I recently dug out my CDs and started reripping them all. I’ve found a few forgotten gems in there, but few hit harder for me than the beautifully concise Professor Murder Rides the Subway EP. There was a period of time in the mid-aughts in NYC where it seemed like every indie band wanted you to let loose, dance like no one was watching, and just have some damn fun. Few embodied that as much as New York dance punk band Professor Murder.
Professor Murder Rides the Subway is a forgotten slice of dance punk perfection. It’s basically mid-aughts Brooklyn in audio form. LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture were the biggest names of the dance punk revival. But there were also bands like Rahim, Liars, Dan Deacon, and countless lesser-known acts on DFA that you could see on any given weekend around NYC. And I spent a lot of time in those venues, shamelessly dancing my ass off to all of them.
There’s something about Professor Murder’s specific blend of cheap synth blasts, shouted vocal chants, busy syncopated percussion, and throbbing bass that perfectly captures the vibe of the NYC music scene circa 2006. At their heart, the tracks on the 16-minute EP are built around a simple disco stomp (save for the brief a cappella of “Pedigree”). They’re dressed up with cowbell and other tuned percussion elements to add complexity. But they’re never allowed to disrupt the groove.
While some of their contemporaries like LCD Soundsystem were chasing bigger, more melodic textures, Professor Murder trafficked in stripped-back arrangements where, arguably, the drums are the lead instrument. While there are hooks and melodies to grab on to, like the fuzzy bass on “Camron’s New Color (Part 3)”, they’re always a little quieter in the mix.
The EP is bookended with two songs that are basically the Platonic ideal of 2000’s dance punk: “Champion” and “Free Stress Test.” If there was any justice in the world, the latter would have catapulted the band to at least Rapture levels of success. I dare you to not at least nod your head along to the beat.
