That involves both good bands and good venues; Hoffman namechecks the Sinkhole and Platypus as newer hubs for punk performances, as well as longstanding options such as Off Broadway, Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room and CBGB. “Almost every day of the week, you could find a punk show if you’re really looking for it in St. Louis,” he says.
Hoffman says the COVID-era shutdown of most local venues injected the scene with new oxygen once bars reopened and people finally felt safe in crowded indoor spaces. “I think a lot of people realized, Oh, this is a big part of our lives that we’re just completely missing out on now and that can be taken away at any moment,” he says. “People became much more passionate about, ‘I want to play shows. I need to go to more shows.’”
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Now Hoffman is celebrating the scene he loves with a new CD compilation. 314 Punk: Tough Scene, Tough City features 18 bands playing in a scene that spans emo to punk rock to hardcore. If you ask Hoffman, the biggest challenge was narrowing the roster of bands to fit into a single CD. But never fear: He’s tilted the CD “volume 1” for a reason. “I already have some other bands I want to ask for the next one,” he says.
An Expert’s Picks: Asked to highlight one song and one band from the compilation, Hoffman groans. “I don’t feel like I can!” He soon comes around. For a song, he chooses “Alabaster,” which is from a new band called Interpersonal. “They kind of blur the lines between a little bit of pop punk and a little bit of hardcore, and kind of that post-hardcore sound,” he says. “It’s melodic, but it’s also heavy, and sometimes it’s fast, sometimes it’s slow. I really like their stuff. It’s just kind of fresh.”
For a band to see live, he suggests Modern Angst. “They usually pull a decent crowd, and they have a lot of people that really get into their music,” he says. “A lot of their songs, the content of their songs, and the subject matter is really positive, but it’s also very much about fighting the system and kind of has that punk rock ethos.”
Something to Hold: Hoffman has long made Spotify playlists but wanted a piece of physical media for this project. He opted for CDs to keep the price point reasonable. “Not everybody collects vinyl, so I wanted it to be a lower-barrier opportunity,” he says. Plus, because CDs are cheaper, the compilation is currently just $10 to preorder. “I kind of felt like, for the price of a couple of beers or a couple of cups of coffee, you could get this CD and support the bands and learn about some new music.”
And, he says, speaking as a guy who got his start in music all the way back in 2001, “Hopefully there’s a bit of nostalgia, too.”
