Old Concert Reviews from Flipside Zine: May/June 1990

Reliving the blurry nights of smoky, underground shows at the start of the underground era (part 1)

Want to feel jealous? Read these show reviews. The underground bands that Flipside reviewers saw play at little clubs will blow your mind. There was Beck, L7, Babes in Toyland, Hole, Fluid, Green Day, NOFX—all in little clubs and coffee shops. This all happened at a time when these were just little local bands, before MTV and the so-called “alternative era” took them to The David Letterman Show. Even more interesting are the local bands that stayed local and then disappeared. White Trash Debutantes, Trash Can School, Electric Ferrets—Who were they? Where did they go? I searched YouTube to find out for us.

You may already know, but Flipside was a pioneering punk zine published by young music-hungry people in Los Angeles. It was very influential. It covered bands that were too underground, weird, or challenging for mainstream magazines. And it let the cool kids know what they needed to know.

Founded by five Whittier high school friends in 1977, the crew photocopied the early issues and distributed them in metro LA record stores. The zine got so popular during its first two years that they upgraded the classic DIY Xerox approach to offset printing on quality paper stock and started selling in 12 U.S. state states and four countries.

One of the five founding friends, Al Kowalewski, assumed the role of editor and publisher. In the zine, he went by the name Al or Al Flipside. From 1978 to 1989, a punk rocker named Hudley “Hud” Flipside, aka Holly Duval Cornell, became co-owner and coeditor and helped run this scrappy but sophisticated operation.

The zine eventually got bigger and had a nice glossy cover. By 1983, Flipside had such a wide readership that they printed 6,500 copies of each issue. They’d started with 1,000. They even printed a German edition. During the mid-90s, Flipside briefly hosted a scrappy music festival in Jawbone Canyon, in the Mojave Desert. But reviewing records, live shows, and interviewing bands remained the soul of the magazine.

Now, decades later, the zine’s back issues function as a snapshot of a time and place. I love reading them in my 40s. It’s also fun reading the reviewers’ predictions from our vantage in the future.

“Sativa Luv Box are a band you will certainly be hearing a lot from in the future,” writes one 1990 review. That band’s last release was in 1993. I can’t find their second album on YouTube, and you can find everything on YouTube. Sorry Sativa Luv Box.

That said, some of these bands are killer—like Spiderbaby. Their song “Twisted” is so good! (You can hear it below.)

Flipside’s cramped typeset pages of live reviews offer a fun trip down back to the era when freaks and dreamers mixed their genres and made their weird music, and before Nirvana’s Nevermind broke. It’s a portrait of a world when underground music was still underground, when independent musicians’ music was still somewhat pure—like the heroin was back then. It’s a trip down someone-else’s-memory-lane. And it’s just a trip.

Flipside called their staff writers “Staph.” Like the infection.

There was Joy Aoki, a graphic artist and writer who also created Flipside Records compilations. There was “Pooch,” aka Pat DiPuccio. There was Larry Lash, aka Steven Shoemaker, “Cake,” aka “Carlos Nuñez, and “Dave Damage” David Blevins. The underground was filled with material, and that provided a lot of opportunities for aspiring writers to cut their teeth and get some clips when they were starting out. Some staph kept writing professionally, including Gary Indiana, who later served as art critic of The Village Voice. Flipside wasn’t a paying gig, but the text that staph produced reads like they were having fun flexing their literary muscles and closely listening to music. It’s pure youth distilled into sentences.

“On their 6th disc,” writes one reviewer, “the 3D Invisibles shed any ‘influence’ they might have had, except for one, which they overkill - the Cramps.”

Reviewing the Ten Commandments of Drinking EP by Alcoholics Unanimous, staph reviewer Kirk writes, “Another drunk disc from Portland, Oregon, land of the ever intoxicated Poison Idea.”

Being based in L.A. meant they reviewed some of the era’s most interesting up-and-coming bands, and some that became household names. In the process, Flipside documented both the California underground and the growth of what became marketed as “alternative music” as college radio carried underground bands to wide audiences. And despite their relatively small print run compared to magazines like Rolling Stone, the zine’s taste and cachet helped take punk music to listeners all over the world and influence what DJs played, and talked about, on influential radio stations like KROQ.

When Grunge and “alternative” hit the scene, staph pushed back:

“‘Nother J. Endino produced disc,” one person wrote while reviewing a Gas Huffer 7-inch, “which as to be at least a dozen just this year!”

“Fugazi are the most overrated band, besides Mudhoney,” wrote another review. “Yeah, yeah, I've heard all that shit.”

