Delusions of Grandeur, the debut album from Blubird, could be the beginning of the workweek pick-me-up many of us need. Encased in bright but brooding stretches of grooves, the quartet sounds refreshing with an eye and ear on the ominous. What starts with a shimmer gradually transitions into a murkier psych realm, shifting the dynamic, while creating a curiosity as to what direction they’ll head next.
Philadelphia
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Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI Dominic (Record Release), Norwegian Arms (Record Release), No Thank You
Weekend Warrior, February 3 – 5
Celebrating new music is the encompassing motif as this week draws to its end. The Menzingers surprised fans, booking an intimate, sold-out show this evening at Kung Fu Necktie. And neighboring Fishtown music venue/watering hole Johnny Brenda’s will also be playing host to a dual record release show. Dominic, a.k.a. Dominic Angelella (Lithuania, DRGN KING), uncorks Goodnight, Doggies., which is now available via Lame-O Records. The set of songs explore personal levels, retaining a lingering depth, while exhibiting the warmth of comforting, melodic instrumentation. Available via Mutual Crush, Girard Freeloader, the latest from Norwegian Arms, is textured electro-soul, finding a delicate balance between the steady, omnipresent flow of bright beats and the gentle plucks from Brendan Mulvihill’s signature mandolin work. With a new record, Jump Ship, scheduled for release via Lame-O on February 24, No Thank You, a.k.a. Kaytee Della Monica, will be opening the festivities.
Garage-psych rockers American Dinosaur will also be celebrating the release of their latest EP One for the Birds this Saturday at MilkBoy. They’ll be kicking the jams with Philly electro-rock outfit Man Like Machine and Harrisonburg, VA indie popsters The Dawn Drapes. – Michael Colavita
Other places to chill this weekend…
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI Dominic (Record Release), Norwegian Arms (Record Release), No Thank You
Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) FRI What Nerve, SAT The End Of America, Former Belle, Dogs On Main Street
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI The Menzingers, Roger Harvey / DJ Deejay, SAT No Gods, Holy Smoke / Ghost Ghang, Torito, SUN The Tough Shits, Tom Lax (DJ Set)
PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th St.) SAT Destroying Angel, Mike Bruno
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) SAT Quadie Diesel, Ken Rosa
The Fillmore Philly (1100 Canal St.) FRI The Disco Biscuits, Swift Technique, SAT The Disco Biscuits, American Babies
The Foundry (1000 Frankford Ave.) FRI DJ Sylo
Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2nd St.) FRI Biz Mighty, Milton, Tana Black, Richie Navigator, Mad Squablz, Rich Quick, SAT Don Cephas
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Upstairs) Baby Blue Sound Collective, SAT 5th Annual Winter Doldrums Benefit Concert
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Molly Rhythm, Seeing Snakes, SAT Amora / Santi Suede, Tioga
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) SAT American Dinosaur (EP Release), The Dawn Drapes, Man Like Machine
MilkBoy South Street (401 South St.) SAT Chris Wood
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St.) FRI Elison Jackson, SAT Hold Down The Ocean, Worst Ones, SOLD, Tiny Vices
Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI DJ Dav, Reed Streets
Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT Hired Guns Blues Band, SUN Rusty Cadillac
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI Ivory, Fitonia, Taylor Kelly, SAT Sonny Knockout, Popular Creeps, Scene Points
Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd St.) SAT Ben Vaughn Quintet
The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI Knightlife, Endless Taile, A Ship Named Beagle, SAT Apple Juice Jones, Jam Traffic
Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.) FRI Broken Arrow, AM Radio
Everybody Hits (529 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Ursula
The Pharmacy (1300 S. 18th St.) FRI Humanshapes, Bone Bats, Gladys the Gardener, SAT Secret Nudist Friends, Doggo, Along The Way. Cacciato
LAVA Space (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT The Guests, Haz Lo Correcto, Cornelius The Third, Yung Nila
All Night Diner (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Old Maybe
Philadelphia
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New Track: “Wishes in the Raindrops” – Sandcastle
It’s been a little over a year since we’ve heard any new material from Sandcastle. However, the group has resurfaced to support Bandcamp’s benefit campaign, which will be donating all proceeds from sales today to the ACLU. The band will also be donating all its proceeds, and plans to make its new record available for free download (hopefully later this month). Check out Sandcastle’s lovely new single, "Wishes in the Raindrop," off the group’s forthcoming album, whose working title is currently Netherodes Vol. I: Sunflowers for the Unnameable Daughter, and give all you can!
