Steel Phantoms have been on my radar ever since I heard the first chord of Curtain Call last year and was immediately transported to The Jam’s ‘That’s Entertainment.’ The duo Aaron Harris, previously of Montreal’s Islands and Jesse Newkirk IV pump out scrambling songs that go from broody to brash in seconds. On ‘Sunflowers’ vocals take a delicate gossamer turn (the word ‘haunts’ sounds haunting), and even the drums glisten, quivering and glittering into a beat driven crescendo. ‘Matt Le Blanc’ hints at their grungier side, whilst ‘Friend to Friend’ is more smooth garage, sometimes with a nod to The Smiths via Sonic Youth. ‘Overflow’ (streaming) its layers of love and enchantment over melodic and heightened chord sequences will be the gentle sway and soar tune on Tuesday 18th Feb when they headline a superb line up of Coastgaard, Vinyl Thief, and Sharkmuffin at Pianos. – Francesca Baker
Steel Phantom won the Open Submission contest tied to our Best of NYC 2013 Poll for Emerging Artists, full results for that category are here.