There’s a lot of Sub Pop bashing. There are also a lot of typos and mispelled (sic) words. You’ll even see the phrases “Hippies suck. Cut your fucking hair.” But the big opinions are heartfelt, and the swagger is refreshing. These people loved music.

Flipside interviewed everyone, gathering interesting insights from people like D. Boon of Minutemen that would have otherwise been missed. LA Weekly collected 10 of the magazine’s best interviews here.

Al Flipside, May/June 1992: “Well, you’ve gotten a bit more popular since our last interview (issue #62). What’s it like? How did you do it?”

Kurt Cobain: “You mean what’s it like being in The Beatles? I hope to someday turn into Pete Best — just brush it under the carpet and forget about it!”

When Al ran into Kurt at a Hollywood show after this ran, Kurt told Al, “You never misquoted me once! It’s my favorite interview that I have ever done.”

Kurt always loved the underground where he came from.

Anyway, I’ll publish Flipside show reviews here on Substack by year, starting with the May/June 1990 issue. After the show reviews I include music by some of the bands mentioned here, because who doesn’t want to know what these shows sound like, especially when they’re affiliated with Bob Fartblossom of Fartblossom Enterprises?

On the May/June 1990 issue cover: Trash Can School, Sativa Luv Box, Anus the Menace, Cadillac Tramps, Sheer Terror, Thee Hypnotics, as well as Big Drill Car, Steel Pole Bathtub, and a little band called Green Day. L7 graced the cover. This issue contains reviews of records by bands like Road Whores, Reverb Motherfuckers, and Smack Tan Blue (“Jenni Lee/Heroin for Breakfast” 7’’)

Staph writer Joy Aoki kept busy in this issue. Reading her show reviews is like living the ultimate teenage lifestyle, staying up late, going show to show, and hanging out at the coolest places. It’s fun to linger here a while.

Oh. For the record, I didn’t ask Flipside or anyone for permission to republish these. Because what’s more punk than stealing and going by the name Bob Fartblossom? No, seriously, I didn’t ask because these issues are all available for free on Archive.org, which is where I got them. (Though I did have to laboriously transcribe the tiny ass PDF print, so I paid for this in blood.)

Enjoy:

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L7, Killdozer

March 30, 1990

At Raji’s

Review by Joy

Totally overslept (dreaming about trains going through tunnels and Andy Kerr handcuffed to my showerhead) and missed out on Bulimia’s pre-show scarf-n-barf food fest at Second Coming. What a bummer, but I did manage to make it down to Raji’s in time to catch the tailend of Trash Can School’s set.

Killdozer was the band I came to see and with the first song, I knew they were going to be annoying as hell. But, whatthehey, I like this sort of thing sometimes and while I haven’t really gotten into their latest recordings, “Little Baby Buntin’” is a bonafied classic. Well, it turned out that they were more distressing than I expected and while I did like a few numbers, their style was so monotonous that it got boring pretty quick. Noisy and grungy, they seemed to lack a direction and kind of stayed at this same level, between hell and purgatory. It didn’t help that Killdozer’s singer/bassist committed one of three major fashion violations by having two massive sideburns (the other two laws being the gay cop-style mustache and heavy metal poofy-doos). A bit of a letdown.

L7 are always fun, whether they play a good set or a lousy one. Tonight was a good one. Dem chix be rockin’. Always recommended, always delivered.

L7

Note: Reviewer Dug wrote more detail about this same L7 show, filling in a nice portrait of a spicy night.

For the 4 or 5 of you who haven’t seen or heard them, I’m sure you are all familiar with the Seattle/Sub Pop monster sound; L7 blows ’em all into the weeds, surpassing everyone except made early Sound Garden and hitting a solid 10 on the grunge-o-meter. New 12” coming out on who else, Sub Pop (probably out by now) so look for it.

This was the best show I’ve seen them play in months, the band and the audience just kept pushing each other to higher heights, literally. First time I’ve seen bodies on top of the crowd at Raji’s. Donita narrowly avoided catching a microphone in the teeth, but the danger element didn’t seem to bother them at all, quite the opposite. Physically and mentally drained after it was all over, Martin and I headed home to consume mass quantities.

