Professor Murder Rides the Subway: A Forgotten Dance Punk EP From NYC's Mid-2000s Revival
A music writer highlights the 16-minute EP as an underrated artifact of the mid-aughts dance punk scene in New York.
What happened
A retrospective essay celebrated Professor Murder Rides the Subway, a brief EP by New York dance punk band Professor Murder. The writer, who recently rediscovered the album while reripping old CDs, describes it as a concentrated example of the dance punk aesthetic that dominated NYC's indie music venues around 2006. The EP features tracks built on disco stomp foundations with cheap synth blasts, shouted vocals, syncopated percussion, and throbbing bass, with drums functioning as a lead instrument alongside melodies kept deliberately quiet in the mix. The album is framed as a capsule of Brooklyn's mid-2000s sound and is available on Bandcamp and most major streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, and Qobuz.
Context
The essay situates Professor Murder within a larger dance punk revival of the era, which included headliners like LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture alongside lesser-known acts on the DFA label. While contemporary acts pursued bigger, more melodic textures, Professor Murder employed stripped-back arrangements that prioritized groove and danceability. The write-up implies the band remained obscure despite the author's belief that their track 'Free Stress Test' merited broader commercial success comparable to The Rapture's reach. The piece reflects on a specific moment in New York's underground music scene when dance-oriented indie music dominated weekend venue lineups.