Yet another poll hath gone, and the people have spoken: Wildfires is your Austin Deli Artist of the Month, coming in hard with a big push in the last few days that rocketed them straight into first. We've got a pretty good idea where Wildfires' roaring race to the win got its fuel, as this dreamy and deceptively-named indie outfit had a recent EP release at Cheer Up Charlies on March 11. Wildfires has transitioned over the years from a more acoustic-heavy American roots sound to poppy indie with a hazey shoegaze bent, which is what you'll get from single "Sad Wolverine" off the new EP and found below. The digital release of the album is said to be available soon, and we think it's a pretty cool coincidence that the band was able to time its release to match so perfectly with the weather, as this airy indiepop entry goes quite lovely with the light spring weather we've got in Austin right now. We suggest making Wildfires your spring soundtrack for all the hours of driving about looking for parking you're about to do this fest, so get listenin' and happy goddamn SX, y'all.

A band made up of two ladies both named Katie sounds like a project in cute, right? Don't be fooled. Local minimal electronic/lyrical R&B act BLKKATHY builds up layers of blissful vocal lines and clicks them into place with the right beats and ace production. It’s music made for pulling up old wounds, soothing, and dancing. The duo released an EP, “Dem Bones”, with Deep Ellum Records and have extra tracks streaming on their website and soundcloud. Their recordings are filled with well-crafted lyrics amongst synths and inventive textures. BLKKATHY will be representing NYC’s surge in electronic innovation this week at SXSW. - Leora Mandel

Public Access T.V. - a band that many consider a potential "next big NYC thing" because of their young age and vague resemblance to The Strokes both in the attitude and songwriting departments - just announced the release of their debut "Public Access" EP  on Grizzly Bear Chris Taylor's label Terrible Records. They took the opportunity to unveil single "Metropolis," streaming below, a melodic mid tempo that quotes a series of classic pop masters from David Bowie to The Beatles. The EP will be out this spring, just after a US tour that will include a series of shows in Austin for the SXSW festival.

In the 90's, Seattle produced two REALLY bluesy bands that went on to become two of the most popular acts from the grunge wave: Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. In today's Brooklyn-centered rediscovery of that west coast sound, we haven't heard a lot of bluesy overtones - until Highly Suspect came on our radar. This young group (who made our latest list of Best Emerging NYC Bands) has the chops to pull off this kind of heavyness through a punchy interplay between their tight power trio set up and Johnny Stevens' powerful but expressive lead vocals. Their latest single "Lydia" (streaming) is getting a lot of attention, the band is going to bring it live to the Austin crowds at next week's SXSW Festival.

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

Ladies and Gents,

The SXSW 2015 issue of The Deli can be now read online here. 10k copies of this baby will flood the streets of Austin during SXSW Music Week.

It will be a busy time for us as usual, with the madness of the Stompbox Exhibit in full swing, joined this year by a sister expo called Synth Space!

So yeah... if you are attracted to nerds, come and see us at the SXSW Music Gear Expo inside the Austin Convention Center from March 19 to March 21 (11am-6pm)!

We'll also have a small live showcase, here are the details:

THE DELI'S SXSW 2015 SHOWCASE

FACEBOOK EVENT
WHEN: Friday 03.20, 4pm
WHERE: FLatstock Stage (Austin Convention Center)

4.00 Prinze George (DC Area)
4.45 Lazyeyes (Brooklyn, NY)
5.30 Roger Sellers (Austin)

See y'all in Austin!

The Deli's Staff