.Leftöver Crack

Though the storied New York punk band Leftöver Crack never signed to a major label, the group developed a cult following after it debuted in the late Nineties with its self-released demo, Shoot the Kids at School. Like the project’s title suggests, the group’s peppy-yet-gritty ska-punk discography is snarky and contrarian. Lead singer Scott Sturgeon, aka Stza, has used his lyrics to call out capitalism, police brutality, racism, and homophobia, and his social criticisms are as relevant today as they were more than ten years ago when Leftöver Crack released most of its material. On the track “Gay Rude Boys Unite” from its 2001 album, Mediocre Generica, for instance, he criticizes people who purport to be anti-racist but have homophobic beliefs. The track was definitely ahead of its time, as the concept of intersectionality — or seeing the overlap between different kinds of marginalized people’s struggles — has only entered into mainstream feminist discourse recently. So come on, leave the closet, and on your way out grab a bat/’Cause there’s a battle to be fought, and the prize is fucking fat, he growls. Leftöver Crack performs at 924 Gilman on November 28 with Theories, Rats in the Wall, and Heartless Folk.