Hot off nearly a month long stay in Europe working on a new album, Brooklyn sexy-pop duo Hank & Cupcakes are back in the States and eager to hit the ground running. Kicking off the band’s Fall tour with two dates at the Utica Music Fest in Utica, NY on September 15 and September 16, the two and a half week tour includes a number of dates supporting Jenny Owen Youngs, as well as a handful of one off shows, wrapping with a hometown show at Mercury Lounge on October 8.

NYC’s own The Majorleans sound a little like a mix of The Strokes and Cake (see embedded song "Kill You"), which is actually an interesting hybrid. Or maybe in the previous sentence you could replace "The Strokes" with "Lou Reed" – but either way, the idea is that their vocals are full of "NYC flavor". Most importantly though this is a band with good songs and nice album art, which is always a good thing (I had a friend who used to buy albums by random band simply because he liked the cover). Girls may also wonder if they are also good looking, which also helps in this darn business. Well… I’m a guy so you’ll have to judge for yourself. Perfect opportuinty: they’ll be celebrating the release of their second album "Damager and The Main Vin" on September 16 at Rockwood Music Hall’s Stage 2.

"Chesapeake", Rachel Yamagata‘s first studio album in three years is set for an October 11th release date through her own Frakenfish Records. The album features an eclectic collection of songs projecting Yamagata’s optimism and hopefulness, showcasing her sultry and smoky voice.

Brooklyn alt rockers Blackbells have been confirmed to play the DeLuna Music Festival in Pensacola, FL on October 14th, 2011 along with Weezer, Jane’s Addiction, The Shins, Cold War Kids, Girl Talk, Cut Copy and more. The band also has a new video of the song "This is Home"

Lost Boy will be releasing an 8-song EP on Old Flame Records on September 20 – the whole E.P. can be streamed here. We really enjoyed these guys live at our Christmas show last year, they successfully mix elements of some of the awesomest bands of the 90s – from the Pixies to Dinosaur Jr. to early Flaming Lips. Definitely catch them at Pianos on September 24 if you can.

Sure, their name is Grave Babies, they sing songs about death and decay, and they sound like they’ve been recorded through a mold covered basement wall.  Deep down, though, these guys are pop stars.  The music is hook-heavy and rife with pretty melodies and harmonies.  The Seattle group was started by singer/guitarist Danny Wahlfeldt who brought in Tyler Robinson on keys/drum machine, Keith Whiteman on drums, and bassist Mitch Saulsberry to round things out. The guys put out a single on Danish label Skrot Up, who then re-released the band’s first full-length, DEATHFACE, as well as a follow up, Blood Skull.  Two tracks from that record have since been released as a single, Pleasures, on Sup Pop imprint Hardly Art, who has been snatching up tons of quality Seattle bands as of late.  Don’t let the death motif fool you; this is pretty music.  Grave Babies is currently on a national tour that will finish October 1^st at the Funhouse with Unnatural Helpers and Stickers.  Check out the video for "Pleasures" below. 

Shenandoa Davis is very talented.  Her vocals are reminiscent of the quavering, fragile, about-to-break delivery of Joanna Newsom, and the compositions of her pieces are no less complex.  This is orchestral pop at its finest.  When Shenandoah allows her music to breathe a bit, when she’s not taking the direct path of pop and instead flirting with beautiful fills, arpeggiated piano and violin trills, she is perfect.  "Sewn up Tight" is an absolute gem.  If it sounds like I’m raving, it’s because I am.  Her music is full of cheese-free longing and a precious sort of nostalgia, and these are the moments I am in awe of- her ability to inject these genuine floating/hanging moments often and without a tinge of artifice, demonstrates her deft skills.  I’ll let you know when she’s in Seattle again, because damn, I really want to see her live!

    •    Sep 18
 Mad Planet – 
Milwaukee, WI

    •    Sep 21 
Whistler – 
Chicago, IL

    •    Sep 27 
Spoonful – Records
 Columbus, OH

    •    Oct 05 
Kungfu – Necktie
 Philadelphia, PA

After signing to NYC’s own Kanine Records (which provided a lot of material for the covers of our NYC mag, from Grizzly Bear and Chairlift to Professor Murder and Zaza) Zambri is obviously going to look forward to an exciting fall of 2011. To begin promotion of their debut EP "Glossolalia", out on November 8, the band launched this video today showcasing a sound way more experimental than their previous material. Zambri was also selected by The Deli to play our CMJ show at Pianos on Thursday 10.20. radical-pop sound to the stage, the sisters are joined by Will Spitz and Seth Kasper (live drums and keyboard).

The DIY rock opera/collective 23 Psaegz (pronounced say•jezz) carry on the warm, weird legacy of NYC’s Dufus, the freak folk band founded by Seth Faergolzia over 13 years ago. This numerous group of musicians originally gathered with the intention of performing Seth’s 23 Psaegz stream of consciousness puppet rock opera, and has since also become a collaborative backing for his complex web of musical delight. Leading this new project, Faergolzia brings his one-man-band skills (mastering simultaneously the guitar, glockenspiel, kick drum, and vocal antics) to a new apex of musical sagacity.

Brooklyn based Su has an extremely personal songwriting style, that relies mostly on commanding acoustic guitar parts, a delicate voice singing never banal melodies often reminiscent of The Throwing Muses, and quirky drum machine beats. The results are a little rough in the production department, but definitely intriguing. Check out her latest digital single "Everything Right" here, and our favorite song "Mountain" from her debut EP embedded here.

We’ll be Perry-style un-pc for a second here and and tell you that Americana bores us in most cases. But not when we find in it the intensity Pat Hull is capable of injecting in his songs featured in his debut full length "Light". The Brooklyn based songwriter’s alto and his intimate melodies are evocative of Luke Temple’s solo records before he started Here We Go Magic, and although the instrumentation, cadence and atmosphere of this material scream "country", Pat’s melodies and guitar parts go in the direction of gently reinventing the genre rather than obeying to its exhausted axioms.

Antics music comes across as rather conventional power pop-rock at first, until you relize there’s a lot more to it. The first track on their debut album "Everything" starts like a mix of Weezer’s drums+guitars assault with more emotional vocals a la’ Wilco, and then develops in structure defying directions neither artists would dare follow. "We Are Gods", streaming here, features a more linear structure, but doesn’t shy away from other forms of experimentation – sonic ones: see extra distorting drums suddenly exploding on the left of your speakers, and unexpected a cappella breaks. If you like your pop-rock to have a little extra edge, this may be the band for you. See the Antics live at Cake Shop on September 24.

All these artists submitted their music for review to The Deli digitally here.

Milagres, who placed 20th in our 2010 year end Best of NYC poll for emerging artists – and 3rd two years earlier under the moniker "The Secret Life of Sophia" – just released this new video through NPR. The band is about to kick off a US tour – check them out at the Mercury Lounge on September 30.