We’ve Still Got the Neutron Bomb

July 11, 2008 in Los Angeles, music
Tags: 400 blows, big busines, black flag, burning brides, California, crystal antlers, darker my love, fear, giant drag, Hollywood, LA, Los Angeles, mika miko, no age, qui, rocket, the adolescents, the briggs, the bronx, the circle jerks, the descendents, the drips, the go-gos, the nerves, the runaways, the screamers, the weirdos, tsol, we go the neutron bomb, x

I like to consider myself somewhat of a Los Angeles ambassador here in New York. I’m always sticking up for my hometown, running around town in my Dodgers hat or Magic Johnson jersey, reminding people that Hollywood is just a small piece of what LA has to offer. I’m always always very proud of the fine musical tradition that LA has had to offer. From The Beach Boys to, Tom Waits, X, The Germs, or NWA, LA has contributed more than its fair share of amazing music to the rest of the world. 

Yet, for some reason LA bands always seem to get the shaft. So often The Velvet Underground is given credit for their proto-punk sound and attitude, but it was The Doors who inspired bands like The Stooges and the MC5 to form. Bands like Minor Threat and Bad Brains are often considered the fist hard-core bands, but everything they did they learned from Middle Class and Black Flag. You can also look at the other huge contribution to music from LA…hair metal…the most mocked and shit-on genre in the history of rock and roll (ok, sometimes for good reason). If you’re going to tell me that Van Halen, Guns N Roses, and Motley Crue weren’t great bands, then you weren’t paying attention. And let’s be honest, had those bands been from New York, they would still be praised daily. If you don’t think so, or you don’t think that LA has contributed vastly to modern music, then in the words of Axl Rose 

You’re crazy, hey, hey 
You know you’re crazy, oh my! 
You’re fuckin’ crazy, oh child 
You know you’re crazy, Ay, ay, ay, ay, 
You know you’re crazy, Hey, hey, 
You’re fuckin’ crazy, Oh child, 
You know you’re crazy, Ay, ay, ay, ay, 
You’re fuckin’ crazy, Yeah 
You know you are! 
Bring it down! 
You’re fuckin’ crazy! 

I’ve noticed a trend over the past six months, all of a sudden bloggers are beginning to give a shit about LA bands. Yes, bands like The Bronx, Autolux, Qui, and Devendra Barnhart have gotten their fair share of hype and praise, but that pales in comparison to what bands like The Strokes, Interpol, or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have received.  But now, bands like No Age, Crystal Antlers, Abe Vigoda, Mika Miko, and The Mae Shi are getting a lot of attention. I have to admit, its exciting. Its exciting to show people that LA is made up of creative, artistic, and progressive people that are interested in doing something new and exciting, not just in scoring a major label deal. Its exciting that an interesting, dangerous, and fun band like No Age is getting the same type of attention that a mediocre band like Vampire Weekend is. Its exciting to hear music that isn’t made by the same people, from the same neighborhood in Brooklyn, wearing the same clothes, and re-hashing the same influences. 

So, one, I’d like to tell you to watch out..some of these bands will be huge in the next couple of years.

And, two, I’d like to propose a compilation. If anybody can make it happen, do it. I’ll do the press and marketing for it, we can do it for charity, we can do it for free. I’d like to see some of LA’s newest artists covering some of LA’s most historical artists. Buddyhead? Anybody?  Here’s my proposal.

Qui – “We Got the Nuetron Bomb” by The Weirdos

The Drips with Annie from Giant Drag – “Los Angeles” by X

400 Blows – “I Don’t Care’ by The Circle Jerks

No Age – “Myage” by the Descendents

The Briggs – “Hanging on the Telephone” by The Nerves

The Mae Shi – “Lexicon Devil” by The Germs

Mika Miko – “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways

The Bronx – “Wasted” by Black Flag

Rocket – “We Got the Beat” by The Go-Gos

Darker My Love – “Darker My Love” by TSOL

Abe Vigoda – “This Aint No Picnic” by The Minutemen

Crystal Antlers – “The Beat Goes On” by The Screamers

Burning Brides – “Let’s Have a War” by Fear

Big Business – “Kids of the Black Hole” by The Adolescents

****This is really just something I think would be cool, please note, there are no plans for this to happen._****

That being said, if you have any other ideas, let me know. If you don’t know any of these bands, go check them all out, I could link to each one of them but that would take forever. Also, if you haven’ read it yet, go check out “We Got the Neutron Bomb”.