Lavalier is the brainchild of Dave Horowitz and Steve Milton, former members of NYC indie pop band The Cloud Room – a group The Deli covered extensively a few years ago, and which seems to have been rather dormant as of late. Besides a melodic approach to songwriting, Lavalier’s melancholic, dreamy atmospheres and mid tempo, sparse tunes don’t share much with the members’ previous band’s uptempo pop. The arrangements and instrumentation of choice (left to a remarkably high revolving cast of musicians, including a choir) create a surreal, circusy atmosphere that can be placed somewhere between the Beatles’ "A Day in The Life" and Tom Waits’ darker and slower ballads, forging a sound that stands out from current NYC indie trends – which is something we always appreciate here at The Deli. Director Kendra Eliot did a good job in giving a visual representation of Lavalier’s Lynchian sonic imagery in the video below. Check out these guys live at Pianos on Friday 12.10.

What’s the deal with these small emerging NYC bands playing 3 shows within a week in the same neighborhood?? I mean not even The Yeah Yeah Yeahs do that… Web Dating is a noise pop band from Brooklyn. The band’s lead singer Tucker Rountree also plays in Total Slacker and formed Wed Dating as an impromptu filler when Total Slacker couldn’t make a scheduled appearance at Death By Audio in Brooklyn. Web Dating produces pop songs whose lyrics straddle the nebulous divider between painfully sincere and tongue-in-cheek. Despite the saccharine words, Web Dating packs a power chord filled high volume sound. The group plans to release a four song EP in January, check them out at Death By Audio on 12.08, Glasslands on 12.10 and/or Shea Stadium on 12.16. – Nick Haycock

I would imagine that Dead Mechanical would cringe to hear me describe their newest album, Addict Rhythms, as a "throwback" to 1990’s era underground pop-punk.  But, when you first play this record, that’s exactly what you think.  And, for me, that made me instantly excited.  However, as I listened to Addict Ryhthms a few more times, it began to take on a life outside of The Jawbreaker Era from which it may have been born.  It began to sound like this record had been crafted as if the pop-punk anthems of the 1990’s had never really gone away, leaving these songs as a natural progression of the genre into the cultural realities of today.  Dead Mechanical manages to convey this feeling on a record that is well crafted and arranged, but produced low-fi enough to still carry the energy of a live show.  Their songs are catchy and melodic, but with edges that are just rough enough to let you know that they mean business.  

Their song, "Last show," depicts the final show of a band that may or may not be fictional from the perspective of an adoring fan.  The feeling of loss is expressed openly, but the song doesn’t sound like a lamentation, it sounds like a celebration.  You can’t help but feel like this is somehow a metaphor for an entire genre or scene of music, ending and beginning, but always filled with vigor and life.

Addict Rhythms is at its best during anthemic choruses that challenge a generation at risk of losing its identity to re-take control of their lives.  You can really feel this on "Sidewalks," a song that surrounds a lyrical portrait of voiceless and unappreciated youth with a resoundingly optimistic refrain:  "You can hit the sidewalks early," a call to arms for the weary to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and start going somewhere.

If you’re in need of picking up, the first place you should head is to Traffic Street Records to pick up Addict Rhythms. –Jarrett

2010 was a great year for Screaming Females, and it’s not over just yet. The New Brunswick, NJ based band has just released a new free song ("Wild", embedded here) and a brand new video of the track "I don’t mind it" (you can find it here). They also announced 3 shows in early 2011, including one in NYC on 02.12 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Lost Boy ? – that question mark is part of the name – might be a bunch of lost souls but as long as they don’t lose those Pixies references they are a found asset to the NYC scene. Those Bostonian bad asses were so unique that to this day no band really managed to reference them without falling into plagiarism. Lost Boy ? manages to avoid this thanks to the added character brought by their lo-fi approach and some psych influences Kim Deal and co. didn’t venture into. These guys have some really good songs, and should be fun live: check them out on 12.09 at Death By Audio and/or the day after at Spike Hill.

Partisan Records announced the spring 2011 release of Middle Brother‘s debut album – a new supergroup comprised of the lead singers of NYC’s own Deer Tick, and LA based Dawes and Delta Spirit. Middle Brother came together in mid-2009 when the three songsmiths realized, after several on-stage collaborations, that they shared a unique vision and wanted to take it one step further, into the studio. They first played their anthemic, soulful, passionate and confessional at 2010’s SXSW – a tiny, late-night, unannounced event under the moniker “MG&V”. Since then they have been busy in the studio preparing next year’s debut release. The band will be playing a one-off show December 20 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Here’s a preview of one of the songs featured in the upcoming record, performed live.

