15 New York City Bands You Should Know

Originating in Brooklyn, the electronic and indie rock duo, Tanlines, got one of their first breaks touring with Julian Casablancas, and has steadily gotten bigger from there, releasing their Settings EP in 2010, and then their debut album, Mixed Emotions back in 2012. Their music is an uncommon blend of electronic and indie; the type that—because of its knotty twists and turns—demands multiple listens. However, you'll find that the extra work is worth it. With each cycle, Mixed Emotions unveils some previously unheard element, giving each track a rewarding freshness. Updates from the band have stated that a forthcoming album is in the works, giving rise to the hope that we'll be able to dance around to a new set of hits sometime in 2014.

There's an undeniable, exultant feeling that arises when you listen to the South-African-born, Brooklyn-based artist, Jean-Philip Grobler, who perofrms as St. Lucia. Armed with an array of glam-synth hooks that would make even the oldest and most seasoned hair-metal bands blush, St. Lucia first came onto the public radar with 2012's St. Lucia EP as well as the September EP. However, it was this year's full-length release, When The Night, that fully solidified the heatseeking status of this young artist, boasting tracks like "The Night Comes Again" and "Elevate." St. Lucia is electronic pop in its finest form, bereft of any bubblegum sensibilites, but still full in unbridled and infectious exuberance.

You may remember Autre Ne Veut’s Anxiety from more than a few year-end, best-of lists, as the work's dark, pulsing pop grabbed ahold of critics in 2013 and refused to let go. Having worked with acts like Oneohtrix Point Never and Ford & Lopatin, no one should doubt Autre Ne Veut's electronic chops, and just one listen to Anxiety's lead track, "Play by Play" will have you convinced of his potential as a pop artist of the highest order. With an unblanched falsetto, and layers of glistening, seductive sound, Autre Ne Veut has mastered the formula for intricate, accessible synth-pop in a way that will surely see him build upon his success in the future.

THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2013

Signed to Cult Records—the label of Strokes frontman, Julian Casablancas—Brooklyn band Cerebral Ballzy has everything you'd want from some New York punk rockers, nailing the attitude and energy necessary to get a live show on its legs, and the crowd slippery with sweat. The band is exactly the type of act you'd hear in a dingy, riverside warehouse, packed in like sardines with an assortment of other lo-fi devotees as you crash and bang into one another in time with the music. Boasting the same, unaffected cool as their label boss, and a propensity for making some seriously heavy music, Cerebral Ballzy has been around the block since 2008, but can likely count on 2014 to be their breakthrough year, with their upcoming album, Jaded & Faded getting a production assist from none other than Dave Sitek.

PUNK ROCK RECOMMENDATIONS: SONG RECOMMENDATIONS FROM CEREBRAL BALLZY

With Manifest!, Brooklyn indie pop band, Friends, made a summer album—the type filled with accessible, low-stakes cuts like, "I'm His Girl" and "Friend Crush." Certain sounds squiggle and slip around—the neccessary additives for some flavor—but for the most part, Friends created a record where the rhythms are danceable and easy, and the aura is one of laid-back comfort and ease. Their latest track, "The Way," displayed their ability to make a throwback power ballad in the same manner as fellow indie-rockers, HAIM. Given the connection that Friends' lead starlet, Samantha Urbani, shares with nostalgia-pop artist, Dev Hynes, expect Friends' forthcoming album to continue to explore this groove, moving deeper and deeper into the past to create a sound that hits us with an unexpected immediacy.

Similar to CHVRCHES, Little Daylight is a rock-synth-pop hybrid based around a lead female vocalist, driving melodies, and an explosion of bubbling, anthemic sound. It's the type of electronica that bursts instead of broods, carrying its listener along on whatever ride it creates by way of punishing drum kicks and electronic bass lines that read like EKGs. Little Daylight wants to inspire frenetic movement, so titles like "Overdose" are apt for the addictive adrenaline rush that their music inspires. Still fresh on the scene, the band released their Tunnel Vision EP back in August, no doubt hinting that an album is just around the corner.

On "Sonsick," San Fermin initially may strike you as an Adele-type; hurt, speaking of heartache and love's bitter disappointments with the appropriate measure of vocal gravity. However, as the lyrics unfold, San Fermin reveals deeper, more complex concerns in their music, delievered with a surprising, but welcome bite. "I'll fall for you soon enough/I'm resolved to love/now I know it's just another fuck/I'm old enough," sing vocalists Holly Laessig and Jess Wolf as they lament the damaged and damaging aspects that come from trying to manufacture something out of nothing. In the end, these frustrations all boil over as the track unravels into a baroque, beautiful breakdown, worthy of some of Beirut's greatest tracks. San Fermin's eponymous debut is littered with tracks like these, featuring stunning composition that never lets itself outshine or obscure the essential heart within.

