There’s a purity in The Fixins’ latest EP, Screens, Greens and Flying Machines. Tracks have a beachy folk rock feeling that are like a Jack Johnson-Neutral Milk Hotel hybrid but with more country feel-good vibes. Track “Dropping Bombs” has a sweet melody and lovely plucking for such a political song, which is perhaps why it’s effective. It’s not in your face–nor is the rest of the album. “Can’t Find a Reason” has a classic country baseline with a nice melody and some softer beach rock. The EP’s sweetest track is the last, “Same Old Story,” which closes out the EP with a quieter folk-pop lullaby and a guitar solo done nice n fine. Catch them at Neck of the Woods on April 6. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

Revolution, a local musical movement partnered with The Deli NYC that highlights artists from Brooklyn and Harlem is celebrating its third year on March 30. Vol. 37 at National Sawdust will be a celebration of community, change, and activism through music. Live performances from artists picked for previous volumes such as SKYES, Salomon Faye, Sonic, Phase One and Aberdeen will headline the bash. A special DJ set by DJL4 will also be featured. Founded, curated, and produced by NYC promoter Katie Jones, this project represents the core of independent pop culture and hopes to keep helping its growth, just like our publication! Get your tickets here. – Rene Cobar

Queens based group WIVES has been brewing in the borough for some time now, but at last, they are hot and ready to be served up to the masses. The four-piece band recently signed to City Slang Records and is gearing up for a spring tour through Europe that will kick off with a farewell show at Mercury Lounge on the third of April. The band’s grungy dark-wave style is in full display in their brand new video for their single “Waving Past Nirvana” as are the skills of director Milah Libin who has previously helmed videos for Princess Nokia and Beach Fossils. Check out the video below and be on the lookout for the 7” out May 24th. – Rene Cobar

Take the simultaneously gritty and polished instrumental style of groups like Television and Talking Heads, sprinkle some indie undertones, and then add a Morrisseyesque vocal delivery for a cherry on top and watch it shape-shift into a twenty-first-century group from NYC called Reptilian Elite. The band is back after a small break and has added Sam Grossman (not pictured) on bass to the line-up, assigning guitar duties to Dylan Kelly and Pablo Narea and freeing Eamon Rush to unleash his full vocal prowess. Their style is classic NYC: open dress shirts, sharpei boots, worn out chucks, and some good old indie rock. The group will be keeping their new run going by playing The Well Public House in Brooklyn April 6. – Rene Cobar

Sun Kil Moon’s latest release, I Also Want to Die in New Orleans (Caldo Verde Records) has singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek’s signature talk-singing style, like a Bill Callahan but with more of swaying, touch-of-blues rock and string-plucking country moments, and if you can imagine, more cocky. Tracks are embedded with Kozelek’s at times judgemental frustrations around San Francisco transplants and the general state of things in our country. Song “Day in America” is a very straight telling of Kozelek’s experience learning of the Parkland shooting; “I’m Not Laughing at You” is full of quotes of conversations Kozelek has had with frustrated people over the last 26 years. The most musically musical track on the album is “Couch Potato,” which has tidbits of all the disappointing ways in which newcomers don’t appreciate the natural beauty of San Francisco. Track “Bay of Kotor” includes distressing animal cries and concludes the album with a strange taste in our mouths. Take a listen on Spotify, (he’s not released any freshies in Bandcamp or Soundcloud) then refresh yourself outside with a long walk. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

Despite hailing from Brooklyn, Rae Isla sounds completely stratified in the atmosphere above our country on “American Paradise.” Hovering between painful longing and bitter condemnation, this airy pop star stretches the gossamer of her sounds to a tense and passionate apex. Mournful guitars wane in and out of view while distinctly boom-bap drums ground the track to reality described as full of opposing ideas that make this world simultaneously inhospitable yet a necessary home to inhabit. Rae Isla sidesteps the clichés with earnest declarations of longing for a home she recognizes as flawed, and these honest moments are carried to a painful, celestial finish that finds peace when soaring above the land. -Tucker Pennington

