If you think you know the Bronx, you’re probably wrong. Or misguided. Because a half block beyond the health care grist mill of Montefiore Hospital lie a series of quaint houses, some clapboard, some fieldstone, the once and future sites of the Museum of Bronx History, the Bronx Historical Society, and the archives of these amazing collections.

The buildings are steeped in history. The Valentine-Varian House, location of the Museum, was built in 1758 by Isaac Valentine. It is the Bronx’s second oldest house and the borough’s oldest remaining farmhouse. Adjacent to a stretch of manicured Bronx parkland, it reminds you of a much later decidedly more humble iteration, Poe’s Cottage at Kingsbridge and the Grand Concourse.

The Historical Society—despite its name, and its venerable mission—is completely up to date. Recent exhibits sponsored on site, or at the Museum, include Uptown Rumble: Heavy Music in the Bronx (still showing), and the Bronx Basketball Hall of Fame, curated by Derek Doward, the Hall of Fame’s CEO.

I grew up here, I live nearby now. I had to take a closer look.

Dr. Steven Payne, director/archivist at the Bronx Historical Society, hosted a small gathering in the book-lined reception room of the Society, where we Zoomed online with Becky McAuley, author of Lost Indignation, a heads-up novel about a missing music cassette and the self-styled Lord Byrons of punk who are desperately searching for it in the Bronx and lower Westchester (Dobbs Ferry, Mount Vernon, and Hastings-on-Hudson).

Uptown Rumble explores the little-known history of Bronx bands playing in the heavier registers of rock, opened April 24 (still going, thru November 2025) at the Museum of Bronx History. The exhibit covers the underappreciated history of hard rock in the Bronx, including heavy metal, thrash metal, death metal, hardcore, and more, from the 1960s through the early 2000s. 

The exhibit could have no better spokesperson than McAuley, a one-time drummer herself. Lost Indignation is the story of Mo McGraw—who is never doing what she’s supposed to be doing—and her hunt in 2017 for a rare demo tape that could propel a punk band to fame in the New York punk scene if only it hadn’t gone missing. 

Becky waxed energetic and expansive when asked about her book, its context, its relevance to current social realities. 

Who are your main writing influences?

Some of my inspirations include Philip Roth, Sergio De La Pava, Marisha Pessl, Zadie Smith, Marie-Helene Bertino, Joss Lake, Jennifer Egan, Paul Beattie, Mark Harris, Graham Greene, and Colson Whitehead. Lost Indignation was also influenced by books where the plot is kicked off in the hunt for a lost object, such as The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies.

The bands in the Bronx that mattered to you?

My favorite Bronx bands/bands with Bronx members include District 9, Irate, Billy Club Sandwich, Brass Knuckle Brigade, Fahrenheit 451, Uppercut, Starve, Rebelmatic, and Crazy Eddie. Most are featured in the Uptown Rumble: Heavy Music in the Bronx exhibit at the Museum of Bronx History. And for Bronx rappers, Big Pun and Kool Keith!

Were you ever a player in a band?

I played drums in a variety of short-lived bands in the early 2000s, then joined Trenchcoat Army from 2006-2007 to play CBGB’s before it closed. After some injuries I’ve made moves towards getting back behind the drum set but mostly contribute now via zines, flyers, and my upcoming record label: look for the A Good Problem to Have Comp on Memory Loss Records in late 2025.

What music do you listen to?

I listen to a lot of hardcore, punk, rap, and soul. Some of my favorites that are either featured in Lost Indignation or the soundtrack in my brain include Warzone, Supertouch, Biohazard, Killing Time, Breakdown, Outburst, Dmize, Side by Side, Major Lance, M.O.P, Gravediggaz, the Menahan Street Band, RJD2, Gene Page, Charles Bradley, and Dag Nasty.

Any sociopolitical comments on your perspective as an author? Did the Bronx punksters make a political statement of any sort?

While not all Bronx hardcore bands have been overtly political, most have been on the correct side of history, from pro-worker to antiracism. Billy Club Sandwich, Irate, Ache, Rebelmatic, and District 9 address social and/or political issues in their lyrics. Many classic songs within the wider NYHC canon speak to antiracist themes, from Beyond – “Someday” to Cause for Alarm – “United Races”. The “Uptown Rumble” exhibit also includes multiple bands with female members as well as artwork and photography from women involved in the Bronx scene.

And while Lost Indignation isn’t a conspicuously political story, solidarity across race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and mental health differences are woven throughout the plot. Mostly it’s a story about a missing demo tape and who gets to tell their version of history and the truth. It’s important to make space for communities to tell their own truths and histories: as Dr. Steven Payne said of the Uptown Rumble exhibit in the Shining Life Fanzine Compilation, Vol. 2, “Always focus on the grassroots and involve the community every step of the way.”

Talk about your interest in local politics. 

I currently live in Mount Vernon, NY and appreciate the hard work of our mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard and City Council members. I’d urge everyone to get involved in local politics where we may have more control over positive outcomes as a counterweight to the bleak national situation. I’m also a big fan of outgoing New York City Councilmember Justin Brannan who comes from the same music scene and has channeled the honesty, authenticity, creativity, humanity, and nuance from his music career into his political career. He’s even quoted in the most recent issue of my zine, I Question Not Me.

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