Here's a new video from a rootsy band we've been following for some time, Whale Bally - the song is 'Water Voices.'  You can see their energetic live show at Mercury on July 6.

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.

Brooklyn foursome Whale Belly kicked off 2013 right, with the release of their second album, “I Was Once a Bird,” on January 7. Singer Todd Bogin’s vocals that are reminiscent of a younger, rawer Van Morrison, but his band tends to experiment with more intricate arrangements, and an ubiquitous violin that brings to mind the sound of Camper Van Beethoven. Whale Belly’s songs have a definite sense of humor, but the lightheartedness of songs like “Selling Sh*t On Craiglist Just to Pay the Rent” or "Everything Causes Cancer" (streaming) still evokes genuine charm.  Devon Antonetti

This song was added to our SoundCloud playlist of the best emerging NYC folk artists - listen to it here.

The other night I saw this new folky band called Whale Belly at Glasslands and they put on a pretty impressive show. The band had around 9-10 people on stage and they had the entire place dancing and screaming and singing along and clapping between songs, it was really something that rarely happens in W'burg. Check them out if you have the opportunity, they'll be opening for Beach Fossils in Vermont and then will play RoCkwood Music hall on 10.01. - Doug Sevcik - (as posted in The Deli's Open Blog - post your band's entries, videos, and Mp3s here).