Friday night, I travelled out to a quiet street in Bushwick to see MiniBoone at Fort Useless. After hearing nothing but good things about the band, the name settled into my consciousness enough to trek out to the wilds served only by the J/M/Z line.
The five-piece band is a loud blast of raucous energy, straight out of the new wave tradition. They combine the furious energy of punk with a devoted commitment to melody and giving every song a strong melodic hook.
I tend to connect more with bands that feature some amount of multi-instrumentalism — where the group’s sonic palette changes because members pick up different instruments, or different members sing lead on certain songs. And Miniboone does this, Each of the three guitar/keyboard plays sings lead on different songs and they all shift around from one instrument to the other, also adding in extra percussion and melodica at appropriate times.

A couple words about Fort Useless, a new-ish DIY party space in Bushwick. Run by Jeremiah from Stereoactive NYC, Fort Useless is an intimate space that is a welcoming party environment, rather than a club. Bands play through a PA system with only two main speakers, no monitors on the floor, not on a stage. And playing in this kind of environment gives the bands more of a connection with the audience and a looser energy.
Miniboone’s latest album, Big Changes is out now on Drug Front Records
Here’s their video for Cool Kids Cut Out Of the Heart Itself

MiniBoone: Cool Kids Cut Out of the Heart Itself Music Video from MiniBoone on Vimeo.