New York continues to churn out relevant punk bands, and the destructive-yet-danceable A.K.A.s (Are Everywhere!) continue the city's prolific lineage. Released in 2005, the band's debut album, White Doves & Smoking Guns is rife with adolescent tension and mandatory anger/passion. Shout-singing their way through the usual grievances (boredom, impatience, restlessness, social politics), The A.K.A.'s rip through each track as if it were a personal manifesto against the world, but channeling just enough melody into their hooks to come across as anthemic as opposed to argumentative.

Bassist Justin Perry is The A.K.A.s' visceral energy source, balancing fun with function. With an almost hard rock approach, Perry brings a metal thickness to the open-throttle riffing, which works in old school in tandem with the Farfisa keyboards, a throwback in sound and style to early new wave punk artists like Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson.

Band(s): The A.K.A's
Gear Used: SVT-CL , SVT-810E  
 
 

Website: www.myspace.com/theakas