Ready for a little taste of good old Americana pie? Patrons at the Housing Works Bookstore and Café in New York City were on Dec. 9, when Brooklyn collective Jones Street Station invaded the used book retailer for a festive performance of folk/country/indie music. The show was packed to the venue’s wooden corners with hipsters who couldn’t help but sway to the beat of the group’s rustic instruments and harmonious synchronized vocals. Fans, shows, unyielding instrumentals and charming songwriting. What more could a band ask for? - Read Cecilia Martinez interview with the band here.

There’s definitely an excess of lo-fi “bedroom pop” acts floating around the Brooklyn music scene lately, but Small Black stands out from the rest for their impeccable songwriting skills and attention to sonic detail. The band’s songs drip hazy, summertime warmth, wrapped up in delicate layers of tape-hiss, samples, drum machine plunks and sanguine synth, all accompanied by laid-back and infectious vocals. The band is Josh Kolenik and Ryan Heyner, and live it consists of Pitchfork.tv contributors Juan Pieczanski and Jeff Curtin, who have since joined the band. They released a self-titled EP in October--which was fittingly recorded in an uncle’s Long Island attic--and have since garnered a lot of critical praise. From the Jesus & Mary Chain-channeling “Despicable Dogs” to the watery depths of the washed-out “Bad Lover,” Small Black delivers perfect noise-pop to brighten the winter months or keep pace with the summer. - Read Bill Dvorak's interview with the band here. (video by Yoonha Park)

Brahms (who are fortuately NOT an orchestral alt-rock band inspired by the classic German composer) might be new to the scene, but they seem to have their act together, with a series of great shows planned opening for great bands (including Telepathe, Boy Crisis, Body Language, Javelin and Lemonade!) in very cool venues (Glasslands twice, Santos and Mercury within about two months...) At a closer look we do see that Cale Parks is one of the band members - actually... at an even closer look this is exactly the same live band that plays with Cale Parks! Probably Eric Lyle Lodwick project? Anyway, it looks like these guys are getting quite a lot of buzz. Electro-pop music lovers might want to head to Glasslands on January 22 to check them out.

Hailing from varied locales, including Seoul and Reykjavik, Sunny Kim (vocals), Trevor Dunn (bass, vocals), Ches Smith (drums), Hilmar Jensson (guitar), and Erik Deutsch (keyboards) have relocated to Brooklyn to form Mad Love. The quintet bestows mad love to unconventional piano melodies, crunching guitars, and floating vocals on the dozen tracks of their recently released “White With Foam.” Striking and strong, “Absence and Noise” melts into catching bass lines which underscore the evocative interplay between Kim and Dunn’s airy voices. Howling vocals take over the metal riffs and quick tempo of “Dirty,” while “Art of Denial" settles into a grungy groove overlain by ghostly keyboards. “White With Foam” is not as light and frothy as the title would suggest, instead the cut is heavy with dark distortion and uncanny unpredictability. - Meijin Bruttomesso

The Volunteers are a Williamsburg based rock'n'roll party band that's been around for quite some time and has entertained many NYC party people. They recently changed their name to Bones Howell + the Volunteers (which may become just Bones Howell in the future) and released a new EP with a party at Don Pedros on January 8. Their music is recommended for those who like tho rock in a light hearted kind of way. Enjoy this fun video from some time ago.