Deli Nation,

Our most faithful readers know that January, here at The Deli, is the month of our Year End Polls for Emerging Artists, a painstaking survey we run in each of our local branches to identify all the most promising musical acts across all genres (last year's result can be found here).

To give this poll more credibility, a good portion of the nominees are picked by a jury of local scene-makers (mostly comprised of venue booking agents) who get to nominate their three favorite local artists of the past year. But to involve all possible artists - even the most unknown, in December we had an open submission form that allowed any act to submit to the poll. These entries were ranked by The Deli's own branch editors, and this is what this post is about.

Since we always get hundreds of submissions for the NYC year end poll, we organize the open submission results by genre, and this year we'll start with the ALT ROCK/POWER POP category, two genres that share a rather muscular guitar based sound.

As always, we wish we could let more artists through to the next stage, but unfortunately we have to put a limit to the bands that qualify (we already have too many!). Here we go then: 

ALT ROCK/POWER POP 
Total submissions in this category: 37

Jurors: Michelle Bacon (Deli KC), Roxy Morrison (Deli Toronto) Paolo De Gregorio (Deli NYC).

Artists Qualified to the next stage (i.e. the Readers' Poll, starting around 01.15):

1. STRNGRS - 8.33

2. Sons of an Illustrious Father - 8

3. Late Cambrian - 7.83

Honorable Mentions (scores above 6.5) in order of high score:
j and the 9s, Millsted, Courtesy Tier, Kung Fu Crimewave, Sunny Gang, Sepoy, The Freaky Baby Daddies, Kevin McWha Steele, Mind Over Time, Eli Whitney & The Sound Machine, The Como Brothers Band, Mals Totem, Saturday Drive.

Stay tuned for more results, and then for the final poll - this is just the beginning of a month long process!

The Deli's Saff

NYC's soulful and blues-minded 3-piece rock & roll outfit, STRNGRS, are everything you love about Jack White without the massive ego. Their most recent riff-heavy sophomore EP titled 'Magic Boy' is a passionate, solo-filled, harmonica-wailing musical mayhem. Listen below to closing track 'Outta My Mind' below, an up-and-down ride that climaxes in a bluesy sexplosion, kind of like the last half of The Black Keys' song 'Little Black Submarine'. They're set to headline Mercury Lounge on 8/29 with Clam. - Michael Haskoor (@Tweetskoor)

Tonight, the three piece blusey thrash-rock outfit STRNGRS start a July residency at Pianos, with featured shows on the 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th. Their 2013 release “5 Dynamic New Tunes!” emphasized a hyper blues energy that drew comparisons to the White Stripes/Black Keys axis. Stand-out tracks like “Subtle Reminder” channeled Jack’s vocal inflections, while “Settle Me Down” went heavier with an angular start/stop progression that leaned more towards early Led Zepplin. 2014’s “Magic Boy” showed the band dialing down its frantic pace on the slow burn intensity of “Running Dry.” While that track emphasizes a bluesman’s harrowing wail, “17 Letters” (streaming) finds the band streamlining their sound into a pop-friendly two and a half minutes. “Never Can Tell” smolders with a “Voodoo Child” vibe, while “Outta My Mind” bursts out on a harmonica enhanced rave up over a rabid psychotic beat. - Dave Cromwell

A band committed to piercing eardrums, shattering bones and making music fans love the blues all over again, Brooklyn trio STRNGRS seem to take after Jack White and The Raconteurs but with darker turns and heavier pits. They’re set to play good ole Arlene’s Grocery this Friday (4/25) and plan on letting it all out, after being hard at work on new tunes.  Listen below to the wailing guitar and harmonica solos in their uptempo blues-rock track “Outta My Mind,” from their last EP titled "Magic Boy" and keep an ear to the ground for their next release, coming soon. – Michael Haskoor (@Tweetskoor) 

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: you can't trust math. For brawling blues rock trio STRNGRS new single '17 Letters,' this is exactly what's been making life so difficult for them lately. The track counts the ways that singer Carson Kelley's been having trouble recently, from writing letters to digging graves. Shouted over shit kicking rhythms that should satisfy the pent-up needs of any White Stripes fan... or anyone else who doesn't trust math either. Check out the track below and see them when they play with the Von Shakes as part of their free February residency all Wednesdays in February at Spike Hill, on Feb 26th. - Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)