I’m currently working on our NYC B.E.A.F. (Best of Emerging Artist Fest, here’s last year’s poster) and going through all the artists that made our Best of NYC Poll. I’m now in psychedelic territory (a land I dig, in case you didn’t realize) and wanted to highlight a group I never blogged about before: Young Boys. This (judging from the pictures) is a fairly young quartet that plays top notch drone-rock in the tradition of The Jesus and Mary Chain, but with an interesting attention to sonic details. Besides the obvious guitars and vocals drenched in reverb, their sound also involves a fair amount of synths – mostly droney and distorted, of course! The song "Fell from Grace" (streaming below) is a glorious psych rock ride – don’t miss their show at Glasslands on April 11. – PDG

Hunters is our favorite NYC emerging noise rock band, and they are playing The Mercury Lounge on Thursday March 22. If you like your indie rock tense and noisy like we do, you don’t want to miss this one.

I’m catching up with a million things I couldn’t deal with while in Austin at SXSW, and working at the speed of light (or so it feels). I stumbled upon an email from this band called Landlady. They are pretty friggin’ rad, and their email presentation is fun,  so I adapted it for mass consumption: Landlady is an adventure-pop group based in Brooklyn and led by Adam Schatz behind the farfisa and the lead mic. As a saxophonist and keyboardist  he’s been lucky enough to collaborate with Little Joy, Twin Shadow, Hospitality, Sleigh Bells, and Those Darlins to name a few. Don’t miss these guys at Big Snow Buffalo Lodge with Strange Shapes (also an interesting Brooklyn band) on March 23. – PDG

The penultimate day of my fourth SXSW was definitely the longest in my history of SX’s. Arriving at 10:30am at the Elvis Presley-themed Beale Street Tavern to host a show, I was out on the town for 16 hours to follow. Opening the morning, Austin’s Indie-meets-retro rock quartet, Ghost Bunny, and solo, blues-rock multi-instrumentalist and loop-master, Walker Lukens, got the ball rolling. Most attendants woke up and arrived for a bevy of Brooklyn bands: Black Taxi, The Courtesy Tier, and The Click Clack Boom. The string of East Coasters was broken by LA- born Vas Defrans (pictured), who put the sound system to the test with pounding drums and intricate instrumental layering. A laid back local favorite, The Naturals, contrasted with the strobe- light and projection illuminated, electro/dance-rock quartet, Kid Savant who followed suit. NYC’s Hollis Brown closed the afternoon with straight up great blues rock and Southern rock sentiments. Yet another Tex-Mex decompression resuscitated me for an extensive evening of street performances. Renegade rocker, Tom Morello, brought the aggressive music of Black Top Demon, Outernational, Anti-Flag, and Wayne Kramer outside the Swan Dive as part of Occupy SXSW. Morello himself marched into the crowd of hundreds for a finale while police swarmed the area. All ended without any blood shed, but it was an night/early morning to remember! –Meijin Bruttomesso

Ski Lodge – who placed on #6 in our recent best of NYC poll for emerging bands – is the very new indie pop project of Andrew Marr – previously known as The Clementines. After releasing his first EP under the new moniker via Dovecote Records in September, Marr put together a band and started performing as a quartet. Their self titled debut EP is chock full of jangly indie pop gems with a nostalgic retro vibe. Songs like “A Game” and “I Would Die To Be” are instant pop classics, lighthearted and full of "mid-fi" character. Andrew’s songwriting and vocals might recall the simple magic of early The Smiths, while the band’s sonics are grounded in the Brooklyn glo-fi sound of the new decade (think Beach Fossils), with occasional tropical references. Though Ski Lodge has only been performing together since September, they’ve instantly become one of the NYC music scene’s favorite live bands, and are planning on releasing a full length of their bouncy pop later in 2012. See them live at The mercury Lounge on April 24. – Read Amanda Dissinger’s interview with the band here.

Producer and musician Bosco Delrey crafts unheard new versions of rock’n’roll that sounds like Memphis blues music mixed with a variety of other influences including church hymns, dance hall, lo-fi and southern hip hop. After signing with the well-known Mad Decent label, he released his 2010 album "Everybody Wah," a work full of catchy pop drenched in rockabilly old-timey production. Like a “garbage can Elvis” from New Jersey, Bosco brings back the nostalgia of the rock music we love, with a modern edge. – Read Amanda Dissinger’s interview with Bosco here.

Here’s a band demanding a little more their audience. Les Racquet turn through more directions in track ‘Too Young’s ‘ fantastic harmonies than most bands get through in an album. The trio met up in Brooklyn under two years, and already have a full-length under the belts. But their sound is even more ambitious. There’s an almost schitzophrenic cocktail here that moves from punk to Afrobeat to acid jazz in equal turns, but never pulls away from the meat and potatoes required of any ambitious young group. Like an iPod playlist come to life, this is a group you’ll find impossible to pin down, but easy to get down to. See them when they play The Studio at Webster Hall on April 11th with Not Blood Paint. – Mike Levine (@goldnuggets)

This band submitted their music for review digitally here.

If you’ve ever listened to The Books before and wondered what this music might sound like without all the obnoxious samples of children playing or newscasters fearing armageddon, then Threefifty Duo’s absorbing guitar work might be a good place to start. With licks as precise as anything you’d hear from classical guitar ensembles like the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, but a mood positively geared toward the instrument’s meditative virtues, songwriters Brett Parnell and Geremy Schulick will pluck you up and take you off to a very personal place occupied by rock and classical in equal measure. Check out new record ‘Circles’ to hear more, and check them out when they play Café Orwell on March 20. – Mike Levine (@goldnuggets)

This band submitted their record for review digitally here.

Attention SXSW-goers! Today, Friday, March 16, at Beale Street Tavern located at 214 E 6th Street, Rocker Stalker (with the help of Deli rock girl Meijin) presents a litany of superb acts from across the country, including:

11:00am: Ghost Bunny
11:45am: Walker Lukens
12:30pm: Black Taxi
1:15pm: The Courtesy Tier
2:00pm: The Click Clack Boom
2:45pm: Vas Defrans
3:30pm: The Naturals
4:15pm: KID SAVANT
5:00pm: Hollis Brown

Doors are at 10am, and music lasts until 6pm. No badge required, free entry, and 21+

Day 2 of SXSW 2012 was a mishmash of musical genres. I started my day with Brooklyn-based dance-rockers, Black Taxi, at the Parish before jetting quickly to the Fader Fort to enjoy some free goodies and see Santagold. However, a confusion of set times left me milling around the event while tribal electro-pop Brits, Django Django, supplied the soundtrack. Scurrying back to The Parish, I caught the last moments of Austin’s The Frontier Brothers before making my way to the Paste Magazine Party for buzz bands, Tennis and Cavemen. Taking a break , I enjoyed a serving of Korean spicy fries from one of ATX’s several delicious food truck options. As evening fell, I decided to wander into a Scottish showcase where folk/electro/country act, Woodenbox, hit the stage. Across the street at The Main, I caught a few minutes of veteran punk rockers, Pennywise’s, rowdy set, before making my way to the Flamingo Cantina for the Latin/World Showcase with Kenya’s Sauti Sol and NYC’s Outernational. Running back to the Main and completing the night, I got to check out heavy rock Austinites, The Sword, and Kentucky’s finest, Cage the Elephant. SXSW 2012 is on a roll! –Meijin Bruttomesso