Last week the algorithm turned up Punk Mafia just as I was building the playlist for a whole lot of weekend driving. This was the first I heard of them, song’s called “Moving”. It’s solid dance punk in the vein of Viagra Boys, and the vocal reminded me of the Pusha T verse of the bizarre remix of Phoenix’s All Eyes on Us:

Angry lyrics, cutting-edge production and a hell of a hook. Turns out these guys have been releasing music for less than a year. This was the next track, “Big Deal” from August:

I thought I had them figured out. There’s a carefully crafted imperfection to the production, like early LCD Soundsystem. The punk rock attitude comes through loud and clear in the lyrics.

Then “Sober” came on, and it sounds like a killer emo pop-punk song:

So what can we find out about Punk Mafia? Not a whole lot. This piece in Indie Band Guru has sparse details, and sparse is better than nothing.

The band is based in NYC, and is made up of two longtime music producers who go by J Randy (M.O.B.) and Andrea Rullo (R-Low). Individually they have a lot of experience producing for household names. They released a four-track EP in March called Radio Silence, and have put out a steady stream of singles since. Every release is accompanied by one of those primary-colour drawings (and the band’s Instagram is full of them). The diversity in the music is likely a reflection of their experience producing artists in any and every genre. The songs include elements of electro, hop hop, classic rock and pop punk.

Here’s “Rock ‘n Roll Disco” from the Radio Silence EP:

The Indie Band Guru piece claims that there were 26 songs already produced, and that was eight months ago, so I’m sure we’ll see more music before too long. Regardless of the style, the attitude is sheer punk.

Follow along

Want to keep up?

There are a few ways to do that: find out what works for you

Have something to share?

Something you wrote or made? Something you just think more people should see?

I’ll read it.