San Fermin is playing a sold out show on February 7 at Bowery Ballroom.

When you consider that the debut EP of indie pop band, Haerts, was produced by their fellow Brooklynite, St. Lucia, it'll make sense that the sounds of Hemiplegia are constantly reaching for something higher. In name alone, "Wings" relays this message, but it's also the soaring vocals and expanding melodies that help pull this into great heights. Indie pop in 2013 showcased a desire to create atmospheric, spread-out sound, and Haerts does a commendable job of inserting themselves into that conversation with the tracks on Hemiplegia. When the winter doldrums get you down, load up "All The Days." From there, it's nothing but blue skies.

We've all known Chairlift since "Bruises," when the glittery, bass-driven hit disseminated across the airwaves via an Apple commercial all the way back in 2008. Since then, the band released, Something in 2012, a follow-up to their debut album Does You Inspire You. Similar to their freshmen effort, the second LP finds Caroline Polachek's vocal work trading time between hurt and defiant, while paired up with bandmate Patrick Wimberly to create scattered, buck-shot mix of guitars and electronics that darts in about twenty different directions on any given track. Fully energized by a respledent roster of melodies, Something has a lot of its mind in the way of love and loss but, thankfully, refuses to ever let itself get too down in the dumps.

For how new they still are to the scene, Brooklyn trio Wet boasts a remarkably smart brand of R&B, marrying melody and vocals together in a way that's uniquely symbiotic. The two work together so well, as Wet's lead vocalist never takes her own voice beyond what it can do, instead letting the production add nuance to her vocals. This isn't to say that the lyricism becomes blanketed in sticky, pop hooks or overzealous sound, rather, it's simply about the perfect sense of balance that Wet exudes. Chances aren't taken on their latest, eponymous EP, but they also don't need to be. With songs like, "Dreams" and "Don't Wanna Be Your Girl," a rare sense of satisfaction is created through a close attention to detail and a keen ear for melody.

Parquet Courts is amp-kicking music that heralds back to the days of The Ramones with a relentless, machine-gun fire sound, and exasperated, but resiliant vox. Drifting between indie rock, post-punk, and punk, the band had two stellar releases in 2013 with the full-length, Light Up Gold and the EP, Tally All the Things That You Broke and, given their careless, destructive energy, the latter title is fitting. However, if you spend a night partying to Parquet Courts, be warned: it might be difficult to keep track of the damages.

Tei Shi deals in that form of smoky, minimal R&B that has come to such prominence in recent years, slowly burning and building in strength, but anchored all the while by the powerful and grounding influence of Bogotá-raised but Brooklyn-based Valerie Teicher’s voice. The production on a song like "M&Ms" certainly won't grab you with an immediate hook but, as the track gradually comes together, you realize that her work is a study in musical anatomy; we hear how the song is being written as shifting, growing parts of the track come in and out, revolving around her voice in a cautious but constantly moving rhythm. Stressing patience and facilitating confession, Tei Shi's music shows us what a song and an artist look and sound like when they're stripped down to their barest bones.

By now, you should be familiar with Party Supplies. This is non-negotiable. If you haven't heard either of their collaborations with Action Bronson—the stellar Blue Chips albums—then you need to get out more. However, if their solo work has passed you by as well, then it's time to acquint yourself with some Tough Love, their first proper album, which they released in late 2013. Eminently danceable, and positively reminiscent of the tropicalia and calypso fascination that helped define the '80s, the album was most certainly one of 2013's criminally underrated releases.

On a track like, "Sell It All", the crunching, nightmarish electronica of Glass Gang will likely connect the band to Crystal Castles in the minds of many critics, which—given the latter band's success in defining the witch-house and experimental electronic movements of the past decade—shouldn't be regarded as anything but a compliment. However, with songs like "The Fall" and "Waves," Glass Gang displays their versatility as well, keeping the lo-fi elements of their sound, but shifting the tone closer to My Bloody Valentine and even The Besnard Lakes. Whether it's panic, angst, or regret, the band shows off a satisfying range within our deeper emotions, exploring the textures of sorrow in more ways than one.

2012 and 2013 were breakthrough years for Dev Hynes aka Blood Orange, as the release of Solange's "Losing You" and Sky Ferreira's "Everything's Embarrassing" inspired critical acclaim for Hynes' production work and steadily accrued some buzz for the new wave artist's second LP, Cupid Deluxe. In 2013, Hynes delievered on the hype, putting out Cupid Deluxe to a flurry of well-deserved praise. Blending the influence of artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, and more, Hynes puts together music that ignites a deep desire for the past within ourselves, inspiring nostalgia that we didn't even know we had. Some of Hynes' audience may not have been around for the original music of the '80s that his influences his own work, but the age gap doesn't really matter. Hynes' music takes us to all the places we need to go, and he does it with a New York edge.

INTERVIEW: DEV HYNES