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.
