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When I first heard this song, I thought to myself “This is so dumb. WTF?” Then I began to involuntarily move my body back and forth and before I knew it, I was dancing! “Damn you, homosexuality!” I screamed at the ceiling. “Damn you all to hell!” You know a song is really gay when, despite its idiocy, you find yourself dancing your ass off to it.

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Meet JD Samson—the gender bending musician from Le Tigre and MEN—and Willy Siegel (formerly known as Molly Siegel) from Baltimore art-rock group, Ponytail. Together they represent a small faction in music as two performers who challenge the notion of gender, one dance song at a time.

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Alanis Morissette tore through the nineties like a bat out of hell. I was either nine or ten when Jagged Little Pill was released and I remember it being played wherever I went, including once in my teacher’s car on a fourth grade field trip.

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When I was 17, I listened to Interpol, The Smiths, and Yeah Yeahs a lot. I wore sunglasses over my real glasses and thought no one could notice. I wanted to be alternative and indie and wear lots of shirts from Suburban Outfitters. I thought wearing $60 shirts that read “Sam’s Video Hut” meant you had good style and that you were doing things right. But when you’re 17, the right things are often the wrong things.

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For the past year, The Shining Twins’ Alex Weiss and Marisa Kreiss have been terrorizing the NYC music scene with their infectious pop-punk songs and raucous live performances. The duo (plus guitarist Xan Aird) pick up where bands like The Slits and Hole left off, writing defiant, honest lyrics that remind us that not all girls are interested in falling in love—some just want to have fun, remember?

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The energy of the room was less like a punk show and more like a family affair with a hundred or so cool cousins you’ve never met. I wasn’t worried that my jacket would get stolen. I didn’t care that I was wearing Ugg boots and not combat boots.