Local favorites ManDancing announced earlier this week that they will be rereleasing their debut album Everyone Else on Take This to Heart Records, marking a significant step forward. One of the first bands covered on N.J. Racket, it’s been a privilege to watch the band grow and develop for almost two years now and more so to see the fruits of their labor to finally pay off. In the past few days, I got to catch up with Stephen Gerard and Ben Petty to talk about everything that’s been happening with the band, where they’ve been, and where they’re going.
Years ago, back around the time I was first just starting to scratch the surface of the local scene, I caught a random Friday night show at New Brunswick’s Court Tavern that included a young band called Monterey. Later that night I got caught up talking with the band’s drummer, Matt DeBenedetti and he invited my buddy and I to what would be the first real New Brunswick basement show I ever went to, at a place called the Bomb Shelter, where they were playing with other locals American Lions and The Blithedale Romance.
Well folks, looks like miracles do come true.
This one comes in the form of the trippy “Miracle Grow” music video from Spowder, off their April release, Health Palm. Spowder’s one of the local DIY bands that’s been creating a ton of buzz in the past year having released an absolute killer album on both State Champion Records and Sniffling Indie Kids, recently announced they will be playing with the Screaming Females at Monty Hall for the second straight year, were one of the headlining bands at the Second Annual North Jersey Indie Rock Festival, and now approach the close of 2017 with this video for their most hard hitting track. Check it out below…
Well, the Second Annual North Jersey Indie Rock Festival is rapidly approaching so I wanted to be sure to take the time to actually speak with a few of the artists that are lined up to be performing and since there has been so much focus on the festival’s organizers, Sniffling Indie Kids and Mint 400, why not take the opportunity to spotlight one of the festival newcomers, Désir Decir, a Jersey City band on Killing Horse Records.
State Champion Records has bolstered their already impressive lineup with the addition of Glazer, longtime stalwarts of the New Brunswick DIY scene. The band has been described as anything from post-pop to grunge, post hardcore to newgaze, which, if such contrasting descriptions mean anything at all, should speak to the truly original sound they have created.
The time has come to announce the first group of bands for The North Jersey Indie Rock Festival set for September 23 at Cathedral Hall in Jersey City. We have already given you the two sponsors for the event, Jonathan LeVine Projects and, your’s truly, N.J. Racket. Now, we present the lineup of bands from, festival co-founder, Sniffling Indie Kids:
