Even in the supposedly wide-open realm of indie, it’s somewhat rare to find a band who’s actually hard to categorize. Everything tends to fit into easy compartments, and even while those compartments are often kind of weird or niche ("shoegaze", "post-rock", freak folk", etc.), it’s still not a challenge to come up with the obvious reference points for the bands that subscribe to them. Dragon King, however, is somewhat of a break from that. Sure, they’re a breed of electronic pop, but just where do they come from exactly? I can’t think of anyone in particular that sounds like them, though that probably has more to do with the fact that they don’t draw from any of those niche genres so much.

 

The Warriors EP starts out aggressively with "Wolfboy", a sort of hip-hop meets electrorock shuffle. It features Peedi Crakk, which is pretty much enough to seal the track’s rap street cred, as the guy has collaborated with everyone from The Roots to Jay-Z. The song’s grimy bassline and pulsing synth doesn’t return until the last track of the record, "Wild Night", whose chorus is about as big and blunt as things get. Sandwiched between all this are a couple of subtler, slow-burn tunes. "Warriors" builds up graciously, piling on little synth bleeps and bloops, eventually culminating in gorgeous, swooning vocal harmonies. "Altamont Sunrise" is probably the best choice for a single. Its instrumentation is minimal, at least compared to the rest of the EP, but this is to make way for its vocal melody. It feels natural and breezy, containing hints of some classic pop songwriting.

 

The mood of the first track is somewhat at odds with that of the next couple, and listeners might find themselves divided between these two "types" in Dragon King songs. For some, this might indicate a band that can do a lot of things and isn’t afraid to try them out. But for others, it might be a sign of band that hasn’t quite found their sound yet. Either way, there’s enough potential going on to make the Warriors EP a worthwhile listen. You can pay what you want to download the album here. – Joe Poteracki

 

It was nice to see a local band with no label backing get some love from Pitchfork today. You might remember that Arches was a Deli poll nominee a while back. Well, the duo is working on an upcoming album and the track “This Isn’t a Good Night for Walking” was featured on P4K’s playlist. We enjoy seeing lesser known local acts reaching the larger media outlets without the PR machine pushing them along. Good stuff! You can also check out “This Isn’t a Good Night for Walking” at their MySpace or download their self-titled EP for free here. Arches will be at Danger Danger Gallery on Monday, January 17. – The Deli Staff

 

We’ve already been enjoying Creepoid’s Horse Heaven (Ian Records) for a bit now, but we are very happy to finally get to share it with you! The album dropped today and was produced by Kyle “Slick” Johnson (Wavves, Cymbal Eats Guitars, Fischerspooner, The Depreciation Guild, etc). Now, you can cheap out and listen to it HERE as many times as you want, but we highly suggest that you just grab your own copy already. It’s completely worth it. The hardworking guys and gal of Creepoid were also nice enough to allow us to make one of our many favorite tracks from Horse Heaven called “Hollow Out” downloadable for FREE below. If you’d like to experience the fine songs from the album live, then you can hang with us this Thursday, January 13 at Kung Fu Necktie when The Deli Magazine presents Creepoid’s Record Release Show w/Nothing, Party Photographers and Pet Milk. Shit’s goin’ to get crazy so join in the madness! – The Deli Staff

 

Folkadelphia’s Fred Knittel will be hosting a new concert series this February at Johnny Brenda’s aptly named The Folkadelphia Concert Series, which will be presented by Philadelphia Folksong Society and WXPN. It aims to provide intimate performances and insightful artist discussions with some of the more progressive artists in the “folk music” genre. The inaugural shows in February will be bringing in local artists like Hezekiah Jones, The Spinning Leaves and Meg Baird as well as Lewis & Clarke and Arborea. Guest moderators like Gene Shay of WXPN’s Folk Show, Biff Kennedy of Charterhouse Music, and Levi Landis of the Philadelphia Folksong Society will also be helping to lead the discussions. It will take place on Sundays February 6th, 20th and 27^th from 1pm – 3pm. Admission is $7, and members of Philadelphia Folksong Society get in for free. Sounds like a good place to get your folk on if you can rally yourself after that Saturday night bender. – The Deli Staff

 

