Following last year’s Banana Split EP with Promiseland, NYC punks Gnarcissists are gearing up for a big year with their latest song “Broadway Baby.”
Made with longtime Strokes producer Gus Oberg and Johnny T, Gnarcissists clearly channel a sense of place, tapping into the rich history of their hometown punk scene but never limiting themselves to one region. “Picking up Butthole Surfer’s Locust Abortion Technician as a kid and convincing my mom it was circus music because of the Gacy-esque clown art was a bit serendipitous,” vocalist Matthew Orr told Alt Citizen in 2018. Since then, they’ve only gotten more organized, releasing several EPs and recording their debut full-length underneath a bar in the East Village of Manhattan last summer. “Broadway Baby” is the first taste, stretching their uncompromising raw, mischievous sound into bouncy Ramones territory.
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For the accompanying video, Gnarcissists take an unexpected direction. Orr pitched a screenplay he’d been writing about the NYC “Cop Shot” reward program to visual artist kingcon2k11 (Connor Clarke), who was intrigued. Together, they worked on creating an AI video, spending countless hours blending animation with real life — and ultimately testing the boundaries of a divisive form of storytelling.
Check out the video for “Broadway Baby” below.
Dan Krupin