NYC Scene Report – Diet Cig, The Jukebox Romantics, & more

This week’s NYC Scene Report features a new video for an older song by indie rockers Diet Cig, a pop-punk tune from The Jukebox Romantics, Zuli giving listeners something with a retro rock n roll vibe, and indie singer-songwriter Justin Morelli singing one of his Bed Time Stories.

* Diet Cig have become one of the most buzzed about bands in NYC. So much so, in fact, that when Pitchfork gave a negative review to the band’s most recent album, Swear I’m Good At This, it set off a tweet-storm of support for the NY-based duo.

I first became enamored with Diet Cig a little over two years ago, which is when I first featured them here. This is why I’m especially happy to see their 2015 Over Easy EP get an official release – digital, vinyl, and cassette – via Father/Daughter Records.

The duo made a video for the single “Harvard,” and it features roller derby … well, almost … and some overaggressive parenting.

Diet Cig are on tour overseas through October 28th, but you can check out “Harvard” right here.


* When I featured The Jukebox Romantics here a few months ago it was for their blistering punk rock song “Breaking Rad.” Their latest, “Buried With Children," shows the band also has a classic pop punk side. When you listen to the song you can easily imagine you’re back in the ‘90s – and who doesn’t want to be back in the ‘90s?

“Buried With Children” is off of the band’s upcoming, as of yet untitled, album, due out this fall via Paper + Plastick Records.

Total road warriors, The Jukebox Romantics – who are all about “fun, heartfelt, sweaty punk rock” – celebrated finishing up a recent tour by going on another one. You can catch them live through November 4th, and you can check out the video for “Buried With Children” right here.


* Like your indie rock to have a retro rock n roll vibe? Then you’ll definitely want to check out “Kubadiver" which is the latest from Zuli. It starts out like a singer-songwriter song, but really ramps up around 1:20 in, with a sound reminiscent of some of the retro rock acts that broke into the mainstream in the early millennium.

“Kubadiver” is off of Zuli’s upcoming album, Human Freakout Mountain, which is due out October 20th via Swoom City Music. According to Zuli, the content of the album stems from his return to Long Island after time on the road with various bands, and his subsequent reconnecting with friends while writing his debut EP, 2015’s Supernatural Voodoo.

“I felt the songs all connected to this period in life where everything was in limbo,” he explains. “You are still connected to your childhood, but you need to make decisions that will potentially affect the outcome of your entire life.”

Check out “Kubadiver” to hear what he’s talking about.


* NYC-based singer-songwriter Justin Morelli has experienced success in a way very few have – with a remix to one of his songs blowing up before releasing the original version.

As the story goes, Morelli wrote and recorded “Stay All Night” for his debut EP, Bed Time Stories, back in 2016. It landed in the hands of Latin producer Boy Wonder, and his protege Papi Wilo, who conceived of a reggaeton remix that found its way to radio. Listeners fell in love with the reggaeton version of song, the video for which has racked up over two million views on YouTube.

Last month, Morelli finally released the original version of “Stay All Night” as part of a unique bi-weekly song release rollout of all seven tracks from Bed Time Stories.

Give Morelli’s original version of the song a spin, and hear what caught Boy Wonder and Papi Wilo’s attention.


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