NYC Scene Report – Big Girl, Gamblers, & Pageant Girls

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Big Girl being a “DIY GOD,” Gamblers making an offer to be your Boogeyman, and Pageant Girls being fed up with “Last Chance Johnny.”

* Big Girl are back, and they’re ready to be elevated to God status, “DIY GOD” that is.

The first single from their upcoming EP, DYE, “DIY GOD” has some fantastic ‘90s alternative vibes, and I feel like it would be a favorite of Liz Phair, and Alanis Morissette. In fact, I could imagine the two of them, and Big Girl founder Kaitlin Pelkey sharing drinks, and musical recommendations at a dimly lit bar.

If the video for “DIY GOD” is any indicator, Pelkey will be dragging a briefcase with her to that meet up. In the clip, which was co-directed, and edited by Pelkey, her briefcase is her ball and chain, as she walks through the city.

Is this a metaphor for how being a DIY artist often means being dragged down by all the non-artistic business aspects of music? I think it might be, and I also think the closing of the song will have audiences singing along at shows whenever Big Girl performs. With that in mind, perhaps in the end all the hard work is worth the reward.

* Fresh off signing with Curators, and last year’s appearance on my year-end must-hear albums list, Long Island based favorites Gamblers have released their first single of 2025, a pop-rock gem titled “I’ll Be Your Boogeyman.”

Not to be confused with KC and The Sunshine Band’s “I’m Your Boogie Man,” when I asked Gamblers founder and frontman Michael McManus about the new song, he said, “‘I’ll Be Your Boogeyman’ is really just about the concept of a person, could be an ex, could be anyone from your past really, that you can’t seem to shake for whatever reason. They stay with you in the background of your life even though you may never see ,or hear from them.”

The video, which takes place in part at a local bowling alley, stars Adea Frances (frontwoman of fellow Long Island band Atomic Life) and Dani Blum, and has a classic horror vibe to it. Don’t worry, though, there’s plenty of boogie to “I’ll Be Your Boogeyman,” as Gamblers help us all dance away the ghosts of our past.

* I don’t know who the Johnny being referenced is in Pageant Girls’ recently released single “Last Chance Johnny,” but he seems like a real d*ck.

A pop-rock song about being frustrated with a significant other who continues to fail as a boyfriend, but is given chance after chance to be better, “Last Chance Johnny” has some fun with the frustration, as it features musical influences that range from ‘80s bands like The Go-Go’s, to modern indie rock.

The video stars half a dozen of the band’s friends from the scene, with each exhibiting the maddening feeling of wanting someone while also wanting to break up with them, and move on.

An indie earworm, once you hear “Last Chance Johnny” there’s a pretty good chance the chorus will be in your head for hours … but you’ll be totally OK with that!

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