If you’re into Spanish soap operas then Telenovelas are your cup of tea. If your into surf thrash pop then Telenovelas are going to tickle you rock bone. Started last summer by 2 members of Black Swan Green and ex-Dane drummer from Darling Don’t Dance, Telenovelas can co-exist contently in 2 situations. Either holding hands strolling down the beach and reliving memories of Brian Wilson melodies or holding tightly to their fuzz pedals while dancing a little too close to the eye of a hurricane. Either way a strong obsession with Santo and Johnny’s “Sleepwalk” hasn’t stopped them from stepping out from the usual pack of Brooklyn bands and offered Brooklyn a new take on Surfadelia. Look for them to be playing out a lot this summer and working hard to release their first album. – Read Simon Heggie’s interview with the band here.
Caveman, native to Brooklyn, are headlining the Mercury Lounge Wednesday, January 12th. Cavemen’s music is casual with a certain charm to it, and has been termed as the type of music that will stop people in their tracks. They have recently recorded songs with both Converse and Fader. Both songs reinforce Cavemen’s unique style, a mellow indie pop reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian and Beta Band without electronic quirks. Expect this band to be around for a while and to conquer many harts. Tickets for the Mercury Lounge show on January 12th are just over $12 and you can get yours here. -LT
The Death Set is a trio of crazy "almost kids" from Brooklyn, Sydney, Baltimore and Philly who seem interested in picking up where the Beastie Boys left off – at least in this song entitled after a handshake that Brooklyn bands like Ninjasonik and Cerebral Ballzy (featured in the instructional video here) apparently use to greet each other. The rest of the band repertoire is more electro-punk but as incendiary and fun.
Brooklyn folk poppers Freak Owls are bringing in the new year with a slew of upcoming shows, including a Winter East Coast Tour – they played at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village a few days ago. Check out this pretty B&W video of their song "Little Things". – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).
Shenandoah and the Night is a band with en plein air picnics on its mind and a nightingale in its heart. Steeped in the tradition of American folk with elements of doo-wop, and haunting vocals, their music maps out cinematic landscapes and nostalgic love scenes. Come see them live at Bar 4 in Park Slope on January 21. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).
"Its tough to be impartial when it comes to your friends art, so I’m not gonna even attempt to do that (and just ramble). I’ve known the gruesome two-some of Brendan and Peter for a few dog years or so, and I’ve seen the band consistently develop throughout this friendship puberty we’ve got goin’ on (whats with all this hair?). I’m two tracks in so far and I can say that THIS is their most impressive recording to date, and I wanna kiss them on their mouths. They managed to harness the uninhibited temper tantrum that we’ve come to expect of their live show on to tape. There’s the fuzzy guitar acrobatics cast alongside more focused, metal-meets-SST style drumming, both climaxing in unison, exploding angst-ridden love on all our faces. Well done dudes." -Russell Hymowitz – The Highway Gimps – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).
Congratulations to Junkyard Girls, Dark Circles, and Resident Scout – the three artists who were selected from Sonicbids for our Band of the Year Poll. Junkyard Girls (top picture) could be described as a darker, more ambient blend of Antony and the Johnsons; Dark Circles is a folk duo that could be compared to an equally as relaxing Jimmy Buffet, while Resident Scout (bottom picture) has more of an indie vibe, 90’s alternative thing going on with some ska thrown in to make things more interesting….like Foo Fighters meets Cold War Kids. It was a tough choice, but all three of these bands stood out to us with their originality. They will be moving on to the next stage, as well as the ten bands who were selected in the Open Submissions category last week. Keep checking back for developments with our Best of Nashville Emerging Artists Poll! – Erin Manning
We started publishing the results of the open submissions for our Best of NYC Emerging Artists 2010 Poll. As we received about 500 submissions we decided to organize the rating process by genre. As things are getting a little scattered around the site we though it might be useful to gather all the links to the various result blurbs in one place on top of our NYC site – here we go:
Portland OR Indie Pop quartet Derby will be releasing their new record, "Madeline", in mid-February. It will be a digital release (available everywhere music is sold digitally!), along with a limited edition 7” vinyl record featuring two of the songs, "Don’t Believe In You" and "One’s A Lonely One". Derby is feeling invigorated and you can surely tell in these new recordings. The band approached "Madeline" with an increased degree of spontaneity and impulse. This “act first, think about it later” attitude gave them a new-found freedom in recording music, resulting in a fresh, new sound for the band. Derby’s new material departs from the well-orchestrated pop of their sophomore release Posters Fade — which created buzz on college radio and gained visibility with placements in Coca-Cola commercials, MTV’s The Hills and a variety of film and commercial exposure. – Veronica Medici
Sorry we were late with the Indie Rock results from the Open Submissions to our Best of NYC Emerging Artists 2010 Poll – our server went down yesterday afternoon leaving us half the way through the job.
