Sometimes you walk into an open mic or a small music venue in New York and hear something that makes you go, "Well, I’ve never heard that sound before." Gawain and the Green Knight fit that bill. Named after a late 14th-century chivalric romance story, the duo of Alexia Antoniou and Mike O’Malley craft literary folk songs which blend history, literature, and other intellectual pursuits with the usual songwriting themes of anxiety, self-doubt, and desire. Take the band’s song "King Louis", a track about fearing what your crush might say behind your back. However — as Antoniou shows in the just-released music video — the song is also about the titular infamous French ruler, who feared court gossip so much that he kept all of his nobles under his eye. Watch the music video for "King Louis" and see Antoniou decked out in full Louis XIV costume, tearing her wig off as the fear becomes too much to bear. – Will Sisskind

“Thin Wire” (streaming) is the uber-charged debut single of Brooklyn punk rockers Trash TV. A sonic surge of distorted guitars and eruptive drums, this is the kind of tune that jolts you to the front of the crowd. Since late last year, this quartet has been fermenting music they call “scuzzy punk,” distinguished by upbeat tempo, fuzzy guitar licks and the graphic verses of lead singer Habiba Warren, who at one point mentions grease, numb hands, and bleeding eyes—get the picture? The band is revving up for a rooftop party show at Our Wicked Lady on May 22nd. The song serves as a sizzling preview of things to come from the Brooklyn natives, check it out below. – Rene Cobar  

Sporting the “melodic punk rock” tag on Bandcamp, six year old American Television provides a satisfying mix of punk and sentimentality on their latest release, Death Defier. A mere two tracks, the release’s size reflects the character of the band’s songs, simple, to the point, and effective. There is emotion in the music, something that is always welcome as many amateur groups are only willing to grapple with emotions superficially. The hooks are nice, the lyrics are relatable, and the chord changes are twinged with a hint of emotion. In short, there is honesty and a decent amount of work put into the music, can’t ask for much more.

-Mike Dranove

Up for a dose of new music? There is a new group roaming the concrete jungle, wielding a debut single that demands attention.“Fake” has a luring quality to it, with its glaze of post-punk and Southern rock it immediately recalls the panache that catapulted Kings of Leon to the top of the charts. The single of NYC’s Nicotine Dolls is smooth in its delivery of flexible tempos, intricate harmonies, and gritty lead vocals that make way for a ripping guitar solo which culminates the song. The band is debuting with a solid entry and will be undoubtedly playing the single at their next show at Connolly’s NYC on June 28. We have the release here for you below. – Rene Cobar

Erin Durant’s newest single “Highway Blue” (streaming) ruffles up the dainty fragments of bittersweet memories: the song evokes a once great friendship, a romance that almost was, the lost familiarity of a place in time. The opening piano notes sound off with the tenderness of the first drops of rainfall and soon make room for her accompanying vocals, candid in tone. The soft beat of the snare throughout and the captivating harmonica solos help complete this second single from Durant’s upcoming sophomore record Islands (out June 21 via Keeled Scales). With the help of TV On the Radio’s Kyp Malone, Durant expands her sonic palette in this new track and grants us a peek of a promising album on the way. “Highway Blue,” is sincere in its delivery and tells a story you may know. – Rene Cobar

“You Were Never My Boyfriend” is the latest single from Ariana and the Rose and boy does it have a bite to it. The indie pop track is a commentary on the increasingly superficial love relationships of the twenty-first century and their broken promises. Riding a pensive wave from start to finish, the song shows off Ariana’s rich soulful soprano and expertly-placed synthesizer flourishes that define her synth-soul-pop sound. The accompanying music video is beautifully simple and helps to magnify the subject matter with subtle visual developments in a single shot. The attention-grabbing song—originally a simple poem by Ariana—has served its purpose by sparking curiosity for the pop singer’s next move. Watch the video here below. – Rene Cobar

Alycia Lang’s new single “The Only One” was just released off her upcoming album Makeshift out May 17. After her previous work with bands Waterstrider and Trails and Ways, Lang decided to work on her solo album and the result is jazzy rock with a hint of pop breathing warm percussives and lightly twanged vocals. Previous releases off the forthcoming LP (check out single “Projector”) are poppy, mildly synthed out, Enya-touched and sexy. Stay tuned for upcoming shows. – Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

