Described as "funky and frightening, intimate and anthemic" (PopMatters), "hip modern pop with a strong psychedelic streak" (Good Times) and "trippy new wave" with songs that "move with a seething, aggressive kind of dream logic" (The Chicago Reader), The New Up combines polished studio chops, hyper-intelligent compositions and inspired musicianship in their riveting live performances. With lyrics such as "lonely machinery distracts us from our lives," there's a sense of giddy desperation in their sound that feels downright prophetic. They observe that "pollution in the sky provides an amazing sunset" while grieving for Mother Nature on the run. That they do all this while churning out the kind of rock that used to rattle the walls at CBGB is what truly impresses.

The New Up's new album, Palace of Industrial Hope, reinvigorates funk the way the Talking Heads once did, swirling it with the psychedelic songcraft of Secret Machines, the open-hearted soar of My Morning Jacket and the hand-clapping shuffle of Brazilian Girls and Queens of the Stone Age. Front and center is ES Pitcher's intoxicatingly liquid voice, which recalls the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde and vintage Siouxsie and The Banshees. Her singing has been called a mix of "seduction and menace with gothic grace" (Isthmus) and "the cornerstone of the dark sensuality running through this promising San Francisco band" (ebong).