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 The East LA Scene march 19, 1981 - - - by billy eye The
Roxy on the Sunset strip recently presented an evening of 'East
LA Bands' featuring The Brat, Los Illegals and Thee
Undertakers. These three worthy bands made for a great night
of music at the Roxy and a big crowd showed up.
In
the most recent issue of Music Connection magazine, the aforementioned
bands were given a full page write-up under the heading 'East Side Story'.
It's
about time that the growing East Los Angeles/Downtown music scene gets
the attention it deserves. There is a lot of experimentation happening
right now and the groups coming from this area may yet become the next
major influence on the nation's new music. In addition to the bands
showcased at the Roxy, there are many other superb musicians from east
of Hollywood that deserve your attention.
Clubs on the east side and downtown, like Al's Bar,
are smaller than the Roxy and Whisky so there is no place for a band
to prove their drawing power, but the scene is growing and some excellent
bands are springing up out of the deep black heart of Los Angeles.
The band has a solid, brash female lead singer, obviously unpreturbed
by the male dominated scene that seems to exists. Not flashy looking,
rather conservative in dress, this group produces music with power,
with feeling and they aren't afraid to slow things down for a song or
two. That is unusual lately, most groups like to keep it going fast,
afraid they will lose their audience, I guess. You have to have the
talent and the material to pull it off and these are elements that make
The Rentz a tough act to ignore.
Tito Larriva
leads this blistering trio, their cover of "La Bamba" rocks hard! This
is a seasoned party band of first class performers, always an audience
favorite.
Hey Taxi!
The group does nothing unusual in way of clothing or hairstyles, but Hey Taxi! is visually stunning- intense in nature, fast paced, but somehow not monotonous or tiring. The presentation is often ironic and overtly sexual, but on a higher level than the crotch-rock of so many bands.
Hey Taxi! live in 1980 The
music of Hey Taxi! has thought, emotion and a very
definite twisted view of life expressed in the poetic lyrics of lead
singer Michael Ely. The frantic textural sounds of guitarist Spider
Taylor are brought together by raw, aggressive musicians John Taglavia
on bass, drummer Louie Dufau and Marc O on synth.
These
guys not only play well together, they interact with the audience and
are fascinating to watch.
HEAR
HEY TAXI! The
Smog Marines have been mentioned in two previous articles by
Judy Zee, I finally saw them play recently at Al's Bar. The band is
regrouping after losing a pivotal member of the group, and I'm not sure
if the awkwardness they projected the night I saw them was on purpose
or not. This is an intense band that always attracts all the coolest
people to their gigs, a group of musicians that always deliver with
force, with a lead singer that doesn't suffer from rock star overconfidence.
Another
audience favorite is Why Nut- although I have no idea
why in this case. The off beat spastic style of Why Nut just
doesn't appeal to me, but it only strengthens my notion that the east
LA scene is more diverse and eclectic than the Hollywood happenings.
Where else would a niche band like this thrive? Let's face it, without
the emerging downtown / east LA bands and their growing popularity and
influence, the Sunset strip will whither and die. The city is imploding.
I
wish I had the space to further explore with you the burgeoning music
scene now being played out from the inner city. You can check it out.
And
club owners, c'mon guys, don't deprive us of the opportunity to experience
these and other fine groups that inhabit what we call the 'east LA scene'!
1982
flyer ->
The
Detour is a cruisy leather-gay bar with full time DJs located
near where Sunset and Hollywood Blvds meet in sleepy Silverlake (home
of the ON Club). You should support this club's attempt
to spotlight local music on those nights.
I saw Human Sexual Response at the Starwood a couple
of days ago. The venerable Starwood has just reopened after being closed
for a few weeks.
This
stems from their problems with complaining neighbors . Seems that some
people resent the sound of someone peeing in the bushes outside of their
bedroom windows, and throwing up on their front porches.
I predict (just like Jeanne Dixon does twice a year in the Enquirer)
that Human Sexual Response will be one of the biggest
new pop-rock-new-wave groups to hit the country in a long time. I'm
not saying that's a good thing.
Many
times I wondered whether or not these 'art rockers' were clever or contrived,
the four puck (not punk)-ish vocalists can win you over with exuberance
and clear crisp harmonies.
A
basic trio of musicians backs them up superbly and the material is strong
enough that, at least for a time, you forget that you're not being fully
engaged. Human Sexual Response may have a long way to go, but they are
a well-choreographed bunch of young people, all cute, and they obviously
don't wear any underwear, so they should do quite well commercially
real soon.
Now
that The Starwood has reopened, they have a great lineup of bands
on their schedule. Mark Lee, Joe College, Robin Harris, Flip Carter,
and Kenny Keeboards aka The Toasters will be at the
Starwood on Monday, March 23rd and this will be one of the best shows
to catch all month.
HEAR
THE Talk
about your April Fools, The Knack started out playing the Starwood four
years ago, went on to international success and now this is the best gig
they can get!
An acoustic show with members of The Circle Jerks, Black Flag,
Nervous Gender, put together by Geza X and
others is in the works. I'll have more info as it becomes available.
Meanwhile, to feed your hardcore habit, don't miss the big punk-fest
at Cal State Northridge on March 27th with the Circle Jerks and
Bad Brains headlining.
UPDATE:
 The
guys behind Red Wedding -
Michael Ely and Jim 'Spider' Taylor - have resurfaced
a new CD out in 2003, its excellent! "The
Perfume of Creosote: Desert Exotica Part One" by Smoke & Mirrors.Smoke
& Mirrors
with a The 3 surviving members of Nervous Gender - Edward Stapleton, Michael Ochoa and Joe Zinnato - are currently reviewing all of the Nervous Gender material, (studio, live, rehearsal recordings and performance videos) and intend on releasing a series of archival documents and a NG retrospective. www.nervousgender.com |
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ORDER THIS SHIRT!
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"The
music is alive in the streets 
It
has been only very recently that the 'punk'-'new wave' groups from the
east-side have been able to break into the established Hollywood clubs.
A prejudice exists with some club owners that these groups don't have
the 'cross-over' sound or have large enough followings to bring in enough
people to make it worthwhile.
The
Plugz has been on the scene for years, the original latino punk
group delivers a fast and furious stream of conciousness into your ears
and eyes.
Hey
Taxi! is another exciting group on the East Side scene, one
that you should experience for yourself.
The
(hard)core of Hey Taxi! has been around for a long
time, and their repertoire is diverse. This is a cutting edge group,
a not-so-straight-ahead punk assault, with influences from Bowie to
Baroque. 
The
Detour is booking a variety of acts including Hal Negro
and The Satin Tones, a new-wave style ''jazz group with a difference"
on March. 22; and the always provocative Castration Squad
will appear on April 5th. The latter is a punk-ish bondage oriented
group of girls who probably come from nice middle-class families judging
from their sloppy, degenerate stage show.
Fig.
14
This
Boston based band has a couple of tunes you may have heard on KROQ recently,
the quirky "Jackie Onassis" and their desperate (but catchy) ode to
horniness "What Does Sex Mean To Me?" from the new album 'Fig.
14 '.
The
Toasters
A
good one to miss will be... The Knack, reduced
to playing the Starwood on April 1st.
More
Northridge shows are promised, there's a huge punk contingency there.
Click
For Judy Zee's article on LA radio
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