Philadelphia
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New Perfeckt Touch LP Available for Streaming & Purchase
Perfeckt Touch, the latest moniker of Jo(e) Kusy, has released a new album, The Possibilities Are Endless, available via Brooklyn’s Time Castle Tapes. With fellow bandmate Rusty Langley from The Whips covering bass duties, the LP hovers in a comforting, lo-fi, psychedelic haze while exhibiting prime points of instrumental punch. Perfeckt Touch is set to perform a tape-release show at Ortlieb’s on February 24 with Davey and the Chains, Power Mystery, and Haunted Homes.
Philadelphia
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New Yankee Bluff Album Available for Streaming & Download
Slovenian Daisy, the new album from Yankee Bluff, cultivates a stripped-down, incisively melodic method. Melissa Brain (Marge), Pat Conaboy (The Spirit of the Beehive), and Dan Angel (Gunk) aid in adding the percussive elements, while the EP swims in stealth, simple grooves, occupying a casual but contagious air. You catch Yankee Bluff live at Boot & Saddle on Wednesday, February 8 with fellow Philly acts Shannen Moser and Cool Points.
Philadelphia
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New Heavy Temple EP Available for Streaming & Purchase
The trio of Heavy Temple unleashes a furious fuzz-fueled brand of doom-psych with their latest EP Chassit, whose title references Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Tumultuous, consuming rhythms push the pace, pulling one into the heavy sonic vortex. The EP is available on cassette via Tridroid Records, with proceeds being donated to Girls Rock Philly, as well as Van Records in the EU. Heavy Temple will be performing at The Fire on Thursday, March 2, alongside Pilgrim, Heavy Coughin, and Moons.
Philadelphia
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The Deli’s Best Emerging Philly Indie Rock Artist: The Retinas!
The Deli’s Best Emerging Philly Artists 2017 Poll kicked things off last week with the Indie Rock category, and we now have the first results to share with you. After compiling the jurors’, readers’/fans’ and writers’ votes, congratulations go out to The Retinas! The band made us take notice last year with the release of its killer EP chaba, and as we wait with great anticipation for the group’s next album of new material, the trio just released a collection of older singles, which is aptly named (singles), to make the time pass a little more quickly. You can also pass the time by catching The Retinas in all their fuzzed-out glory later this month on Wednesday, February 22 at The Barbary.
Also, runner-up in the Indie Rock category goes to RFA, whom we announced the other day had come out on top of the Readers’/Fans’ Poll. And fledgling Philly outfit So Totally earned honorable mention, impressing with the group’s debut EP a cheap close-up of heaven. Take a listen to the latest releases from all three of these rad bands below. We’ll be revealing more results over the next few weeks, including this year’s Overall Winner, so keep your eyes peeled, and feel free to vote for your favorite emerging Philly artists HERE!
Philadelphia
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The Deli Philly’s February Record of the Month: Tourist in This Town – Allison Crutchfield
Over the past decade, Allison Crutchfield – former member of bands like Swearin’ and P.S. Eliot – made a name for herself by crafting brutally candid anthems about love, loss, and nostalgia. With her latest release since 2014’s Lean Into Me, Crutchfield grapples with the present head-on.
Tourist in This Town opens with the warm and soulful start of “Broad Daylight,” a gospel-inspired declaration of love that quickly blooms into a synth-y and cinematic ballad about a romance on the brink of chaos. “I’m selfish, and I’m shallow, and unstable,” she confesses, before asking seconds later, “Was it mutual respect, or was it mutual frustration?” “Broad Daylight” says everything that earlier cuts like “No One Talks” couldn’t. Unafraid and shameless, it tells the truth without playing coy.