Ah, indie, indie, isn’t that a word we all love? We were happy to see Bear Hands (who graced the cover of our summer issue) submit to our poll (this should be an example to all bands of how there should be no end in your career to seeking promotion and opportunities for exposure). And well, the guys swept this category, followed (not too closely in terms of ratings) by two very promising emerging rockers: Devin Therriault ( who plays at The Mercury Lounge on 10.13) and Steve Shiffman & The Land of No. In the top picture, Bear Hands hold the beautiful Deli Trophy during the imaginary celebration for their win.
Categories: INDIE ROCK, POST PUNK
Region: NYC + NJ + Long Island
Jurors: Deli Austin, Washington DC and Philadelphia Editors
Dede’s breakout song, “My Secret Sweet” induces nostalgia for childhood Saturday- afternoon-play-time with the neighbors – and brings to mind one of our favorite British band of the aughts, Broadcast. Maybe it’s the “chopsticks” piano chords on repeat, or the chimes cuing the her suggestion, “let’s play pretend.” Or is it the hand clapping, or her sweet, almost adolescent voice? It could be the fact that her appearance draws comparisons to Allison Wonderland, or her name sounds like a child’s first word. Either way, the youthful overtones of her music don’t imply juvenile musical skill. Our strong desire to reminisce upon hearing her songs is a result of expert composition and intuition as to what sounds people are uncontrollably drawn to. – Katie Bennett
Waking Lights’ music immediately jumps out at you: it’s catchy, stomping, energetic and head bobbing inducing. Their songs contain both rock and folk elements, sometimes alternating between the two while still retaining their unforgettable feel. Waking Lights is based in New Jersey and playing New York venues frequently. Their music stays in your head long after their songs have ended, so be sure to check them out at Bruars Falls on January 8! – Leah Tribbett
Shake the Baron reels you in from the start, the music danceable without losing the alternative rock sound and the lyrics (sample: “I’m not much good at changing/I’m afraid of the cold rush time against my feet” from “Rest of Reaction”) just as impressive. Their self-titled debut displays the band’s talent for layering harmonies and creating an unmistakably good vibe throughout. Though the band only formed three years ago – 2007, while all four members attended college in Connecticut – their debut has the polished, established feel of a sophomore or junior album. Shake the Baron’s sound is particularly catchy, and sure to spark many toes tapping and heads bobbing across the city. They play live at Spike Hill tonight (January 7)! – Leah Tribbett
High-energy,vocals, aggressive guitar, imposing drumbeats, and a bass-line so thick you could walk across it, MiniBoone know how to start a party. Essentially kids sporting facial hair and square-rimmed glasses, the members of MiniBoonehaven’t forgotten the day when Weezer used to produce power-pop anthems and Blink 182 would jump around on stage and yell throughout their entire set. And neither have their fans: the band’s scored a line-up of gigs along the east coast an beyond, as a result of acclaim for their debut EP, “Big Changes” (Drug Front Records). See them live at Brooklyn Bowl on january 18. – Katie Bennett
In selecting the nominees for our Best of NYC Emerging Artists 2010 Poll from the Songwriter category we decided to be a little more generous, because many of the jurors from venues playing acoustic music we contacted (like Rockwood and Pete’s Candy Store) didn’t cast a vote for some reason. The ladies kinda trashed the gentlemen in this category (our jurors – for the record – were a boy and a girl). Thumbs up to Amber Rubarth (middle picture) and Bird Call (top picture), who tied on top of the chart, and blonde duo Lucius, who came close third. They all had an average rating above 8.
Category: Singer Songwriters
Region: NYC + NJ + Long Island
Jurors: Deli Chicago and New England Editors
1. Amber Rubarth – NOMINATED FOR THE NEXT PHASE
1. Bird Call – NOMINATED FOR THE NEXT PHASE
3. Lucius – NOMINATED FOR THE NEXT PHASE