Don’t ask us why, but we feel like no month could be more appropriate than a freezing December for Brooklyn-via-Japan all female quartet Hard Nips‘ CD release party. The band plays rather spartan punk pop, with what I would call "classic female Japanese rock vocals" – a style of singing that I would describe as high in pitch, super-simple in the choice of melodies, and non-dramatic in the delivery. I’m sure there is a deep cultural reason behind what I’m hearing and associating with Japanese singing (and if not, then perhaps it’s just a coincidence), but for now I’ll just be happy to coin a new genre, by the name of "Nip-Pop". Hard Nips will bring their punky Nip-Pop to Cake Shop on 12.07 to celebreate the release of their debut CD.

Yuck, a band comprised by musicians spread in 3 different continents (NJ, London and Japan), have been getting a decent amount of buzz lately with their alternatively clean and fuzzy dream pop. After signing to Fat Possum Records (The Walkmen, Wavves, Andrew Bird), the band announced their full lenght debut for February 2011, and released a first free mp3 you can check out down here. Definitely a band to watch for 2011 – don’t miss the show at Electric Ballroom on 12.08 with… Teenage Funclub!!!

Yuck – Rubber

Traditional bluegrass with a unique pop twist. Just one of the reasons we are so keen on The Ascetic Junkies. At the core of their raw and mesmerizing sound are the sparkling vocal harmonies of Matt Harmon and Kali Giaritta. These harmonies, layered with whimsical melodies and superb acoustic instrumentation, create a distinctive vibe and energy, unique only to the Junkies themselves. Fresh off their wild and raucous 2008 release, One Shoe Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Portland, Oregon’s The Ascetic Junkies are back with a new LP, This Cage Has No Bottom. What makes the new album so compelling, is the raw feel and obvious growth of songwriting skills, evident by the tracks we’ve provided below. The Ascetic Junkies take you on a wild gypsy ride worthy of anyone brave enough to follow. Come along, you wont regret it. – Veronica Medici from Marmoset Music.

The Ascetic Junkies – God/Devil/Gov’t

Ugly Orwell and August are the MC/production duo that comprises Bi-Polar Bear. Their combined efforts result in thumping production effervescent with innovative sample usage. Lyrically, they come across both slick and ferocious, usually simultaneously, which is no easy feat. Their multi-syllabic rhyme schemes, steeped in coffee grit and chronic haze, flip and turn throughout their verses. Groups like this are hip hop’s saving grace; they rap not just for rap’s sake, nor to inflate their own egos, but to enrich and evolve the art form. Though they tout a split personality as their namesake-cum-mascot, there is an inherent harmony that rings long after the album ends. Their upcoming project with Blue Sky Black Death will only add more depth and facets to this rapidly evolving personality disorder. – Broke MC

DC’s pop rock songstress Carol Bui has a new single out "Mira: You’re Free With Me", and thusly a homecoming celebration to promote it on the backstage of the Black Cat on Dec. 8. It’s off her upcoming third album Red Ship (release date 3/8/11) which we’ll be out on Bui’s own label, Ex Oh Records. ‘The single brims with the musicality that caused Pitchfork to call Bui’s previous album “…a punk-bred record where the guitar is loud but the tunes prevail” and My Old Kentucky Blog to proclaim it the completion of the rock trifecta that also includes Liz Phair’s Exile In Guyille and PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me.’"

Also joining in on the stage action are Kristeen Young, and Lucia, Lucia. (Doors @9 $10)

Twin Sister’s idyllic songs are the stuff that dreams are made of. It’s nearly impossible to describe the group’s sound without using the word “dreamy.” Coincidentally, the Brooklyn quintet’s 2008 debut EP is entitled, Vampires with Dreaming Kids but it’s really the pacifying effect of the thick viscosity of Andrea Estella’s breathy voice that hints of Chan Marshall’s smoky pipes paired with the band’s hazy lo-fi warmth that get listeners caught up in reveries. On Twin Sister’s follow-up EP Color Your Life, the band expands its sonic palette with a diverse array of haunting tracks. From the disco-influenced “All Around and Away We Go” to the sleepy romanticism of “Lady Daydream,” the band is able to manipulate different structures and mark them with its signature sound.Regardless of their genre leaps, listeners will never want to wake up from the aural dreamworld they’ve created. – Read Nancy Chow’s interview with the band here.