NYC Scene Report – Pavo Pavo, Dan Francia, & more

This week’s NYC Scene Report features indie pop band Pavo Pavo staying “Close To Your Ego,” indie rock artist Dan Francia looking to “Come Back To Life,” hip-hop artist Headsnack joining forces with an old friend on “Back From Intermission,” and New Jersey rockers Garcia Peoples making listeners “Feel So Great.”

* Brooklyn-based indie pop band Pavo Pavo will be releasing their sophomore album, Mystery Hour, this Friday, January 25th, and the latest single off the project is the gorgeous “Close To Your Ego.”

Mystery Hour was written and recorded while the Pavo Pavo duo of Oliver Hill and Eliza Bagg were going through a breakup as a couple, but staying together as a band. The content is about navigating those murky waters, especially when the wounds of a romantic breakup are still fresh.

Neil Sedaka once told us breaking up is hard to do, but after one listen to Pavo Pavo’s “Close To Your Ego,” and Bagg’s dreamy vocals, you might be surprised to find that a breakup can lead to something beautiful.


* Dan Francia is familiar to many for his work as a bassist with a myriad of indie rock bands in Brooklyn’s DIY scene. The spotlight, however, is about to shine directly on him, with his full length solo debut, Come Back To Life, due out this Friday, January 25th, via Exploding In Sound Records.

For the project, Francia has enlisted many of his friends from the scene, with a whopping 37 guests on the album.

The content of the album deals with not being happy, but pushing through, and going on regardless. For Francia, having all those guests on the record is an example of how that works. “That's how you feel better,” he explains, “you hang out, you call your family and friends.”

He adds, “The two ‘songs’ where no guests play with me are probably the most disturbing on the record. That's what it's like being alone sometimes.”

Check out the title track, which features a cacophony of instruments vying for your ears as the song reaches its conclusion.


* If you were involved in NYC’s indie hip-hop scene in the early 2000s there’s a pretty good chance the name Regenerated Headpiece rings a bell. The trio developed a nice following that included none other than Public Enemy legend Chuck D, who personally asked RHP to open for PE for a major show in the city.

Many folks have a fondness for that era of boom-bap beats and raw raps, and if you're one of those people I have good news – Regenerated Headpiece emcee Headsnack’s latest single, “Back From Intermission,” features his former RHP partner in rhyme, Shred Lexicon!

The song is off Headsnack’s latest album, Secret Handshake, and you can check out the video for “Back From Intermission” – and enjoy some classic RHP vibes – right here.


* Garcia Peoples are a rock band hailing from East Rutherford, NJ, and their latest single will make you “Feel So Great” (hey, if the New York Giants and the New York Jets can call East Rutherford home, I can slip a band from there into the NYC Scene Report).

“Feel So Great” is the first single off Garcia Peoples’ upcoming album, Natural Facts, due out March 29th, and with guitar solos and a classic rock vibe, the song lives up to its title, as it literally feels so great.

The band just wrapped up a tour with Howlin’ Rain, and will be hitting the road again from February 26th through March 3rd, joined by Grateful Shred.

Check out “Feels So Great,” and rock out with Garcia Peoples.


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