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Jun 15, 2012 · Interesting list + short critiques of the best allbums from L.A.'s Punk Scene. Seems like a good list, with two 'X' LP's in the top ten and Black...
Apr 15, 2020 · A Photographer Is Resurfacing Her Trove of Photos of L.A.'s '80s Punk Scene Linda Aronow's immense archive captures a bygone moment in the city's music scene—and she's only scratched the...
- Black Flag
- The Go-Go’s
- Fear
- Circle Jerks
- Redd Kross
- The Blasters
- Adolescents
- T.S.O.L.
- The Dream Syndicate
- Agent Orange
If inchoate anger and unfocussed rebellion have a soundtrack, it’s Black Flag. Primarily the brainchild of songwriter/guitarist Greg Ginnand bassist/theoretician Chuck Dukowski, these Hermosa Beach intellectual bruisers welded the heaviest metalto avant-jazz’s noisy atonality. The full-tilt rhythms of the highest energy punk powered this mongrel ch...
If darker impulses drove L.A. punk, at least on the surface the five-woman Go-Go’s were the musical embodiment of the year-long sunshine that made their hometown famous. Singer Belinda Carlisle was an embryonic Germ, while the entire band grew out of the grotty petri dish that was the Masque in 1978. By the time their major-label debut, Beauty and ...
Blue-collar avant-punk ruffians FEAR might have the oddest story of any of these bands. Shades of blues and jazz wove into a high-energy metal assault, alongside a gonzo stage act that elevated audience baiting into a frenzied wrestling match. Singer/guitarist Lee Vingplayed the heel to startling effect, as seemingly multi-limbed drummer Spit Stix,...
Alongside Washington, D.C.’s Bad Brains, Circle Jerksmay be the definitive American hardcore band. Essentially Class Of 1977 punk sped up to superhuman specs, the CJs were a party band with the skill to elevate gut-basic thrash to an art form. Keith Morrishad been the sole Black Flag vocalist who could actually sing, while Lucky Lehrer essentially ...
From Hawthorne, California, hometown of the Beach Boys, Redd Krossalso centered around brothers, this time teenage singer/guitarist Jeff McDonald and then-middle-school-aged bassist Steven McDonald. Many famed local musicians have passed through Redd Kross’ boot camp, including future Circle Jerk Hetson and two Black Flag singers — Ron Reyes on dru...
As a trio of Long Islanders called the Stray Catsbegan making noise in the U.K. pumping classic rockabilly full of punk locomotion, word leaked of a similarly minded quintet leaving a lot more blood on L.A. stages. From Downey, the Blasterswere led by brothers Phil Alvinon lead vocals and rhythm guitar and Dave Alvin on sidewinder lead guitar. They...
From Fullerton, the home of Fender Guitars, Adolescentsused Leo Fender’s inventions in ways he would have surely found blasphemous and abusive. Featuring the wayward six-string genius of Rikk Agnewand singer Tony Reflex’s wounded, vulnerable charisma, they created a brutal, turbo-charged pop attack with a generous helping of metal’s Marshall bombas...
If Webster’s Dictionary required a definition for the term “intelligent thugs,” it could do worse than run a photo of Long Beach’s T.S.O.L. Since 1980, the band have channeled the evolutionary-yet-brutarian spirit of the Damned into an American noise attack that changed seemingly every time lead singer Jack Grisham swapped out his stage name. (For ...
Two or three years into the ‘80s, a group of Angeleno punk veterans began excavating the long-buried ghosts of psychedelia, returning it to a series of short sharp shocks. The Dream Syndicatewere the best of the bunch, with their Velvet Underground-esque drone rock. The hardass rhythm section of doggedly swinging drummer Dennis Duck and bassist Ken...
Had Placentia, California’s Agent Orangenever recorded a note beyond youth-gone-wild classic “Bloodstains,”they’d still be referenced in hushed tones. Featuring singer/guitarist Mike Palm and initially featuring future Adolescents bassist Steve Soto, they’re a prime example of all the good done by spending your teens listening to respected local DJ...
- Tim Stegall
Find L.A. Punk Albums, Artists and Songs, and Hand-Picked Top L.A. Punk Music on AllMusic.
Feb 1, 2022 · HARD + FAST, the first official collection of work by renowned rock photographer Melanie Nissen, is released today! Gracing the pages of the illustrious punk rock magazine SLASH from 1977-1980, her photos have always stood apart.
Mar 27, 2016 · Punk style might be most closely associated with New York and the Ramones, or London and Vivienne Westwood, but there was a flourishing scene in Los Angeles in the ‘70s as well, and Slash magazine faithfully documented every moment.
Jul 1, 2016 · We're going to take a look back at the LA punk scene with three people who helped define it - John Doe and Exene Cervenka, co-founders of the band X and Dave Alvin, who co-founded The Blasters...
