NYC Scene Report – Lucky Chops, Indo Dhans, & more


This week’s NYC Scene Report features an incredible, retro video game inspired clip from Lucky Chops, something dreamy from experimental pop artist Indo Dhans, singer-songwriter Kevin Devine stripping down for a new release, and some fresh art pop from FRAME.

* In honor of their Facebook page hitting the one million fan mark, NYC brass band Lucky Chops released what is, unequivocally, one of the coolest music videos in recent memory.

The clip is for their song “Temple of Boom,” which is off of their Walter E.P., and it’s done completely in the style of an old school 8-bit NES game.

With inspirations ranging from Super Mario Brothers, to Pitfall, and moments that remind me of some of Adventure Island and Mega Man’s most frustrating levels, “Temple of Boom” is an easy nominee for video of the year. Check it out!


* The musical road Brooklyn, by way of San Jose, artist Indo Dhans has been on continues to be a long and winding one. With roots as a jazz trombonist, he tried his hand at classical composition, as well as theater, before experimenting with singing.

The experiment has paid off, as he’s set to release a full length experimental pop album, titled Dreaming On Another Coast, on October 27th.

He describes the project, saying, “It was inspired by a few relationships, living in Brooklyn with no money, and growing up in San Jose playing ska shows at a nickel arcade and a roller rink. After years (spent) getting a masters in classical composition, I wanted to create a sound contrary to the dense world of classical music. My sound is most inspired by ska and video game music combined with compositional techniques learned in school. Lyrically the songs are pretty autobiographical.”

Check out the single “Been Dreaming” to get your introduction to Indo Dhans.


* Sometimes a song, or an album, calls for an acoustic version. After a recent tour, NYC singer-songwriter Kevin Devine came to this realization about his 2016 album, Instigator.

“Part according to plan, and part in reaction to circumstances beyond our control blowing that plan up, I ended up doing nearly as much touring solo as we did full-band on Instigator, which, in its original presentation, was mostly a pretty full-on fuzzy power-pop record,” he explained in a statement. “It’s always fun and challenging figuring out ways to present the songs in each format so they feel equally compelling. With Instigator, I found the songs really felt like they made sense both ways, and ended up demanding an alternate presentation to highlight different strengths. It was, as always, a treat tackling that alongside Chris Bracco, my longest-standing creative collaborator, responsible here for production, mixing, and art design.”

The stripped down version of Instigator will be released as an album titled We Are Who We’ve Always Been on October 20th. Don’t want to wait? You can check out the single “I Was Alive Back Then” right here.


* There’s no blueprint for how, when, where, or why inspiration can strike. For Brooklyn-based art pop artist FRAME (aka Caitlin Frame), it happened while on a trip (the traveling kind, not the drug kind).

“I went cross country with a friend’s band a few years ago, which handed me a lot of time to think about … time and space, and how it was affecting my relationship,” she explains, “The idea that an object could be moved or changed by another separate object in another location fascinated me, and it felt very applicable to my situation at the time.”

This became the inspiration for FRAME’s single “Actions at a Distance,” which is the second single from her upcoming debut LP, State of Mind, due out October 27th.

Give it a listen, and get a vision of the picture inside this FRAME. 


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

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