On “I Don’t Ever Want to Leave California,” Allison channels her inner Bethany Cosentino, coupling surf ready riffs and tambourine with admitted faults (“I keep confusing love and nostalgia”) and new desires (“I aspire to live in the present”). The acoustic calm of “Charlie” evolves into an intimate portrait of infatuated yearning, an uplifting reminder that love and lust isn’t always turmoil, that sometimes it’s just sweet bliss. “Dean’s Room” brings to mind the percussive trill of New Order’s iconic single “Age of Consent,” and is equally dance-inducing. Lyrically and instrumentally frenetic, it’s pop-friendly tempo is seductive, but friendly. It’s the sort of song that could easily convince listeners to “dance with the devil in broad daylight.”
“Sightseeing” perfectly captures the feeling of being haunted by shattered relationships via ethereal chords and delicate reverb. When Allison sings, “I can’t enjoy Paris because I get away from you/like a ghost trapped inside my hotel room,” it’s nearly impossible not to relate. “Expatriate” is reminiscent of girl group all-stars like Lesley Gore and the Ronettes with the unabashed realness of the Shangri Las’s “Right Not Now and Not Later” and Shannon Shaw’s “Point of Being Right.” Spector-esque but without a shred of co-dependency, “Expatriate” is a celebration of those who love themselves as fiercely as they love their significant others. “Mile Away” is satisfyingly electric, filled with tempered drum beats and crashing cymbal, while the fast-paced brevity of “The Marriage” contrasts with the brooding but steady buzz of “Secret Lives and Deaths.”
Within the span of three tracks, Allison’s strengths shine bright, reminding fans that her sound is as diverse as her career has been. Tourist in This Town ends with the hissing snare and melodic riffs of “Chopsticks and Pots and Pans,” a heartfelt earworm bound to make you press replay again and again. In a way, Tourist in This Town is a milestone, in the literal sense. No longer preoccupied with the past, Allison Crutchfield is boldly embracing the present and looking forward to whatever is next. – Dianca London
Philadelphia
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New Boosegumps EP Available for Streaming & Purchase
Boosegumps recently dropped On The Way to Meet You, a four-song EP that is available digitally as well on Lathe-cut vinyl via Birdtapes. The bedroom pop embraces a hopeful approach, as keys/synth unwrap the desire to achieve a positive perspective. There’s a good chance that one will feel just a little, bit better after listening to these personal, mantra-esque tracks.
Philadelphia
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New Track: “Venus” – André Altrez
Strings and floating flourishes of flute set the scene before a backend pulse rounds out the beat in “Venus,” the latest single from André Altrez. With a seamless stream of consciousness sense of delivery, Altrez bounces back and forth on a variety of subject matters. The inviting instrumentals open the door to talk about the current state of affairs that ripples with intensity.
Philadelphia
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The Deli’s Best Emerging Philly Artists 2017: Punk/Metal Poll Is Up!
Ladies and Gents,
We continue The Deli’s Best Emerging Philly Artists 2017 Poll, and are about to get heavy with the Punk/Metal categories! You can see (and vote for) any of the 8 finalist HERE. You can also check them all out below!
The Folks at The Deli
Philadelphia
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New Midwestern Exposure EP Available for Streaming & Purchase
Slow-cooking in a rustic country-blues cauldron, the trio of Midwestern Exposure simmers and sizzles on their EP Grizzly Bear (hehe…an album that is probably not a favorite of Betsy DeVos). A pressurized, swaying stomp builds around the gutturally personalized vocals. With the expanse of a traveling/searching lyrical endeavor, the songs spread out in a loose, gritty manner, peppered with periods of instrumental intensity in raunchy riffs and blues harp heat. Midwestern Exposure is currently scheduled to perform next in Philly on Thursday, May 4 at Bourbon & Branch.