WATCH: 8 Men Out

Second generation rocker Leah Hennessey calls out the 1% of the 1% in searing new video

January 29, 2021January 29, 2021 Ron Hart 0 Comments 8 Men, David Johansen, Hennessey, Jesse Malin, Leah Hennessey, New York Dolls, Velvet Elk Records

So much has changed in New York City these last 20 years, its been a lot to endure for those of us who grew up in the proximity of Manhattan all their lives.

Which is why it’s so heartening to see one of the local rock scene’s fastest rising stars is the child of one of its founding fathers, whose work with The New York Dolls nearly 50 years ago changed the face of American rock forevermore. Leah Hennessey is the daughter of David Johansen, and when you witness the sheer fearlessness of her approach to the kind of music she and electronic musician E.J. O’Hara create its easy to see she’s a chip off the old block.

But Hennessey is far from a reprisal of her dad’s work in The New York Dolls or The David Johansen Group. Rather, as their scathing new single showcases, they veer closer to the caustic grooves of LCD Soundsystem and Le Tigre than “Personality Crisis.” Yet the way by which she goes after the eight richest men on the third single from Hennessey’s Jesse Malin-produced debut EP offers a message with which both aging punks and their Zoomer kids can fully agree.

Hennessey “8 Men”, Velvet Elk Records 2021

“It’s a song about how the world’s eight richest men have the same amount of money as the poorest half of humanity,” Leah explains. “How can I believe in ideals of fairness and equality when things are so corrupt and distorted and beyond the repair of revolution? I’m too poor to have a dog, let alone ever dream of owning property! But it’s funny. The song is funny.”

The Rock & Roll Globe is honored to premiere the video for “8 Men” this morning on the site.

Hennessey’s debut EP, which also includes a sinister dance punk cover of The Waterboys “We Will Not Be Lovers”, is out now on Velvet Elk Records.