Think of slightly less composed vocal harmonies, yet more endearing lyrics, and the general girl group panache of The Vivian Girls but with a more punchy, punky edge, and you get TacocaT.  The band has been together for several years now without garnering the recognition they deserve to separate themselves from the milieu of their contemporaries, but they’re a very solid band who put on an up-beat, fun show.  Definitely my strongest recommendation for a live event in the next couple of weeks.  Anybody notice how the Rendezvous has been selecting some great bands to play their venue recently?  8:00 pm, Wednesday, September 7th- be there!

Washington to Brooklyn, 20 year old Brad Oberhofer (whose band placed 6th in our 2010 Best of NYC poll for emerging NYC artists) is one of the NYC scene’s brightest hopes. The "kid" stunned critics and fans in 2010 with a series of songs that went beyond Brooklyn’s trend of surf-influenced lo-fi, showing uncommon songwriting skills and imagination in the arrangement department. Powerhouse label Glassnote – also home to Mumfor & Sons, Phoenix and Two Door Cinema Club amongst other – just announced the signing of Oberhofer. While waiting for the new release under that label though, White Iris Records is putting out the band’s latest single "Gotta Go / Mahwun". Don’t miss the band at Music Hall of Williamsburg, opening for NYC scene mainstays Les Savy Fav on 09.06.

French, Brooklyn based songstress Julie Peel has the rare ability to pen beautiful and touching songs – and she does it with enviable consistency. Here’s a dreamy, rather sad gem from her debut album "Near the Sun". Julie just announced she’s nearing completion of a new record, shceduled to be released before the end of the year.

Mainland – ex Mainland Fever – on September 5th will be releasing a new EP entitled "Summer Sick". The band is also launching this rather beautiful video of the title track, which has a peculiar square format.

Mainland – Summer Sick [Official Video] from Ian McClerin on Vimeo.

Released March 29th, 2011 by Perennial Records, Peripheral Star is an EP to be reckoned with, and its craftsmanship deserves more than a passive listen from the music community at large.  Broken Water, the three-piece from Olympia, Washington, consisting of Kanako-drums/vocals, Abigail-bass/vocals, Jon-guitar/vocals, have composed some of the most well-balanced, enthralling shoegaze rock to come from the Northwest, or the rest of the nation for that matter, in a long time.  

Seattle is not known for producing shoegaze bands of exceptional merit- traditionally, and oftentimes derisively, the Seattle scene has been depicted by music critics as the comically woodsy, rootsy home of acoustic guitar fingerpickers and gentle harmonizers belting out their forest-loving tunes in picturesque locales abundant around Washington.  The astronomical rise to international fame of The Head and the Heart do nothing in service of changing this image.     

The song "Kansas" opens with an ominous, vaguely foreboding bass riff that dominates the vibe as Jon’s sharp guitar slashes into life, follows a descending scale, and then cuts again.  In mood, this song, and much of what Broken Water do, is related to the whole of the very great album by Apse entitled Spirit.  What Apse failed to do at times that Broken Water is highly skilled at doing is adding enough muscle to their compositions, adding the split-the-sky eruptions that rise above the beautiful, warbling din, thereby breaking the listener through the tranquil or torpid threshold that can beset anyone listening to large doses of music.       

"Okane No" absolutely explodes with guitar-string-bending riffs swimming in reverb, and not just the placidly adopted reverb sounds of many bands in this genre, but the kind of labored over sound that has a specific place, is used for a specific purpose.  Broken Water’s sound teeters on a precipice that demands a high level of skill- their music is a tempered chaos, augmented by exceptional song-writing abilities that have a knack for movement within music, all combing to deliver high-impact listening bliss. 

Broken Water – Peripheral Star by pygmylion

Ava Luna possesses the perfect balance of retro and modern influences. They draw from ‘60s doo-wop but spruce it up with touches from current indie luminaries like Dirty Projectors. Carlos Hernandez leads with his soulful, affected croon that echoes Jamie Lidell’s with a trio of female singers supporting with gorgeous vocal harmonies. The instrumentation is sparse — complex beats accompanied by light synths and bass — but intricate and deliberate, allowing the voices to take the reins and guide listeners through a matchless music experience. – The band is currently working on a follow up to the 2010 "Services EP – Read Nancy Chow’s interview with the band here.

Gross Relations would have been comfortable roommates with Fountains Of Wayne in the 90s (and would have done a much better job with All State’s theme than Weezer, too). Bands like this have dropped like flies as the end of thetwentieth century has also seemed to mean the end of loud guitar combos. I didn’t realize how desperately Brooklyn needed a group like this until I blasted their sweaty, drunken video to ‘Fuzzy Timelines’ a few days back. Gross Relations’ members may look like the boys nextdoor, but trust me… once you get to know them, they are crazy bastards just like you and me. These guys offer some of the catchiest, fuzz-happy and irony-free pop around, and that’s exactly what we need right now. – Read Mike Levine’s Q&A with the band here.

When You Go Down by RavenSingstheBlues

Pterodactyl is one of the most fun and noisy bands to emerge from the Brooklyn DIY scene. The Brooklyn based psych-punk outfit will be playing Music Hall of Williamsburg on 08.27 with Sun Araw, Prince Rama and Julianna Barwick. They are also presenting this new video promoting their Kickstarter campaign to fund their next album. But we’ll embed here an older – better – one!

Dream poppers rejoyce! Exitmusic has a new video! The band is playing a free show at Mercury on 08.25 (tonight)

On August 25 (tonight), The Living Kills will be celebrating the release of their album Faceless Angels at the Gutter in Brooklyn. This psych rock outfit experiments with electric keyboard drones and and live effects, spinning cult classic projections and a passionate frontman. The cool, dark feel of the music – echo-y and chilled – can turn quite loud and plowing, an enveloping vibe to revel in. – Caitlin Clive