Updated 2026
Punk Steady from Boston
Black Market Medallions entered the Boston underground with a sound they named for themselves: “Punk Steady.” The phrase made room for ska’s rhythmic movement, punk’s speed and abrasion, and the direct force of a rock band built to play live. Jan Nelson handled vocals and guitar, Mike Sheehy bass and vocals, Jon Cauztik guitar and vocals, and Jimmy T drums.
The group’s early four-song recording was produced and engineered by David Minehan of the Neighborhoods. Contemporary reviews heard the same qualities the band emphasized in its own description: surging guitars, an aggressive rhythm section and Nelson’s unmistakable lead voice. Boston radio carried the material through WBCN’s Boston Emissions, WFNX’s Boston Product, WAAF’s Bay State Rock and WKPE’s Cheap Seats.
By 2001, Black Market Medallions had been nominated for Outstanding Ska Act in the Boston Music Awards. Their recordings also moved beyond local radio. “Wishbone” was licensed for ABC and MTV’s Road Rules, while “Breathe” was used by the ESPN and ESPN2 program X2DAY. Those placements preserved another part of the independent-band economy at the turn of the century: songs traveling nationally even when the group remained rooted in a regional scene.
The full-length Babylon by Bike placed “This Music of Business” at the front of a larger Black Market Medallions statement. One Way used that same recording as track twelve of Dig the Boston Underground, positioning the band between Red Chord and Emily Grogan in a sequence that deliberately crossed Boston’s genre boundaries.
The group’s surviving One Way doorway is therefore more than a solitary compilation cut. “This Music of Business” reconnects a working band, a radio network, a Boston Music Awards moment, television licensing and the band’s own Punk Steady identity. The original commercial cycle may have passed, but the recording still explains how Boston sounded when punk and ska refused to stay in separate rooms.
