BEST MUSIC POLL
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BOSTON
Best Punk Act in Boston
Razors In The Night
The past decade has seen the myth of working-class Boston explode onto the national consciousness — be it through Dennis Lehane's novels or Martin Scorsese's films. Boston punk has been a similarly popular export, with its peculiarly trad take on disheveled anti-authority, and Razors in the Night have the attitude and the songs to represent their city. Vocalist Troy Schoeller would be an intimidating neck-vein exploder if he weren't fronting such a fun band, with every glottal scream backed by anthemic gang shouts and catchy guitar melodies. Although Razors might seem somewhat reined in by their worship of early '80s UK Oi! punk (their name itself is a song by street-punk legends Blitz), they find ways to mix up their sound, whether it's the whiplash fury of humorous thrashers like "Hipster Holocaust" or catchy fist-pumper anthems like "Carry On."
Runners-up
2. Dead Cats Dead Rats
3. Kominas
4. Refuse Resist
by DANIEL BROCKMAN