Have you ever seen a punk band with a piano and saxophone?
Libby Quinn, the five-piece Long Island, New York, punk band, does this, and more in their wonderful attempt at pushing musical limits. The five-member band made up of Josh Boucicaut (vocals and sax), Tyler Baron (guitar), Steve Salerno (drums), Mario Hoi (bass), and Tim Matishek (guitar and piano), display excellent chemistry on stage with one another, executing a zestful and exuberant set.
I had the pleasure of seeing them recently for their Baby's All Right show, and the handful of times I’ve watched them, I'm never prepared for what's to come. Libby Quinn consistently provides the grooviest, thrashiest, headbanging, cathartic punk set, offering something new to the New York punk scene.
Libby Quinn's stage presence adds to their "expect the unexpected" aspect. At their latest show, they came out wearing solar punk outfits, made by a friend of theirs, and frontman Boucicaut wrapped in the American flag with Ice Spice's face on it. This was one of the first times the entire band wore an eccentric outfit to perform, unifying their look while maintaining their uniqueness. These animated outfits are not new to the band, as Boucicaut usually changes into his stage look, from blazers to jumpsuits. One of the first times I saw them, he was holding a book that said "The Book of Mormon", while singing his song prophetically, as all of them simultaneously leaned into a stage look, brilliantly consolidating their image while complimenting their erratic setlists.
Their sets reel viewers into this euphoric trance as each song perfectly blends. There are moments where the audience is made to believe the song has finished, and as each member slows themselves down, you are again engulfed, this time with them playing louder and more hectic than before, making your heartbeat faster and adding on adrenaline. The audience is brought into the dynamic live sets mentally and physically as Boucicaut tends to come into the audience, either joining or starting a mosh pit. Through transitions between songs, Libby Quinn seamlessly hypnotizes the audience into forgetting that time exists.
My favorite songs on the setlist were their two most recently released singles, "Bob" and "Jesus in Tokyo", because you never know whether to headbang, dance, mosh, or watch the spectacle that occurs on stage. From Baron thrashing to Boucicaut jumping around on stage and bumping into the other members, to Hoi and Matishek grooving and moving to the beat, and finally, Salerno shredding the drums.
They ended their set with an unreleased song, "Fracture", starting slower and more cathartic, shifting away from their usual sound. Each member came in slowly and increasingly got louder until it ended with an absolute bang, leaving everyone stunned and wishing it did not end.
Listening to their discography, you can hear the evolution in their music from their first single, "Split," and EP, Bite Me, employing a traditional punk rock sound with a quickening pace. In 2020, they started releasing more songs, such as "Truest Gift," that left the punk sound and implemented similar beats to create an indie rock sound. In recent singles, "Bob" and "Jesus in Tokyo," they have left those indie rock sounds and added in components of noise rock and punk sound with the use of synth sounds from the saxophone and piano and through the use of electronic noises. The balance between their works encompasses the diversity in their sound throughout the years.
Libby Quinn has impressively found their image and sound, not limiting themselves to the title of a punk band and being almost unidentifiable, pushing and reframing what “punk” looks and sounds like, enforcing the definition of punk even more, and being unapologetic about it.
Written by Veronica Anaya
Photography by Jill Boyatsis