NYC Scene Report – DAWNS, King Deco, & more

This week's NYC Scene Report features something "Cool" from indie pop band DAWNS, a lip reading challenge from pop singer-songwriter King Deco, indie pop artist RÉN going "Into The Unknown," and punk rockers Rebelmatic giving their assessment of the current political climate in America, with "Everything is a Mess."

* Trying to be cool is like giving yourself a nickname, it just doesn't work. That point is nestled into indie pop band DAWNS' new single, "Cool."

Hailing from a small town just outside of NYC, DAWNS frontman Joshua Perna says of “Cool,” "The song is this sort of tongue-in-cheek lament about trying to catch up with culture when you're stuck in a small town, so we really tried to capture that feeling in the video ... What we ended up with is an oddly funny video where we poke fun at ourselves for taking ourselves too seriously, because what's less cool than trying to be cool?"

"Cool" is off of DAWNS' upcoming EP, YOUTH//1, due out November 11th. After repeated listens to the single, I’ve added YOUTH//1 to my "must hear" list.


* If you're a frequent reader of this column, you probably already know I've been a fan of King Deco since I first met her a few years ago in the city. She recently released a new single, "Read My Lips," and it's a fantastic indie pop jam with '90s R&B influences.

"Read My Lips" would fit in perfectly in both modern playlists, and alongside classics that were spun at our high school dances (or at least my high school dances). In fact, after hearing "Read My Lips" I wonder if King Deco would be up for diving into a little New Jack Swing. C'mon King Deco, whaddaya say?


* Brooklyn-based indie pop artist RÉN is making a brave trek "Into The Unknown." “Into The Unknown” being the title of her latest single.

The song, which musically follows RÉN's self-description in her Twitter bio, where she states, "I create music to move your soul... and hips and stuff," is dedicated to letting go of everything you have no control over, and being unafraid of the unknown you’ll be diving into when you do this.

The pre-chrous advises, "Relax my friend, you've got plenty of time / Sit back and let your mind unwind," so unwind with RÉN, and take a trip "Into The Unknown."


* I’m closing out this week’s column by cranking things up a notch. Actually, I’m cranking things up to eleven, with punk rockers Rebelmatic, whose latest, "Everything is a Mess," is a stinging commentary on the current political climate in America.

How stinging, you may ask? The song ends with the line, "You want to buy death, they'll sell it for cheap," repeated multiple times.

This is blistering, political, punk rock in the classic NYC punk rock vein. Rebelmatic could have existed in any era of the genre, we just happen to be blessed that they exist in ours.


For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.