Tchotchkes and Gay Punks Galore
Article by Kayla Matheus
The grungy atmosphere and eclectic crowd of Empty Bottle should have given me a good sense of what beautiful chaos was to ensue for the next two hours, but it never could have prepared me for the outrageously intoxicating performance of Hunx & His Punx.
The opening band Tchotchke–an NYC girl trio made up of members Anastasia Sanchez (lead vocals, drums), Eva Chambers (bass, vocals), and Emily Tooraen (guitar, vocals)–released their first full length album merely a week prior to the show. Their musical style is noticeably influenced by girl groups such as The Go-Go’s and The Shangri Las lending to blended vocals and a rhythmic, bouncy sound like in “Did You Hear?” and “Poor Girl”. Anastasia dazzled me with her stage presence and vocal endurance, made all the more impressive because she was behind her drum kit for the entirety of the set. They closed out their performance with an amusing cover of “Egyptian Shumba” by The Tammy’s complete with lively hooting and hollering from Anastasia. Although this show was their last one with Hunx & His Punx I would stay on the lookout for their next moves.
Hunx & His Punx are a Los Angeles based punk band originally formed in 2008 by Hunx (aka Seth Bogart). After going through a breakup of his original band, Hunx & His Punkettes, in 2011 the band re-formed in 2013 with current members Seth Bogart, Shannon Shaw, and Erin Emslie and released the album Street Punk. In 2019 they began working on their newest album Walk Out On This World which released August 22, 2025.
After a short break, while the wig-dressed stage (No, I’m not kidding. There were wigs hanging from everything making it look like a hair salon threw up on the stage in the best way possible) was revamped in preparation for Hunx & His Punx, and the sold out show crowd filled in, the excitement amplified the room with electricity. Suddenly “We Like To Party!” by Vengaboys blasted through the sellout and Hunx & His Punx arrived on stage. Their punk and queercore style shines in their stage presence as well as songs “No Way Out” and “Alone In Hollywood On Acid” which highlight Shannon’s gritty vocals.
Hunx’s personality is humorous and his crowd engagement captivating. He opened the floor for a mosh pit during the song “Bad Skin” off of their 2013 album Street Punk which leans heavily into the punk sound, but afterwards he made sure to check in with the crowd to ensure that everyone was okay. Other songs had immersive crowd engagement like “Top Of The Punks” with some call and response and “Wild Boys” crowd sing-along. Around halfway through the set Hunx began to strip down to a jockstrap and leather vest, all the better for some ass shaking and boosting the thrill of the crowd. After an encore it was clear that Hunx loves the stage and his fans as he was reluctant to end the show and say goodbye.