12 Songs: Best of N.Y.C.
Half a century after the heyday of the CBGB scene and the golden age of punk rock, the same DIY ethos that led to the genesis of counterculture icons like Television, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and The Patti Smith Group is alive and thriving in New York City. The proof lies in one man cottage industries like Oliver Ackermann, who since 2007 has recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered all six A Place to Bury Strangers releases on his own, all while running Death by Audio — one of the most innovative guitar effects company of the 21st century — from a basement in Queens. Meanwhile, prolific Brooklyn staples like Surfbort and The Men continue to churn out high quality homemade releases, keeping the post-hardcore demographic satisfied with their ferocious and white-knuckled approach to the classic punk formula. Needless to say, New York’s current collective of DIY heroes continuously manages to raise the bar set by the founding fathers of punk rock some 50-odd years ago. Here’s a brief sampler of New York’s flourishing underground, compiled from eleven of the city’s most exciting and original artists. —Jackson Todd
