There’s no denying that Toronto and Hamilton have their share of hot spots to hit up when the sun goes down. Even if it isn’t about a specific location, the new video by Hamilton jam-rockers Flamingo Bay shows that sometimes it’s cool to just walk around the city at night and pretend you’re in a music video. The 5-minute film captures guitarist Dillon Henningson through Go Pro footage walking (and cabbing) around, sampling the good stuff from Toronto and Hamilton’s nightlife. A couple of landmarks from each city make an appearance (Honest Ed’s, The Baltimore house) as well as everyone’s favourite default beer of choice (“Old Style” Pilsner). It’s about as straight forward of a video as you can get, but it coincides perfectly with the mid-tempo jam about heart broken dudes and people changing. Check it out below! - Chris PJ D

Deep summer is a good time for music in Texas. That weird auburn heat that comes down, part the blonde of summer and part the brunette of fall means you can actually get out about in the summer sun and take walks and drives and hang on patios and listen to some goddamned music without wondering if you’re gonna die if you don’t stay perfectly, freakishly hydrated. Change is comin’, and I dunno, maybe I’m alone in this, but it feels like a time when certain tracks and types of music fit the general mood of the earth that don’t always fit at the same time. It’s a pretty nice vibe.

Speakin’ of, here’s what we’ve got for you to vibe to for the end of the month’s Artist of the Month poll, and why we think they’re the shit. This poll is ending quite soon, tomorrow in fact, but we thought we’d give a little last bit of edge to the competition by dropping it all right here for you to gander at, compare, and choose your own personal victor. Put your ears under the tap and let it flow in, and then take that imbibed energy and convert it directly into a vote upon the voting block at your right, if you have not yet and are so inclined. We’ve got a couple early-fall appropriate electronic rock bands, and an introspective hip-hop act appropriate for that change-is-coming feeling, and an indie band that will soundtrack those last golden dyin’ days of the summer just perfectly for ya, so let’s dig in to this month’s selections.

Boss Battle

Boss Battle has just one track available online right now, but they are a band in the process of dropping hard onto the scene. They’ve only been around since 2014, but this first single “Ride” (which just officially dropped 8/31/2015, but which has been kickin’ around the net for a while) is some hard pounding electronic-heavy rock good times. As they call it, the “megapop dual lead vocals” dominate and drive this track that’s got a Mindless Self Indulgence pop/hard/electronic/weird thing goin’, but which is more trying to nail the good pop song instead of just weirding people out. Well-thought of and known Ohm Recording Facility producer Chico Jones provides one half of said vocals, giving this band his 28 years of recording experience and a notoriety boost off the bat, and a slew of recent shows and the looming release of EP “Attack Time” get Boss Battle their nod for this edition of the Artist of the Month poll.

The Nimbus

The hype on The Nimbus is a little early, but well deserved- the band is on the eve of a 7” releasing on September 17 at a show at one of Austin’s best and most underrated clubs, The North Door on East 6th and I-35, but we thought we’d nominate them now because of just how excited we are for more from this band. The Nimbus’ own take on electronics drenched rock music is stylistically, in turn, steeped in the 80s new wave and gothic styles, with clear dramatic vocals over layers and layers of melancholy electronics, heavy thudding beats and droning guitars. The upcoming 7’ and supporting shows along with the just-so-enticing teaser video released for the new record get The Nimbus some deep support here at The Deli, and the early but definitely warranted Artist of the Month nomination. Check out the teaser below.

Tone Royal

We profiled Tone Royal a few weeks ago just after the release of his damn solid debut album Rushing Greatness, and since even that short time ago, it seems like this man’s star has risen considerably. Right now he’s up for not just our Artist of the Month, but also is promoting himself in the San Antonio Music Awards poll and is climbing the charts at Reverb Nation. He was also recently featured in a My San Antonio article on emerging twenty-something’s from the area, and he’s got a big show lined up at The Korova (8/19). He was also set to be a feature at Weird City Hip-Hop Fest until its quite damn depressing cancelation about nine hours before this posting, but despite that sadness (that’s really a blow to the whole area’s hip-hop scene, and not just Tone Royal), this young man is making waves with the smart delivery on his new album, which you can read more about in our recent review here, and which you can listen to in full below.

