NYC Scene Report – Jess Yaffa, Joy Buzzer, & Everstill

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Jess Yaffa releasing her thoughts that keep her up at night, Joy Buzzer lamenting a love for “Simone,” and Everstill giving us a “Front Row Seat.”

* Indie pop-rock artist Jess Yaffa released her latest album, Thoughts That Keep Me Up At Night earlier this month, and it includes the standout single “Just For One Night.”

There’s a wonderful energy to “Just One Night” that’s led by a guitar riff that right from the start feels like a long lit fuse that you know is leading to an explosion, and right when you’re most ready join in that explosion – Boom – the song reaches its apex.

The video for the song is collection of footage Yaffa had on her phone from nights out in the city with friends (including a night at the legendary venue Arlene’s Grocery). “It’s really an ode to them, our memories, and this moment in our lives,” Yaffa said in a statement, adding that the album as a whole “highlights the unique yet relatable experiences of growing up.”

Click play on “Just One Night,” and spend a night out with Jess Yaffa.

* Joy Buzzer, who are one of NYC’s foremost purveyors of power pop, have released a new single, and it’s an ode to a woman named “Simone.”

Sadly, according to the band, the feelings toward Simone are not reciprocated. “It’s a heartbreaking story of isolation and unrequited love,” they said in a statement, “blasted out by drums and wires at 500 mph.”

I think we’ve all been lovelorn at some point, and if you’re going to experience that type of heartache, a boisterously bouncy pop-rock song is the perfect way to deal with it.

Heck, “Simone” almost makes me wish I was feeling that way about someone right now!

* Brooklyn-based alt-rock band Everstill are readying the release of their first new project in four years, an EP titled WHAT IS ENOUGH, which is due out May 30th.

The second single from the EP gives listeners a “Front Row Seat” to what frontwoman Sara Aridi and crew have been up to.

A song that both musically, and lyrically captures the essence of the roller-coaster ride of a breakup, “Front Row Seat” oscillates between moments of intensity, and moments of calm resignation, before the ultimate climax of the finality of the breakup, and the outburst of emotion that comes with that.

So kick up your feet, and enjoy your “Front Row Seat” to the return of Everstill.

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