It’s hard not to smile when listening to “Crocodilian,” a self-described “little indie bop” by Brooklyn synthpop artist Tatum Gale. It’s an accurate descriptor, given the track’s shuffling measure, it’s kitschy, bright keys, and Gale’s honest lyricism about relationships and, well, crocodiles. The track is accompanied by a music video that’s equally heartfelt, with the artist hitchhiking his way around the city with the help of a friendly anthropomorphized croc; while the visual is silly, it demonstrates Gale’s willingness to bare his soul in a way that’s truly genuine and unabashedly fun. Watch it below. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)

A rawness permeates the entirety of Supsine Butterfly, the debut full length by Brooklyn trio Ewe Dew. It’s a product of the band’s instrumentation, which veers from traditional folk punk into mathy, off-kilter acoustic segues on a dime, as well as the raw lyricism of frontman Christian Brion. Standout track “Wild Oats” is a pertinent example of Ewe Dew’s strengths, beginning with an antique metaphor of youth before transition to an impassioned, stream of consciousness narrative, highlighted by track’s shifting time signature and modulation between electric and acoustic textures. These dynamic changes make for engaging listening on Suspine Butterfly, and promises even more experimentation on Ewe Dew’s forthcoming second LP Birds Alight, dropping later this spring. Until then, stream them below. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)

Bands like New York’s own BIG HUGE seem to exist sometimes for the single purpose of making you remember the past, only to suddenly find yourself relishing in its fascination. Power pop was an American counterpunch to the British Invasion of the ’60s and in their 2017 record CRUEL WORLD BIG HUGE channels it beautifully. With the fun and upbeat tempos of power pop heroes like Cheap Trick well ingrained into songs like “WENT BAD” and “LOST CLASSIC” the group takes full liberty to crank up the style to one hundred with fuzzy vocals and crunchy guitar licks that will shine proto-garage undertones at you. This New York City quintet remains above everything faithful to themselves, catch them on April 15th at Brooklyn Bazaar. – Rene Cobar

It’s hard not bask in the languid world of “Eclipse,” the first single off dream punk act Looms’ new record The Way Up. Written after a summer tour and a break up, frontman Sharif Mekawy’s lyrics about “wishing the moon would make it dark” embody a passive paralysis, the feeling of watching the hours tick by, a stupor from the reception of unexpected and unpleasant news. Looms’ interweaving guitars bolster this vibe, its impressive sundrenched noodling a sonic representation of the frustration that lies just below the surface. And while the Brooklyn four piece may have chosen to name this track after a solar eclipse, it feels just like a lazy afternoon in how it encapsulates the boring-to-death moments in between the events that define our lives. Give it a listen below, and catch Looms at Berlin on March 28th alongside Color Tongue, Monoculture, and Huh. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt), Photo by Liz Maney

The “Are You With It” showcase, presented by Makings, is coming up at Cornerstone the 30th of March and it’s getting quite the local buzz. Makings is a music and artist advocacy group founded by Austin Prince and his manager, Kara McCall. Makings is all about helping promote Bay Area musicians who might not yet have a huge name or representation. The “Are You With It?” series does just that.

Says Austin Prince, “There’s no genres; we’re not trying to put on a big clubby scene or something where you have to know people to get in a set. You just have to be musicians who have talent and the passion to perform. We’re all about making those connections within our communities, at these shows. We want to help less-exposed artists find their footing and get their music out there.” So who’s on feature at this month’s Are You With It? A lot of funk, sassy R&B, and a touch of poppy indie rock, all brought to you by Madi Sipes & the Painted Blue, Trace Repeat & Cereus Bloom and–back by popular demand and fan’s insistence–Austin Prince. To honor Mr. Prince, check out his charming new music video featuring a skateboarding bird. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

QWAM’s newest single “Buy A Toy” is the sonic equivalent of a Subaru Outback barreling out of the crowded city, taking a scenic ride through the Poconos, and then driving off a cliff into the Delaware Water Gap. It’s energetic, filled with a lot of heart, and ultimately marked by a kind of humorous fatalism that makes it endearing in a “shit happens” type of way. While the crux of the song revolves around a repeating mantra (“just wanna buy a toy for you”), its simplicity plays against QWAM’s discordant shredding to deliver a concise, scorched earth product that may bring the listener to both dance joyously and burn something. Watch the video below, and catch them at The Footlight on March 15th alongside Plaid Dracula and Smock. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt), Photo by Karen Sofia Colon