W.C. Beck comes to New York via Portland, Paris, and Kansas, cities with vast differences in their geography and culture. Beck’s travels have therefore provided his music with a cosmopolitan air and richness, but he still plays with a distinct Americana sound, which has the power to attract (and move) a multitude of listeneres with varying backgrounds. It fits, therefore, that Beck would shoot his music video for "The Long Way Home" — a hymn about living a life of constant exploration in order to find home — in the middle of Grand Central, where tens of thousands of commuters, locals, and tourists pass each other every day. The song will appear on Beck’s upcoming album First Flight, his ninth studio release, which drops on June 7th. He plays a release show at Mercury Lounge on June 9th to mark the event; stay tuned for more on that. In the meantime, watch the video for "The Long Way Home" below. – Will Sisskind

Brooklyn’s post-hardcore trio I.O.U. demonstrates that it means business with a visceral display of sonic anger in the opening track of their newly released EP I.O.U. ONE. “Captain Howdy” cleaves its way into the eardrums of the listener with the ferocity of its guitar riffs, a fuzz-infected bassline, and dauntless drum fills that may leave you in a feverish state of thrill. The group’s four-track record starts at a high intensity and never lets up the energy, without giving up the opportunity for sonic experimentation given by slower tempos, like in second track "My Maytag." The vocals of all three members shred through the entrails of “Swamp,” while in “Bossy” the trio lets everyone know that “cannibals are people too.” I.O.U. is a feral band in all the right ways, check it out below. – Rene Cobar

On Thursday, May 16 the Ivy Room will host an evening full of lovely music, all from queer artists. Performing will be Rob Jamner, indie rock storyteller and poet, who will be releasing his EP Holding Stones and playing short films from independent filmmakers Jesse Israel, Sair Goetz, Marica Petrey, Jared Swanson, and Andy Strong. Americana guitarist and songwriter Briget Boyle will be playing some sweet tunes from her new album The Next Line. We’ll also have Kristen Ford who’ll be touring from Nashville and playing her soul meets electropop jams, and Oh The Nerve, a queer feminist pop/R&B band from Berkeley. Check out all their music below and come on out! – Lucille Faulkner

Alecia Renece‘s Matter EP is simply superb. Renece has a tremendous voice, commitment to poetic lyricism, songwriting versatility, a sweet, sweet penchant for harmonizing with herself, and, to top it all off, professional quality mixing and mastering on her tracks.

The voice is probably what makes this release so satisfying. The voice is good. Like, really good. Renece moves seamlessly through notes, mostly hitting them spot on, giving them love and attention. And really, the voice says it all about what’s going with the release in general; it’s saying, very simply, Alecia Renece’s “The Artist” LLC is not the real estate equivalent of some dirty groundfloor unit with paper thin walls in a building built before they discovered lead was bad; rather it’s a woven vinyl floored penthouse with marble countertops right next to that Italian place I went to on Valentine’s day at Waterfront.

And let’s talk about the poetry here, can we talk about the poetry? There are some great lines, like, “Premium cut, you’re favorite slice, I break myself to pieces baby baby so that you can have whatever you like.” And the diversity of songwriting styles, Renece brings the energy up on the eminently pleasing track, “You’re Welcome,” and brings it back down to feature those sweet vocal harmonies on “Longest End”. That’s all to say nothing of the opening track itself. Seriously folks, clench your bowels before listening, it’s that good.

This reviewer wasn’t hot on every track, but overall a great release, plain and simple.

Notable tracks: "Why you gotta go", "You’re Welcome", "Longest End".  

-Mike Dranove

NYC indie dance duo argonaut&wasp lay down vintage sensuality on new release “Composure,” a smooth, sample friendly ’80s vamp. Described by some as “the perfect soundtrack to New York City,” the Burlington-via-Brooklyn outfit captures vibes emblematic of the Big Apple’s past and present; their latest single is as much Oliver Stone’s Wall Street than it is Katja Blichfeld’s High Maintenance, a synth-heavy midnight interlude that’s neither old nor new. What makes “Composure” such an engaging listen lies in argonaut&wasp’s ability to round out the track’s more treble-heavy components – there’s jangly guitar riffs and pitch-shifted samples abound, but they never distract from the urbane quality of its keyboard backbone. It gives the song a dark, almost muted quality, marked by a palpable energy that lies just beneath the surface, the type of tune you could jam to both start and end your night. Listen below, and catch them at their Rough Trade on May 22nd. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)