Stereo Six: Kareem Rahma & Tiny Gun Round Up Some All-Time Fave Songs & Records

As an artist, there are many sides to Kareem Rahma. You may know him as a writer and comedian, like from his latest standup special, Tonight’s Special, which debuted on YouTube’s Omeleto Channel on March 15th. When he’s not making you laugh, Rahma might make you dance as part of his band Kareem Rahma & Tiny Gun. The Brooklyn group play an infectious brand of dance-punk that has an authentic ’70s New York punk feel to it. His band is a talented bunch, bringing together different generations of New York punk and post-punk under one grand roof.

The band has released several singles, and their debut album, No Worries If Not, was released last September. They followed that up by releasing their “New Year, New York” single last month. As you might expect from a band fronted by Rahma, they are self-deprecating with a certain playful nature built into the music. But it doesn’t detract from the fact that Kareem Rahma & Tiny Gun is no comedy act. It’s a band with an unmistakable sound that knows how to write an energetic punk jam.

With “New Year, New York” recently released, Rahma and his bandmates join us today for a Stereo Six to share a combination of six songs and records that influenced the band in the writing of this song.

1. LCD Soundsystem – “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” (2007, DFA, Capitol Records)

Tyler McCauley: “Our latest single ‘New Year New York’ literally came from a text thread between me and Kareem in 2021. I was in the coat check line after one of the LCD Soundsystem residency shows, and I just said we should write the next great song about living here and all the feelings that come with it. Kareem, to his credit, got on board immediately and actually replied with the name of the song. LCD aren’t a huge sonic inspiration for us, but I think if you’re starting a rock band in your mid-to-late 30s, you can’t help but think about James Murphy and how he threaded the needle on being open about being an older uncool guy but making essential, physical music.”

2. Joy Division – “Disorder” (1979, Factory)

Tyler McCauley: “Maybe it’s a little cliché, but our songs got a lot better when we kept asking what would Bernard Sumner do for each guitar part. It’s easy to forget that Joy Division were literally teenagers when they wrote this record, and that’s maybe why all the parts are so memorable. There’s no flash or attitude, just some teenage British kids freshly weaned off Black Sabbath trying to write parts. I don’t think Sumner wrote a single bad guitar part on any of their records, which is incredible considering how young he was and how singular everything felt. We don’t feel like we’re a ‘post-punk’ band in any real sense, but checking against JD parts is usually a good litmus test if you’re on the right track.”

3. Television – Marquee Moon (1977, Elektra Records)

Joe Tirabassi: “This is perhaps the most New York ass record ever. This might be some cheesy David Fricke-level pontificating, but something about the duelling forces of chaos and precision from the interlocking guitars makes sense as an analogy of things like the subway system and the crush of people that make the city tick.”

Tyler McCauley: “A few of us got to go to Tom Verlaine’s book sale after he died, and I think I hoped I was going to find some musical books that would unlock his playing, but alas, he mostly had books about the occult!”

4. Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind (1997, Elektra Records)

Kareem Rahma: “This album is filled with high-energy songs about what is now known as the ‘millennial condition.’ It is filled with catchy, memorable songs that are also sonically complex and interesting. I’ll never forget the first time I heard ‘Jumper.’”

5. Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995, Virgin Records)

Kareem Rahma: “The first time I heard this album was in college — which is way too late, but whatever. It’s just damn good. Accessible, dramatic, and dark all at the same time. Very difficult cocktail to achieve all the while maintaining a sense of cool and popularity. Really a dang outlier.”

6. Sky Ferreira – “Everything Is Embarrassing” (2013, Capitol, Polydor)

Kareem Rahma: “This was the piano sound we were going for on this record – something about Dev Hynes’ production here feels spot on for wandering around the city feeling fucked up and alone. I wanted the same sense of regret and sentimental simplicity when we mixed it, and I hope we came close. This was a big song in NYC when a bunch of us were in our first bands, playing Glasslands and Death By Audio, Joe in Darlings, Dale (Eisinger) in YVETTE, Matt (Morello) in Mr. Dream – so there’s an extra layer of nostalgia for me when we were trying to get the piano sound close for the final version of the song.”

Kareem Rahma & Tiny Gun “New Year, New York” single artwork