Review - Yes New York

One of the benefits of living in a media capital -- London, L.A., New York -- is that your "local" scene is blessed with jaded, cynical observers who possess disproportionate tastemaking power. And though your "local" scene may not be any more inventive or diverse than one in, say, Indianapolis or Orlando, the fact that every major magazine editor says it is, tends to result in self-fulfilling prophecies. "Yes New York" (a none-too-oblique reference to Eno's audio chronicle of the city's vibrant No Wave underground) collects the fragments of the recent "New York Rock Revolution" that put a model-fortune heir on the cover of "Spin" and a Joy Division cover band in the Billboard charts. But despite the inclusion of high-profile acts like The Strokes and Interpol, indie faves like Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Calla and Le Tigre and other, less-known bands like The Fever and Unitard, this compilation winds up being a romp through only one small sliver of a wildly diverse musical scene. It's just that **these** are the bands that the magazine editors like, and therefore, **these** are the bands -- in all their retro-trash glory -- that will be the hipster standard-bearers. And though enjoyable, if this is the future of New York rock (ergo, the future of worldwide rock), it's not much to look forward to.