1.21 Gigawatts - a Brooklyn DIY magazine that did a great job of covering the scene's punky, garagey and psych emerging bands - is sadly closing and it will be gracing us one final time with their hosting skills come this weekend at Alphaville. With Deli favorites like Dead Stars, Haybaby, Dances, and 11 more taking the stage we can expect a weekend of great music and spectacular shows. On top of getting 14 amazing bands performing in two days, it’s all just $10. Insane, right? It is always with a heavy heart that we must say goodbye, but Gigawatts really knows how to go out with a bang (and how to give you more bang for your buck). So head on over to Alphaville this Saturday and Sunday for some memorable performances. Check out the playlist below to get a feeling of what you’ll be listening. - Adriana Ballester

The Due Diligence's new record, Are You Down?, is something of a throw back, taking the concept of revival a step further.  The songs on the album - with their gritty guitars, simple three chord structures, fun lyrics and charismatic attitude - seem to be almost fighting the current trend of taking influences from scattered pieces of music history, and just put you smack dab in the middle of 1960's garage rock era. Indeed, this is a sonic environment that suits lead singer Sir Isaac Diligence, who has a wonderful presence on the record, and has become somewhat of a character thanks to his wimsical, playful, feel-good attitude.

However, the band takes this outdatedness and uses it to its advantage, turning it into a comment about what's "cool," a word that - for better or worse - in recent years has been monopolized by our good old borogh of Brooklyn, where the group resides.  In a place that is so romanticized as a setting where you can be unique and "cool" in your own way, Sir Isaac Diligence and The Due Diligence have found a way to kick all that bullshit out the window, and simultaneously celebrate it in a way that's not contrived nor pretentious, but mostly just... fun.  We recommended hitting up their album release party at Shea Stadium tomorrow (8/07) with support from Zula, Slonk Donkerson, and Pinegrove.  -Jake Saunders

Before The Due Diligence began their set this past weekend at the sweaty Hot 97.4 warehouse space, their extremely eccentric front-person, Sir Isaac Diligence (a master of of audience inclusion) handed out mini tambourines to everyone in the audience, immediately forming a connection.  The Due Diligence sounds like they're straight out of the 1960's-70's, fusing classic rock with RnB influences including (but not limited to) Lou Reed and James Brown.  Sir Isaac Diligence rejects the overly-pretentious atmosphere that runs rampant within Brooklyn's scene through his eccentric presence, and general ability to let loose and not worry about being the hippest cat at the show.  At the same time he made it perfectly clear how much fun it is to feel cool with the band's latest single, entitled (you guessed it) "Cool", during which Sir Isaac asked the audience to close their eyes and think about the first girl or guy who ever made them feel cool.  Audience participation is something hard to pull off in this self conscious city, but The Due Diligence definitely pulled it off, especially after their last song during which Isaac threw himself into the crowd, handed his guitar to Nick Kivlen of Sunflower Bean (who shredded for the last few measures of the song) and ran off to go buy donuts for everyone.  You can watch their Dunkin Donuts-featuring video (it's a pun…Due Diligence…Dunkin Donuts….now you get it) for "Cool" below.  The video also features members of Deli favorites Ava Luna stuffing themselves with donuts. - Jake Saunders 

Looking back, The Due Diligence's debut album 'I Will Wreck Your Life' seems like a delicate mise en bouche for what the band had in store, a raw power (so to speak) they unleashed as they let their music flow harsh, unpolished on the five tracks of their follow-up EP 'Let It Be Already', which they released mid-July. Harsh perhaps, but no lo-fi soup, none of that 'noise for the sake of noise'; instead, a jam-like tease of a rock'n'roll record, casually swaying over soul and folk undertones, one to get you hooked at ease on the screeching guitars or the dandy, hiccupy rhythm of a boogie, just rough enough to strike below the waist; after all, rock'n'roll... it's about getting the crowds off, isn't it? Speaking of which, any new shows coming our way guys? - Tracy Mamoun