Teen Girl Scientist Monthly

Their Napoleon Dynamite-like dance moves and perfectly blended instruments made Teen Girl Scientist Monthly (pictured on the right) one of my favorite ones at this year's festival. Incredibly energetic and fun on stage, they obviously have a dedicated folllowing: everyone in the crowd was dancing and singing their songs - we rarely see fans this into it. We detected LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire as some of their influences. Their newest album, "Modern Dances" is a 10-track mash up of upbeat, old school electronic, back yard shenanigans and restless nights. A relentless and astonishing performance brought every delivery of every song to a perfect closing night. 

The Falls

Couple Simon Rudston-Brown and Melinda Kirwin come together to make this post heartbreak 3-track album, called "The Tascam Demos." All the way from Sydney the quiet, cute couple took the stage at The Delancey to perform music that broke my heart. The amount of soul and passion that poured out of their mouth was unexplainable and “Makes me want to run away from it all.” The two on stage are intoxicating together; the group will make you feel their pain, love or heartbreak, with every word conveying their raw emotion into harmonies that can be felt throughout the whole venue.

Luke Wesley

Forgetting how far the Rock Shop is from New York, I ended up spending most of my night in Brooklyn, which ended up being totally worth it. Luke Wesley and his four men group took the stage as Wesley shouted, “I need some whiskey!” This Ohio born pop-rock songwriter has a raspy rugged voice from a life of cigarettes and... whiskey. He has a lot of respect for Elton John and Ben Folds and he's also a carpenter as a hobby. Humble and relaxed, Wesley understands that not every band is going to get signed. “Give me 40 grand a year making music and I will be happy,” he says, “while it would be great to make it one day I’m blessed to be doing this.” Going solo for a few songs on his keyboard, Wesley sings that he wishes he could divorce himself -  I guess even one man bands are hard to keep together... 

Michael Wagner

When arriving at The Rock Shop, one-man band Michael Wagner greeted me with his ukulele. He sounded like an alluring combination of Jason Mraz and Nick Santino from Rocket to the Moon - only slightly harsher. The man plays his uke in interesting ways, hitting the instrument as if it was a drum - while playing it. “You can put me on record for that, I invented it, hands down.” He sings about Zombies, heartbreak, the apocalypse and fleeing humanity.

Belle Mare

Formed two years ago, super mellow group Belle Mare has a dreamy style that conjures up music that's best enjoyed at night. Lead singer Amelia Bushell has a beautifully melancholic voice reminiscent of Lana Del Rey and Marina and The Diamonds at once - and that British accent makes it even more intriguing.

Bryan Dunn

Beards and plaid are in this year and it isn’t even November yet. Bryan Dunn's rock and roll band references the tradition of the great all American rock groups a la' Bruce Springsteen. I love old school rock and roll and I got the feeling Bryan Dunn does too, some shards of The Beatles burn brightly through his performance, which comes across as some kind of mixture of post modern folk/indie and rock.