Browsing Tag

NYC Punk

The Knottie Boys released the ultimate punk-rock chagin soundtrack with ‘Sadsquatch’

Posted on 16 January 2023

Taken from their garagey punk-rock EP, A Face Fulla Dirt, the standout single, Sadsquatch, from The Knottie Boys is a melodically hook-rife exposition of reclaimed shame. By allowing the chagrin-deep lyrics to unravel as a series of confessions rooted in quirky indignity, Sadsquatch projects intimate disclosures in the same breath as lamenting about public knowledge of them.

It was an ingeniously bold move from the New York-hailing fourpiece, who have released two EPs and a studio album since forming in 2019. By pulling influence from CBGB headliners to folk-punk to the percussive fills of marching bands to the acts who made the 2007 Warped Tour infamous, the bitterly sweet powerhouse has carved out a niche and filled it to precision.

If Neutral Milk Hotel formed as a punk-rock outfit, they’d boast the same appeal as The Knottie Boys, who have exactly what it takes to be one of the premier NYC punk bands in 2023. Watch this space before they pour ennuitic resonance into it.

A Face Fulla Dirt is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

New Rock City – Da Ratman!: Bop-Worthy Dark Punk Rock from NYC with Scuzz

Posted on 5 December 2021
Da Ratman! - Single by New Rock City

With a scuzzy punk rock viciousness that could only have ever come from NYC, New Rock City’s latest single, Da Ratman!, is a blackened bop-worthy hit that could single-handedly and simultaneously restart the New Romantic and Horror Punk scenes.

With no two singles from the duo ever the same, they keep their fanbase guessing what revivalist tones they will deliver next. Based on Da Ratman! It’s safe to say that they know just how to pull different stylistic elements together to energetically complement each other. It’s as hooky as any Misfits track, jangly as Johnny Marr’s licks and comes with devilishly macabre undertones in the same vein as The Creepshow. Da Ratman! is a firecracker of a track that no one will regret hitting play on.

Da Datman! Is now available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Trash n Privilege brought 80s hardcore punk back to the airwaves with The Pain I Like the Most.

Posted on 16 April 2021

Trash n Privilege reintroduced hardcore punk to the airwaves with their anthemically-charged EP, One More Round, featuring the standout stormer, ‘The Pain I Like the Most’. The intensity of the instrumental aggression is enough to give Melvins a run for their money.

The American punk outfit fronted by Steve Shepard takes plenty of influence from the Californian and DC hardcore scenes in the 80s. Lyrically, they’re even more of a visceral force to be reckoned with. The Pain I Like the Most is packed with the abrasive emotions that usually come with negative connotations, but Trash n Privilege proved how necessary they are for endurance.

With their curveball melodic breakdown that leads to a wall of punk discord before the outro in their nuanced track, Trash n Privilege succeeded in affirming that they’re one to watch. Anyone who likes to vent through music that doesn’t buy into the ironically toxic woke culture which manifests on Twitter through very different kinds of breakdowns will want them on their radar.

The Pain I Like the Most is available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast