Numb Again by Crush Fund

Crush Fund are a three piece punk group from Brooklyn New York - Wendy Kya (Guitar, vocals, production), Nora Knox (Drums and Vocals) and July Brown (Bass) - explosive punk rock sound that collides hardcore punk energy with post-genre noise pop production. It doesn't take long scrolling through their collective spotify inspiration playlist littered with bands like Death Grips, Guerilla Toss, G.L.O.S.S., and Screaming Females to get a sense of the ethos binding their sound and friendship together, “taking note from dance-punk beats, hardcore/grunge riffs, and angular indie rock” and ending up with “a busy tug of war between our distinct flavors of feminine rage.” More simply, as they put it, Crush Fund is “Some fucked up pop songs, from some girls trying not to take themselves so seriously.”

Kya – a Texan and the only non native New Yorker in the band – and Knox met in SUNY Purchase in 2016, and have played together and solo in various punk bands and projects ever since. In December 2021, Nora and Kya decided to start Crush Fund, recruiting July to play bass just a few months later and quickly making a splash in their local DIY scene. Bonding over a shared love of “off kilter punk, mosh pits, dueling vocals, and groovy beats'', the band developed a natural chemistry rooted in the interplay between Kya and Knox as vocalists, Brown and Knox as a rhythm section, and Kya’s demented guitar and synth sounds taking the whole thing to an exciting new frontier. With production that mirrors the bratty overdriven autotuned vocals of artists like Black Dresses and 100 Gecs paired with thrashy punk instrumentation littered with digital noise - Crush Fund have quickly began drawing a local following for the way they blend DIY punk energy, forward thinking post-genre production, and clever songwriting that reflects the lives of 3 trans women but never veers into the didactically political. They have something to say, but they’re mostly just here to get the pit going and get some frustration out.


Along with up and coming queercore / transcore punk groups like DITZ, Ekko Astral, and Lambrini Girls, Crush Fund are bringing new musical ideas and a sense of urgency to an otherwise stale genre – and making some noise in the process. Following their debut 3 song EP Drama in 2022 - the band is releasing a number of additional one off singles including “Numb Again” and “Faker'' (originally released as a live version as part of a T4tapes Basement session compilation). “Numb Again” in particular, with its serrated edge synthesizers blaring and a digi-punk energy that feels a bit like Machinegirl meets Lightning Bolt – signals the way forward for the band as they gear up to begin recording a debut LP.

-Jacqueline Codiga

dance-punk for the deranged
nora / kya / sean / july

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