NYC Bands Putting “Punk” Back in Post-Punk
In a world of political turmoil and strife, music can be an escape. It can also serve as the soundtrack to a revolution.
Punk was created in reaction to the bloated music of the 1970s, with big production, soaring keyboards, and jazz-infused time signatures.
For punk, the message came first, whether it was the raw and ugly emotions of living in a society normalizing institutional power, or whether it was a direct reaction to political news of the day. Punk’s individualism was inevitably tied to the zeitgeist.
Punk quickly developed into hardcore, post-punk, and took journeys into electronic music via industrial and techno. All the while, it was about raw emotion.
Today’s post-punk acts are no different. They have a lot to say and a lot of different ways to say it.
Lathe of Heaven
Lathe of Heaven in a Brooklyn based post-punk outfit on Sacred Bones records. On their first album, Bound by Naked Skies, they mixed elements of goth and punk into something close to what the french term as “cold Oi”.
On their second album, Aurora, they’ve returned with a clear message against the warmongers in power, all the while fixated on storytelling. They use sci-fi imagery and soundscapes to surround their driving beats.
The vocals hit strike like lightning from the floating ethereal clouds of the music. They bring punk ethos, punk energy, punk rawness to contemporary post-punk.
Lip Critic
Lip Critic is a band with unmatched energy.
With two drummers, electronics, and intense vocals, they bring a unique punk energy to the thriving New York scene.
In true punk fashion, they’ll play packed out shows in laundromats, wrestling rings, and anywhere they can plug in their instruments.
Their intense performances have become notorious and their confrontational and exciting album “Theft World” brings as much energy as their live performances promise.
MIDNIGHTCHOIR
In the spirit of 70s punk acts like Crass, MIDNIGHTCHOIR started as a collaboration between two artists in a mutual aid organization. Patrick Bobilin ran for office with leftist revolutionary ideals after leading BLM groups and Sarah Simon brings her background in psychology to a band that’s driven as much by their emotions as their philosophy.
MIDNIGHTCHOIR’s recent album DEBTORS DISCO is about the ways love, politics, the economy, and institutional power create a world that’s hard to break free from. With soundscapes spanning synthpop, industrial, classic post-punk, and EBM, they sprinkle sardonic lyrics over driving beats.
Bobilin hits then stage with the kind of proselytizing crooner energy seen in artists like Nick Cave and Dave Gahan. Simon bangs on electronic percussion like a military drummer while singing soaring harmonies.
MIDNIGHTCHOIR lives out their punk ethos while hoping we dance away our troubles.
Public Circuit
Public Circuit is a young trio based in Brooklyn who take electronic music seriously. Nelson Fisher and singer Ethan Biamont bring intense punk energy while drummer Sean Holloway plays like a human drum machine.
The energy of their shows, both onstage and in the crowd, is unmatched.
Their songs bring together darkwave elements, post-punk, and new wave with a splash of electro dance rock of the indie sleaze era.
Their stint of opening for LCD Soundsystem during their annual residence begins to make sense within the first seconds they hit the stage. There are few better live acts in NYC today.
As a bonus, check out Fisher’s side project Spookystack, for more electronic, dance-driven energy.
NUXX
NUXX (formerly NUXX VOMICA) has all of the energy of a classic punk rock front woman, all while shouting over some of the heaviest beats in contemporary electronic music.
Her work ethic is punk, as is her while onstage energy.
She’s toured with some of the best acts in dark dance music and seeing her live performance, you can see why. While she’s relocated to Philadelphia, she plays in NYC often enough to make this list.
Seeing NUXX, expect to be blown away by the lights and sounds, leaving only one place to go: the merch table.
Light Asylum
Shannon Funchess embodies the punk ethos.
From her DIY spirit, to her work as an activist and an artist, her sound is unique and impossible to ignore.
From the stage, she belts like the greatest singers, while also singing anthemic songs about life, love, politics, and strife.
Her long awaited follow-up to 2012’s self-titled album has been teased at nearly every performance since she returned to the stage a few years ago. Her festival performances are intense and legendary, but find her at an intimate setting to be truly blown away.