The Villas

It’s pretty hard to make an impact with just a few songs available, but like Boss Battle above, The Villas have done just that with three lovely tracks from upcoming record Long Player. The Villas do a thing that’s very rooted in the traditional indie rock formula of the 90s and 2000s with little electronics, a punk-gone-nicer feel and big and/or surfy guitar chords over some twangy bass and beats that change-up pretty frequently. Vocals that equally snarl and smile and lyrics like stand-out track Julie’s that say “It seems to me/You’re the apple on the tree/Waiting for the sun/It’s my time” that hearken back to indie rock’s roots in approachable suburban-era good if a little cynical feelings make these three tracks stand up as some of the best Austin indie of the year, and make this young band quite intriguing indeed.

Lounge-rock, or, a haunting, roomy version of pop, with plenty of groove and emotion is what Veins is pumping out. With the Moon Garden LP, this offshoot from blues rock is a dreamy romp through some beautiful melodies and heartbreaking lyrics. Lead singer Hannah has soul to spare, and the whole band ebbs and flows with the emotion from the songs encased within. The garage-pop of Diggin' In My Grave turns into a stripped down 50's ballad, complete with falsetto back ups and a tambourine. The first band-included song, Runaway Girl, brings a late night dancer with some real mean lead lines and a heavy groove. Chops aplenty from every band member. The disc is chock-full of great songs, including Nightmare Gone To Waste, one of the heavier tunes included in the mix, with a great brooding, ambient melody guitar, and an even spookier sounding lead guitar plucking and scraping away at the notes. The album winds down to close with a sparse, solo piano performance, with an orchestrated string accompaniment, sounding like it was torn right from a Lynch-ish or Tarantino-esque climax. All in all, the dream-pop of Veins Moon Garden is a great piece of art, keep up-to-date with their facebook for shows in your area. - Cody Wright

Influenced by the roots of the country without getting tangled in them, Pat Maloney blends and bashes his influences into something new, bringing us the freshness of his newest album Repotting. From his spanish-shuffle, to his anti-corporate acoustic groove, Pat brings an honest approach and some real talent on every facet of the music. From the rhythm up to the melody, the auxiliary to the forefront, every part of his songs are essential; no excess, no fat, just lean and mean. Gracing us with just the slightest hint of gravel in his voice, adds a real sincerity to his music, lyrics and overall completeness of the album. The future's looking bright for this man! Go and check him out Aug 28 in Mahtay Cafe in St Catherines, and at Relish in Toronto Aug 30th.- Cody Wright

Austin quartet Wonderbitch has been getting crowds and critics pumped about their brand of music since SXSW, which is not surprising since the indie rock outfit’s music is the equivalent of a swanky post-punk 3-piece suit fitted to perfection then adorned with psychedelic cufflinks and new wave attitude. In fact, they were the Deli’s Artist of the Month for July for their impressive EP, ‘WBlovesyou”- six tracks of snarky pop rock released earlier in the year in the vain of bands such as The Killers and Neon Trees.

Wonderbitch tends to build tracks around a philosophy that energetic upbeat music can be crafted just as artistically and meticulously as their drearier post-prog and alt-rock contemporaries. Songs on the EP range from the Genesis version 2.0 sounding ‘Little Tiger’, to songs like ‘Josanna ‘, which summons up nostalgia of The Clash. The band plays with an infectious energy that jolts the senses, and this factor keeps the music rolling along easily from song to song. The talent the group possesses is obvious, from the groove inducing rhythm section of Evan Wade and Corey Fitzgerald Spears to the new wave crooning of vocalist Alex Chod and the licks of guitarist Colton Hardin — this is a band on the rise. 

You can checkout Wonderbitch's new EP below as well as the first music video from said EP, and you can catch the boys performing at Cheer Up Charlie’s in Austin on Aug. 28 and at Spider House on Sept. 16, and check back with The Deli for the latest news on the group.

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Tavon Perkins

@tavonperkins