Disparate elements of pop, glam, garage and punk come together in Tenterhooks’ sound.

Fronted by Lenny Zenith, Tenterhooks is one of few transgender-led bands.  Veteran bass player James Pertusi, multi-faceted guitarist Hiro Suzuki and powerhouse drummer Scott Campbell round out the band.  Tenterhooks’ 2013 debut gig at Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn was SRO, and attendees were incredulous that it was the band’s first show.  Their volatile, raw sets yielded propulsive indie pop with a punch.

Zenith began playing in New Orleans in his 20s, fronting several bands including RZA and Mink Bikini, and opening for major acts.

Throughout the 90s, Zenith and Pertusi were in NYC’s critically-acclaimed noise pop band Jenifer Convertible, whose releases – including 7″ single “Car Song/Co-Dependency,” produced by James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) and a CD entitled Wanna Drag?, produced by Wharton Tiers (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.) were well-received.

Recently profiled on Vice.com, Zenith will also be featured in the documentary film about the early New Orleans punk scene entitled Almost Ready.

Pertusi produced and engineered Tenterhooks’ debut EP at [the end] studios in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (Kaiser Chiefs, Dirty Projectors), and released in 2015, Meanwhile in Another Part of Town was Tenterhooks’ only release. Zenith has gone on to found Xyyx Records, a label that works to provide a platform for trans and nonbinary artists.

Friends. Bandmates. Lifers.

Worldsucks is the culmination of 20-plus years of friendship and musical kinship. Guitarist/vocalist Mark Scully and drummer/vocalist Nick D’Amore started out in the NJ Hardcore scene of the mid-to-late 90s. They joined forces in 1998 when Nick joined NME, a ragtag quartet of musical misfits within the scene.

In the three years since their debut, Worldsucks has only gotten more ferocious. Their second record, A Reckoning, was released at the outset of the pandemic in early 2020. It’s the result of a sustained creative burst wherein the band wrote its fastest and most furious songs to date, mirroring Mark and Nick’s increasing frustration with U.S. society and the world around them – with an ever-so-slight glint of hope.

Now, Worldsucks has turned its attention to a new enemy: Christmas. To commemorate the holidays in These Uncertain Times ^TM^, the band injected the traditional song “Must Be Santa” with some much-needed fury and angst. But, that wasn’t dark enough. The band reached new depths of evil with a different spin on “Must Be Santa” with the soon-to-be-classic “Must Be Satan.” Two sides of the same gold foil chocolate coin.

Metal Christmas to all, and to all eternal night!

Discography

John S. Hall of King Missile fame is back with You, Me and This Fuckin’ Guy (formerly King Missile IV), featuring Azalia Snail and Dan West of LoveyDove.

Adopting the persona of cranky, nature-loving poet This Fuckin’ Guy, Hall expresses wondrous appreciation for the beauty of the world around him, but doesn’t suffer fools.

The music created by Azalia Snail and Dan West is equally singular. Utilizing Snail’s trademark space vocals and vintage omnichords in conjunction with West’s arsenal of virtuous musicality, the duo creates the perfect cushion for Hall’s prickly repartee.

John S. Hall is the lyricist, vocalist and co-founder of legendary Atlantic and indie recording artists King Missile (“Detachable Penis.”) He’s a NYC favorite, performing spoken word and singing as a solo artist in several area musical projects including Unusual Squirrel, The Hat Cousins, The Lincoln Memorial and Sensation Play.

LoveyDove tour Europe regularly and are working on a third album. Azalia’s most recent solo album is Neon Resistance) and Dan’s latest is _d’Animal l’Ogic. West is a composer and arranger, music producer and mastering engineer.

Discography

Northeast Jersey quartet The 65’s have always embraced their high stress, high anxiety, chaotic environment, allowing the gridlocked cityscape to inform their aggressive blend of punk influenced rock & powerpop. A lean, authentic sound that exudes integrity, sitting somewhere between the Replacements and New York Dolls. 

Formed in 2008 as a side-project by Joseph O. Pugsley of The Dark Brothers, the first lineup of The 65’s consisted of Joe (guitar/vocals), John Steele (drums), Cindi Merklee (bass/vocals) and Daniel Smith (guitar/vocals), each bringing their own influences and musical pedigrees, releasing their acclaimed debut Strike Hard! on Dromedary Records in 2009. A video for the first single “Walk On Selfishly” came soon after, premiering on Magnet Magazine.

Their live performances made them a standout in the popular melting pot scene bubbling out of Maxwell’s in Hoboken, and they formed alliances with other local upstarts Miss Ohio and Galanos and began releasing under their own Pyrrhic Victory Recordings label. The band has gone through several lineup changes, most recently featuring Pugsley and Steele, along with guitarist Ed Roessler and bassist/vocalist Ryan Struck.

Drawing on years of experience and wide array of influences, it’s no wonder why their debut album, Strike Hard! was been described as “an amalgam of college-rock’s brightest moments”‚Äù” by Jim Testa in The Jersey Journal, a ‚”delightful mix of styles” by Magnet magazine and “affecting and impressive in equal measure” by Joe Wawrzyniak of Jersey Beat.