NYC Scene Report – Car Astor, Macseal, & more

This week’s NYC Scene Report features an electro-pop gem from Car Astor, the column debut of indie pop-rock outfit Macseal, a breakup anthem from hip-hop soul songstress Corina Corina, and some “Hot Canyon Air” from synth-pop-rock duo paris_monster.

* Sometimes you hear a song for the first time and immediately know, “This one’s a banger.” It’s just that obvious. This happens to be the case with Car Astor’s latest single, “Girlfriend.”

The Long Island-based Car Astor, who was formerly known as SEE, explained the inspiration for the electro-pop gem, saying, “‘Girlfriend’ is about a very confusing emotional relationship I was caught in for this past year. I met someone, and we had a very obvious connection, but they were seeing someone else, so it got really messy. This song was written during an angry moment, so I’m really just trying to relay exactly how I felt, and to be as honest and straightforward as possible.”

She adds that the song, which was co-written by Kirsten Maxwell and produced with Walter Kazmier, is “the first song I’ve written from this angry emotion, and it’s also probably the most upbeat and dance-y song I’ve ever done!”

Car Astor will be performing at Mercury Lounge on December 23rd, and is currently prepping an EP for 2019. Check out the video for "Girlfriend," and hear why she’s an artist to get excited about.


* Blurring the lines between pop-rock, pop punk, and college rock, Long Island’s Macseal are a new discovery for the NYC Scene Report, and I’m happy I came across their music. The band has a great sound which can be heard on their latest single, “Sure Thing, Shelly.”

I’m not sure who Shelly is, but if she had any part of influencing the creation of the song, she is, at the very least, deserving of a thank you note.

“Sure Thing, Shelly” is off Macseal’s upcoming EP, Map It Out, which will be released on November 9th via 6131 Records, and you can check out the song right here.


* If you’ve ever attended one of Brooklyn-based hip-hop soul artist Corina Corina’s shows you’ve probably heard her sing “Toothbrush,” as the song has been her closing number for years. She hadn’t, however, formally released the song … until now. Not only that, she recently released a video for the song which features some amazing choreography.

Calling “Toothbrush” a “middle finger to the ex” anthem, she described the process for creating the video – which involved working with Brooklyn-based modern dance choreographer Nicole Assanti of Nikki and the Noise Dance Company – saying, “I just told Nicole about my vision – modern dancers in monochromatic outfits doing a lot of floor work in a large white studio.”

Assanti took it from there, and created a clip that expresses the song beautifully. Click play, and remember not to use your toothbrush if you ever do Corina Corina wrong (but why would you do Corina Corina wrong?).


* When you hear the name paris_monster you might initially imagine a zombie Paris Hilton scaring children in the street on a Halloween night like tonight … OK, maybe I’m the only person who would imagine that. Regardless, what you should think of is the NYC-based indie synth-pop-rock duo paris_monster.

The twosome of Josh Dion and Geoff Kraly recently released their latest single, “Hot Canyon Air,” and Dion explained the musical side of the song in a statement, saying, “The drums and bass-line were written together. They fit within one another. The riff has a certain tension, because I wanted the verse to release into the chorus. This propels the song forward and helps it build.”

“Hot Canyon Air” is off paris_monster’s upcoming album, Lamplight. Fans of the duo have been able to pick up the album at shows, but Lamplight’s national release won’t be until early 2019. Of course, you can check out “Hot Canyon Air” right here.


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