Oneida

They come not from the 18th century utopian village or the Indian Nation in upstate New York, these kids who call themselves Oneida, but from a squalid basement apartment in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, where they have learned to rock in a positively terrifying fashion. Nobody seems able to agree on just who they sound like when they rock this way, though the great MC5 are frequently mentioned. There's also a clear parallel to the New York Dolls, given that these kids are also flamboyant characters who play noisy damaged rock in New York. They've got a bit in common with the 13th Floor Elevators, who they've been known to cover. The thing is, you could compare Oneida to just about anyone loud, violent, and a bit perverse -- Devo, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Girls Against Boys -- and you'd be right on. Just like you could call them garage rock, art-punk, No Wave, or psycho-delic, and you'd have hit the nail on the head.