NYC Scene Report – Kiki Kramer, Kira Metcalf, & Crumb

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Kiki Kramer taking a “Shot In The Dark,” Kira Metcalf giving Lessons in Majestic Humiliation, and Crumb capturing the essence of their live show.

* Not every relationship is meant to last, and that’s the basis for NYC-based indie pop artist Kiki Kramer’s recently released single “Shot In The Dark.”

Based on the idea of knowingly being someone’s rebound, Kiki discussed the inspiration for the song in a statement, saying, “I’d hooked up with a guy who had freshly broken up with his girlfriend. It was a dumb decision, and I was frustrated. You know it’s not going to work, but you give it a shot in the dark anyway. You’re just taking whatever you can get sexually, and romantically, because you need somebody there.”

She added, “The guy actually heard it, and he knew it was about him right away!”

We’ll be hearing a lot more from Kiki in the coming year, as she has a rollout of singles planned for 2026, with her debut LP due out in the summer. In the meantime, click play on the video for “Shot In The Dark,” where Kiki combines her dual loves of creepy and cute, finding herself caught in her own web, while getting uncomfortably cozy (at least to me) with some tarantulas.

* This past week Kira Metcalf released her latest album, Lessons in Majestic Humiliation, and she’s feeling “Good” … well, sort of.

The most recent single from the album, Kira explained “Good” in a statement, saying the song “is about the imposter-syndrome of falling in love – trepidatiously excited while waiting for them to discover you’re secretly an insufferable little trash heap.”

First off, here’s to everyone who can admit they have landfill qualities about them. Second, there’s nothing imposter about Kira Metcalf, and when you click play on “Good” you’ll hear that she’s most definitely the real thing.

* NYC-based band Crumb has been around for a decade, and over those years they’ve spent their fair share of time on the road. That said, no band can be everywhere, and it just so happens that if you haven’t caught them live, they’ve found a way to rectify that – by releasing a live album.

Aptly titled Live!, the album came out last week, and in a joint statement the band said, “We’re happy to release our first live album – Live! – a collection of songs from our past ten years as a band, recorded at the last three shows of our 2024 AMAMA tour. The album art recreates the AMAMA visual landscape through a collage of photos and moments from that tour.”

Check out the single “Cracking – Live,” which has a shoegaze / dreampop vibe, and will put you in a supremely pleasant mood. I know it did for me.

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