Ladies and Gents,

The Best of NYC 2016 issue is about to hit the streets of NYC, and we are ready to celebrate it with a VERY awesome showcase at new Bushwick drinking hole Sunnyvale, on June 9th!

Mark your (Google) calendars and check out all the seven great NYC artists involved in the bill in this rad compilation! Bigger Poster here!

Listening to Brooklyn rock quartet Howth's July-released album 'Trashy Milky Nothing Town,' one is pleasantly reminded of great bands of old, while exhilarating in its fresh quirkiness. On such guitar-laced songs as "Teenage Mutation" (streaming below), the tight punk of The Ramones comes surging forth while a track such as "You Were My Girl" has fond hints of The Turtles. Lead singer Carl Creighton and his band do, in fact, seem to be aware of rock's potential for eccentricity and, with this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-referencing work, they entertainingly and compellingly emit their own spunky oddness. Howth plays at The Gutter with Jennifer O'Connor on April 7th. - Zach Weg 

It's time to tackle the ROOTS category of our open submissions for the 2015 edition of our Best of NYC Poll for emerging artists - you can see the results we published so far here.

ROOTS

Total submissions in this category: 13

Jurors: Cervante Pope (The Deli Portland), Juan Rodriguez (The Deli LA), Zach Weg (The Deli NYC).

Artists qualified to the next stage (i.e. the Readers' Poll, starting around 01.20):

1. Janita- 7.6 (out of 10)

When Brooklyn-via-Helsinki singer/songwriter Janita shared her album ‘Didn't You, My Dear?’ back in July, she not only gave precious voice to such seemingly universal hardships as melancholy and frustration but practically whispered to the listener: "Hey, these things happen. I'm right there with you." As heard on the soul-lined "Easing into Sanity" (streaming below), the smooth-voiced singer did in fact seem to come from a pressingly personal place yet. Like every great vocal poet, spoke for everyone striving to emerge from a fog.

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2. Howth- 7.2 (out of 10)

Having just played the venerable Downtown New York venue Le Poisson Rouge, Brooklyn quartet Howth are deservedly gaining wider recognition as the lighthearted yet affecting quartet that they are. A drum-tumbled track like “April I Will” (streaming below), for example, off their latest “Trashy Milky Nothing Town” album conveys an impossibly pure sweetness that can only come from a passionate band such as this. Howth plays Shea Stadium on 2/1. 

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3. Tangina Stone- 7 (out of 10) While the term “singer/songwriter” may connote the heartbreak and longing of such masters as Sufjan Stevens, Brooklyn-via-Ohio’s Tangina Stone refreshingly radiates a kind of experienced joy in her soul-lined songs. Her November-released track “Suntan” (music video playing below), for example, details young love not just with optimism but with the deep soulfulness of someone who has experienced its wondrous impact. Tangina Stone plays at Pianos on 2/17.

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Honorable Mentions: Rue Snider, Fireships, Jesus On The Mainline, Matteis, Tacoma Narrows

Zach Weg - The Deli Magazine

It doesn't seem too often that a band looks to rather campy pop culture and comes out with an album that moves. But that is exactly what Brooklyn rock quintet Howth does with their latest effort, "Trashy Milky Nothing Town," referencing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to tell stories of longing and comradeship. On songs such as "Superfreak!" (streaming below), which recalls Wilco's "I'm Always in Love" with its spacey keys, Howth impressively achieves gravitas while alluding to the fantastical. The Ninja Turtles aren't real but Trashy Milk Nothing Town gives them, and its listeners, palpable feeling. Howth plays Cake Shop on Wednesday, 7.1. - Zachary Weg, photo by Bryan Bruchman

This bill at Mercury Lounge on July 6 caught our attention mostly because we rarely see 4 very diverse local emerging bands booked on a weekend night at the prime Lower East Side small venue. While we already covered melancholic poppers Howth and animated folk rock revivalists Whale Belly in this blog (check them out!), Honey Wild and Hani Zara are names we are foreign to - and we are going to fix that right now.

Hani Zahra (pictured) is definitely the quirkier artist on this bill - and we like that. On record they sound like an electro pop band with the added bonus of charismatic vocals, an element so often missing from a genre generally shy in the singing department. This being said, the band presents itself live as a quintet, so we can expect a real show. Opening track Roll Roll Roll (streaming below) is particularly fun, with a mangled plodding organ sound and cheeky vocals between Wall of Voodoo's elegant 80s melodies and the theatrical antics of an Ian Dury.

Honey Wild (in the picture) is a more serious band, but not necessarily more predictable. All the tracks from their recently released second EP "Mea Culpa" develop under our ears in surprising ways while building in urgency, without sounding forced, skillfully playing with tension and release contrasts - which is what rock'n'roll is all about. The vocals are particularly good for an emerging band - definitely a band keep an ear on!

We added this song to The Deli's playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC artists - check it out!

See the night's Facebook event for exact set times.