The Witnesses

Hailing from the same New York environs that spawned the Strokes, the longtime friends Oakley Munson on vocals and guitar, Bonnie Bloomgarden at piano and organ, Will Scott on drums, and Darian Zahedi handling guitar wrote material in summer 2001 that evolved into the Witnesses. The quartet sequestered itself on an upstate New York farm throughout those warm months before shifting operations to Bushwick in Brooklyn to lay down tracks. Bassist Kenan Gunduz rounded out the lineup, allowing the Witnesses to take the stage for the first time at Luna Lounge that September.

Steer clear of tying them to the garage-rock resurgence of the early 2000s, because the Witnesses traffic in pure, no-holds-barred rock & roll. Their affection for the Rolling Stones, New York Dolls, Television, and Chuck Berry fuels a raw magnetism that stands apart from most contemporary rock acts. The band issued its self-titled EP in December 2002.