Nationally acclaimed post-punkers Priests take their sound to unfamiliar territory on their latest release: The Seduction of Kansas. After making several album of the year lists with their 2017 release, Nothing Feels Natural, Priests work hard on Kansas to not only dive deeper into their aesthetics, but also to push their sound in a new direction.

Eschewing the comparitively subdued sound found on Natural's title track, The Seduction of Kansas heightens the group's punk aesthetics while also utilizing the band's proclivity for unique instrumentation. Moving from a straight-up snarling punk opener on “Jesus' Son”, the album enters somewhat experimental territory on its title track. Vaguely politically charged, the track oscillates between discordant verses and a synth infused, harmonious repitition of the line, “I'm the one who loves you.” The result is at once attention grabbing and musically impactful.

Heavy throughout the release are explorations of political subjects with a depth that only DC residents would get into. Perhaps the best example is the track “Good Time Charlie”. Inspired by the 2007 drama Charlie Wilson's War, which used 1980's US foreign policy in Afghanistan as its subject matter, the track contains lyrical nuggets like:

Like all great pornography, this story is touching
It's somethin' that I wanna see
(Black and gold tile, champagne flute)
Good time Charlie
(Sauna water dirtying the birthday suits)

After “Charlie” comes an an energetic semi-spoken word track “68 Screen”, and a bass heavy Riot Grrrl number “Control Freak”, as the group careens gracefully towards the album's conclusion.

Making a follow up album to a widely acclaimed debut release is always difficult, and fans and critics tend to expect the band to explore new territory while also staying true to their original sound. On this score, and many others, Priests succeeds with flying colors.

-Mike Dranove

Refreshingly original but still grounded in traditional post-punk sounds, Priests’ album “Nothing Feels Natural” is a commendable addition to the DC punk canon.  Like good post-punkers, Priests aren’t afraid to keep the sound sparse on songs like “Nothing Feels Natural” and “Leila 20”, letting the Sleater-Kinney vocals shine through over the rhythm section’s low Joy Division thing.  Other songs take a different instrumental approach, with the songs “JJ” and “Suck” even incorporating a piano and saxophone.  In total the band does a rather good job of bringing something new to post-punk’s trademark alienation.

Check out Priest's new album "Nothing Feels Natural" now available on Bandcamp

Last night was a raucous good time at the Black Cat's backstage. Kicking off the packed show was one of DC's finest punk outfits, Priests. Composed entirely of masters of their respective musical outputs, this quartet blasts out a fiery, unapologetic rock set, lined with angst, political diatribe, and some seriously pent-up energy, but still distinctive with their stage presence and use of atmospheric guitar work in the latter half of their act. Of particular note was their drummer's tireless performance, railing out sick playing without missing a beat, easily swinging multiple times per second. Make sure to catch them live when they return to DC after this tour ends.

Performing after Priests was Montreal-based Ought, a genre-defying fourpiece that pulls some its sensibilities from the likes of The Killers and The Strokes, but still rejects sounding like anyone else for more than a moment. Blending some angst-ridden lyrics, space rock guitar solos and keys, and slick basslines providing a solid backbeat. The frontman really captivated the audience's attention with occasional and perfectly awkward dance moves and a voice that cuts right in between Julian Casablancas and Bono, delivered in a laconic, deadpan overture. -Jonathan Goodwin

Deli Nation,

Our Year End Poll for Emerging DC Area Artists was - as usual - a painstaking (and somewhat excruciating) process, but we pulled it of with remarkable flair! Kudos to GEMS (pictured) for winning it!

First, we let the local bands submit their music (for free), and got our Deli editors to pick the nominees. Then we polled a list of 15+ DC Area scene experts (our jury, list at the bottom) and asked them to nominate 3 more bands of their choice each. Then we polled our writers, then we polled our readers. We tried to keep things open for each single genre, from Indie Rock to Roots Music to Hip Hop.

If you are a geek interested in all the subtelties related to how this poll works, you can read its rules here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music the DC Area produced in the year 2013, this list is all you need. Enjoy!

BEST OF 2013 POLL FOR EMERGING DC AREA ARTISTS ******* FINAL RESULTS *******

ARTIST J W R OS TOT   1 GEMS 11   0.009   11.009 2 Margot MacDonald 1 1 1.5 2 5.5 3 Priests 5   0.002   5.002 4 Walk the Plank 3   2   5 5 Young Summer 4   0.068   4.068 6 Drop Electric 3 1 0.006   4.006 7 Joy Buttons 4   0.003   4.003 8 The Last Bison 3   1   4 9 Kindlewood     0.105 3 3.105 10 The Cowards Choir 3   0.052   3.052 11  Elikeh 3   0.021   3.021 12 Widows Watch 3   0.015   3.015 13 Sweet Leda 3   0.01   3.01 14  Drugs Of Faith 3   0.009   3.009 15  Iris Divine 3   0.007   3.007   Young Rapids 3   0.007   3.007 17 Protect U 3   0.004   3.004 18 Diamond Youth 3   0.003   3.003 19 The Walking Sticks 3   0.002   3.002   Pree 3   0.002   3.002 21 Dead Professional 3   0.001   3.001   Highway Cross 3   0.001   3.001 23  The Capital Hearings 3   0   3   The Chance 3   0   3 25  The Sea Life   1 0.004 1.5 2.504 26 Pasadena 2   0.141   2.141 27 Black Clouds 2   0.063   2.063 28 Derek Evry and His Misanthropes 2   0.047   2.047 29 True Head 2   0.011   2.011 30  Honor By August 2   0.005   2.005 31  Redline Graffiti 2   0.004   2.004 32 Cherry Tree Band 2   0.003   2.003   The Mean Season 2   0.003   2.003   The Raised By Wolves 1   0.003 1 2.003 35 Sunwolf 2   0.002   2.002 36 The Grand Candy 2   0.001   2.001   Phil Ade 2   0.001   2.001   PLOY 2   0.001   2.001 39 Old Lines 2   0   2   Primitivity 2   0   2   Technophobia 2   0   2 42 Bumpin' Uglies 1   0.5   1.5 43 Bonnie Rash 1   0.046   1.046 44 Dance For the Dying 1   0.019   1.019   Pleasure Curses     0.019 1 1.019 46 Me and Karen     0.0013 1 1.013 47 Typefighter 1   0.012   1.012 48 The Mellish     0.009 1 1.009 49 Caz & The Day Laborers 1   0.005   1.005   J. Roddy Walston and the Business 1   0.005   1.005 50 Heavy Breathing 1   0.002   1.002   Midnight Eye 1   0.002   1.002   Ravagers 1   0.002   1.002   Smoke Green 1   0.002   1.002 55 Black Checker 1   0.001   1.001 Legend: J = Jurors, W = Deli Writers, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

List of Jurors: Jon Meyers (The Vinyl District), Boo Valdez (Rams Head Baltimore), Brandon Linton (Rams Head Baltimore), Kisha Shorter (9:30 Club), Stephanie Williams (DC Music Download), Chris Buresh (DCHeavy Metal.com), Paul Vodra (Hometown Sounds), Neal Becton (Som Records), Christopher Naoum (Listen Local First DC), David Hintz (DC Rock Live), Jennifer Vinson (The Hamilton/DC Setlist), Matty (The Sidebar), Don Zientara (Inner Ear Studios), Dawn Reed (Deli), Renee Schapiro (9:30 Club), Vincent Brown (Freedom Village), Jimmy Rhodes (The Fillmore), Catherine (showlistdc), Ora Nwabueze (The Dunes), Staff (Velvet Lounge).

Hope you'll find some awesome new artists you weren't aware of!

The Deli's Staff