Sporting a multi-colored propeller cap, frontman Dashiell Stokes—small in stature, big in personality—bounces up and down with the velocity of a Wham-O Super Ball, belting out lyrics raging along with his cranked-up axe.
His band The Bloody Kerouacs, a trio of shirtless P.G. High and York School high school students, unleash unpolished pop-punk a la Green Day’s Dookie. Behind Stokes, glimpses of Rutger Sperry’s mohawk flash into sight as he pounds on his drumkit.
This is just the second time these kids have performed live. Underneath their poker face of punk apathy, you can see them using all their concentration to hold back big, triumphant smiles.