The delicate strumming of guitar gives way to the clear and clever lyrics “I’m not a social butterfly, I’m barely a social sly”  in the moody “Police State”.  The tune features a few different change ups which makes for a tantalizing ride.  “Southern Charm” is also, well, charming. The drum intro grabs the audience’s attention and creates a build up as each instrument is layered on. The disc also features the somewhat beachy “Big Ben Butcher”, the gritty “Share Your Opinions” and the chill “Predatory Glances”.
The Last Tempations have created a brassy and enticing debut album in Penny Dreadfuls and will be following it up with a new single this July. Besides creating more tantalizing tracks, the group has the goal of rockin’ out to “Highway to Hell” in all 48 continental states.

– Kristen Ferreira

Formerly called The Goods, The Denzels, invigorated with the name change, are ready to kick ass and take names with their dangerously addictive music. The songs are absolutely pop at heart with endearing hooks and jangly guitars, but there’s an edge that makes them emanate a New York kind of cool. The music is by no means a daunting or pretentious hipness, as the tunes are astoundingly accessible with vintage elements from yesteryear; they cite The Smiths and ‘50s girl groups as influences while pulling in modern peers such as Deerhunter into the mix. The quintet sounds like a more punk-spiked, less distorted version of The Strokes – check out the band’s latest EP, "Easy Tiger," which is generously offered for free on Bandcamp. The five tracks are a clarified, upbeat amalgamation of pop and rock music from the ‘50s to the present day. – Read Nancy Chow’s interview with the band here. See The Denzels live at The Deli’s B.E.A.F.on May 25 at Spike Hill with The Can’t Tells, Big Ups and more.

Here’s an excerpt from the interviewed The Deli did with self described "Pop Cock Rock" NYC band Mother Feather (who placed at #78 in our latest Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists): "We could not be more excited to perform at the Nova Festival in the UK this July. To help support the trip, we will be releasing a live EP through our website that will only be available during the month of June. It will include some unreleased tracks as well as the Futures dance remix of “Mother Feather.” – Read Jen Margott full interview here. (photo by Steve Meyer)

Get off the plane, and you’ll find you’ve landed in an entirely new kind of space, occupied by polyrhythmic chants and otherworldly acoustic strumming. I like bands like this. Conveyor does that rare thing where an entirely unique world is sculpted from the abbreviated tendencies of cultures from all over the world. Their palette places FM drones beside zither strumming in ‘Mane’ (streaming below), and the sunny cheerfulness of 4 part harmonies on tracks like ‘mukraker.’ All of this takes place within the binding of their debut self-titled LP coming out July 17th off Paper Garden Records.

The party hasn’t ventured far from the band’s initial percolations in their ‘Sun Ray’ EP. Conveyor was already at home in their skin then. What’s amazing to me is that no matter how many bizarro instruments they pull into their mix, the sound is still entirely their own. So, once you do leave for your flight… you’ll find a very large country to explore.

Catch the band at their record release party at Mercury Lounge on June 28th. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Listen to just ‘Show Me All The Sounds You Know,’ and you might mistakenly think Idgy Dean‘s only weapons are her positive energy and sultry voice. But stick around for harder-hitting songs like ‘Bang Bang Sun’ and the new "Onion’s Milk" (whose video, directed by Gravity Sleeps, we are premiering below) and you’ll soon discover some of the depths to this roaring personality. Like a cross between tune-yards and Marnie Stern, Dean’s vocals soar over a backdrop that can include anything from her tympani drum and electric guitars, to double-tracked vocals that surround and pulse through your skin with a physical energy too dynamic to ignore. Idgy Dean will perform at The Deli’s B.E.A.F. 2012 (Best of Emerging Artists Fest) at the 2 stages Public Assembly show on May 25 with 13 other local bands, including In One Wind, Xenia Rubinos, Illumintr, Wazu and OhNoMoon. – Mike Levine

Do I detect a slight English-twang to Kurt Feldman’s singing voice on ‘Two Rings’? It’s hardly surprising. Judging from the track’s complex array of keyboard riffs and dramatic synth swoons, The Pains of Being Pure of Heart’s drummer is clearly a major new wave enthusiast. And if you’re going to try to emulate genre heavyweights like Prefab Sprout and The Pet Shop Boys, why not sing like them too right? Released as a single, the track and its B-side are thus far Feldman’s only ventures as Ice Choir (who placed at #58 in our latest Best of NYC Emerging Artists Poll), but still deserving of a mention because, originality be damned, ‘Two Rings’ and the new freshly released single "Telestrips" (streaming below) are absolutely brilliant. The band just announced the release their of debut album "Afar" on July 31 via Underwater Peoples. – Dean Van Nguyen

Swag swag swag swag swag swag swag. Swag Swag swag swag? Swag! Swag swag swag swag. Big Baby Gandhi has swag and he wants you to know it. On his first LP NO1 2 LOOK UP 2, the self-proclaimed “best rapper” unleashes furious rhymes over luxurious beats. His voice is more Ghostface than Q-tip, the beats are more M.I.A. than premier, and his swag is so bling that suckers shnuckle up for a touch of the geet. And Das Racist makes an appearance too which is pretty trill. -=brokeMC