I instantly connected with On the Water’s barebones recordings/demos – a gorgeously achy folk side project from Da Comrade!’s Fletcher Van Vliet. What you find are beautiful melodies and timeless lyrics sung with an earnest rasp of a man that doesn’t sing for you or me. He sings to ease his own soul. But luckily, he is also willing to share it with us. I had a chance to catch an impressive set by a stripped-down version of On the Water that consisted of five or six familiar faces from the local music scene, and I was told by Vliet that the full band reaches ten. It was the first time they had ever performed with mics which made it a stressful situation for some of the members, especially in a fairly large-sized venue like The Blockley. But they better get used to it because this is a project that belongs to be on bigger stages in front of larger audiences. Well, until that day comes (fingers crossed), it’s nice to know that we can see an up-and-coming band of this caliber on a Tuesday night at Danger Danger Gallery and most likely without the need for mics creating those rare, intimate moments that few get to experience. Be one of them. Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave., 8pm, $5 – $10 donation, All Ages (Photo by Aubrey Michelle) – Q.D. Tran

 

We miss the days when all you needed was just a few friends, a football, and the energy to run around and beat the shit out of each other. Those were fun times, and we miss those days and evenings when you didn’t have a care in the world, except maybe having enough change to grab a Slurpee or Gatorade afterwards. Well, thank you Cozy Galaxies for giving us that feeling of innocence back with their new video “Clean Yourself Up” below. You can catch them Wednesday, January 19 at Kung Fu Necktie with Baltimore’s Secret Mountains, Giant Mind and Clean Equations. – The Deli Staff

 

Special thanks to Okayplayer for sharing the first official leak from the upcoming Money Making Jam Boys mixtape. The track is called “Tear It Down” and features STS, Truck North, Dice Raw and Black Thought with production work from Khari Ferrari. Check it out below. Cheers! – The Deli Staff

 

Philly psychedelic/space rock veterans of over 20 years, Bardo Pond, are back tomorrow with the U.S. release of their new self-titled album on Fire Records (UK). So grab your favorite hallucinogens and headphones and prepare to get lost in an ocean of dissonance. You can check out below the powerfully eerie nine-minute track “Cracker Wrist” that they made available today from their seven-song release. Enjoy! (Photo by Dan Cohoon) – The Deli Staff

 

Fluid should be a hot and sweaty mob scene of ladies and gents ready to throw down tonight for Mad Decent Monday. Yes, we know that it is Monday, but Diplo is back in town so believe that there’s a party brewing, and with his jet-setting lifestyle, you never when you’ll get a chance to catch him spin again. You’ll also be treated to MDM resident deejays like Dirty South Joe, Flufftronix, Suga Shay and many more. Don’t forget to RSVP here to get your name on the list for a discounted $3 entry! Otherwise, it will cost you $5, which is still quite reasonable for good evening of ass-shaking. Fluid, 613 S. 4th St., 10pm, RSVP $3 or $5 door, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman 

 

“Work Drugs is a smooth-fi group from the banks of the Delaware River in beautiful Philadelphia, PA. Work Drugs is Benjamin Lousiana / Thomas Crystal/ Joan Wellfleet. Inspired by the likes of Hall & Oates, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Tickley Feather, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, and Jack Rose, Work Drugs hopes you dance to this song/take drugs to this song/have sex to this song/sail to this song/freak out to this song.” (Posted to The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and MP3s here.)

 

Just wanted to give you a heads up on a great show that we will be presenting this week. Come out and join us this Thursday, January 13 for Creepoid’s Record Release Show at Kung Fu Necktie w/Nothing, Party Photographers and Pet Milk! This is going to be a fine, fine evening of rock and debauchery so help us create some mayhem and celebrate Creepoid’s most excellent debut LP “Horse Heaven”, which was produced by Kyle “Slick” Johnson (Wavves, Cymbal Eats Guitars, Fischerspooner, The Depreciation Guild, etc.). Grab your tix sooner than later because from the looks of their Facebook invite there are plenty of others interested in coming out too! Cheers! – The Deli Staff

 

Cheers Elephant have been kicking it around Philly since 2007 drawing plenty of attention early in their short career. Back then the young upstarts impressed audiences with big classic rock riffs that wailed ferociously from lead guitarist Jordan del Rosario and a surprisingly tight sound for a fledgling band while receiving comparisons to such greats as The Beatles and Pavement. The free-spirited close-knit gang still knows how to rock as drummer Roberto Kingston flails his limbs in time, but you’ll find that they’ve traded in some of the longer jams for tighter well-crafted songs with a Brit-pop flare. It also appears Derek Kryzwicki has grown into his leading man role quite nicely demanding the audiences’ attention as he shakes and shimmies while belting out memorable pop hooks. Well, it’s taken Cheers Elephant over two years to release their full length Man Is Nature which they will be celebrating tonight at World Café Live. They also recently exceeded a goal of $5,000 for their Kickstarter campaign so there will be plenty to cheers to this evening. Joining them for this momentous occasion will be Nicos Gun, The Fleeting Ends and The New Connection. World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 9pm, $13, All Ages – H.M. Kauffman