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Steel Pole Bathtub, Babes in Toyland, Naked Soul

April 19, 1990

At Bogart’s

Review by Joy

Naked Soul opened strongly with their ’Mat styles rock but I just couldn’t get into them that night. They were musically tight but there was something just a bit uptight about their stage presence, a little too conservative or maybe even too self-conscious in their attitude. The first couple of songs were pretty good, in fact, I even saw Al bouncing his head around (and he HATES the Replacements) but they ran into a snag with an atrocious cover of “Horse With No Name”. That became indicative of what followed, a predictable mid-level set of almost standardized rock, although very competently done, that was missing something internal. Their songs were too similar to each other for any to stick in my head afterwards, although they did do a good punk-guitar version on “Mongoloid”. I fervently hope that this is not an ideal show for them because when I’ve seen them before, what they lacked in professionalism they made up for in heart. I’d much rather see a band compromise musical perfection before physical abandon and knowing that these guys are experienced performers, I wanted to see some more spontaneity, even if the guitars were slightly out of tune or a few notes were missed. It’s up in the air whether they’ll choose to go one way or the other, I just want to see them do both.

Babes in Toyland are back! Midwest grunge-core with a serious beat to it. A female trio that don’t overtly flaunt their sexuality in your face (which I totally respect them for) they achieve their success how bands (any bands, male OR female) should be judged; by pure musical talent and guts they have plenty of, good songs on top of that and a great drummer to boot. Singer/guitarist Kat Bjelland is someone you would never want to get in a shouting match with as she can belt out and scream like a banshee on Halloween. A lot of feedback treatment on the guitar with an almost-tribal beat and a repetitive bassline rounded out the sound completely. My only reservation is seeing such a gut-level, underground band in such a pristine environment like Bogart's. Check out this band live (and their new LP on Twintone) because Babes in Toyland, along with the likes of L7 and the Lunachicks, represent the best in All-Female Reviews in the whole of the goddam States. Amen.

When I voted for Nomeansno as best live band of 1989, I never thought that any band without a gimmick or a theatre show could arrest my attention so completely as Victorians had. That is, until I saw Steel Pole Bathtub. If all SPBT shows have the intensity of this night, I could see these guys give those Canadians a run for the money in terms of sheer POWER (as generated by one set of drums, one bass guitar and one lead guitar). Both Nomeansno and Steel Pole Bathtub can be described similarly, combining elements of hardcore, punk, metal and a funky sorta bass beat. Their playing is impeccable, breakneck speed achieved with a musical clarity missing in 95% of hardcore bands who try to attempt that velocity. Where they differ most is Steel Pole’s approach to songwriting, their songs tend to be more conventional in their structures, more fluid yet still retaining an individual and original sound to them. Don't get me wrong, these guys are not imitators in a longshot, but when you’ve got such a great combo to review, why not compare them to the best there is?

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Hole, Butt Wizards, Manzanita Sisters

March 24, 1990

At Jabber Jaw

Reviewed by Al

(Substack note: Hole playing at the legendary Jabber Jaw, a coffee house in a residential neighborhood that hosted some of the coolest underground bands at the time.)

“These guys and girls are wild and wacky, sorta like a non-serious Celebrity Skin in stage presence. They have a bizarre mix of band members which includes Paul K. the head singer ring-leader, Ingrid the sexy guitar player, Alan (Bulimia Banquet) also on guitar, Mike (3 O’clock) on bass and who else I couldn’t tell under those costumes. They wear some of the wildest get-up (sic) to grace the local club circuit in some time. The fuckin’ place was packed, the PA sucked and, like, I’ve seen ’em before (they do wear thin after a few times sorry to say) so I headed out to the patio where the homeboys had the stash of ALCOHOL! Yeah! So I never saw any more bands that night. I missed the new improved Hole, but under those circumstances it was probably just as well.”

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Nymphs, Nuns, Slave

March 22, 1990

At the Coconut Teaszer

Review by Al

I think it was last issue that Joy pointed out that there are bands you want to go see, and bands you always accidentally see. This always happens at the Teaszer, and tonight was no exception. Slave is the ‘house’ band at the Teaszer, and so far I’ve managed to miss them, but fate caught up with me. Now I will AVOID them! Need I say more? Commercial rock band with a cute girl singer. Major label fodder.

Next up were the Nuns. I saw these guys at this very same place a few months ago and thought they were God-awful and well, I just thought I’d make sure. They did not disappoint me. The Nuns were never any good to begin with, I mean in their hey day they could pull it off with a good live intensity, and an honest-to-goodness sleazy stage persona. I saw them many times and I did like them for that. They also had a few good songs, “Suicide Child” being their underground hit that every one knows. Well, they homogenized their stage show into mediocrity and they’ve taken that very same hit song, extended it to an absurd length and beaten the soul out of it. Their “new” material is just not that outstanding, which leaves the Nuns standing there going through the motions like so many notready-for-big-time reunion bands have done. Oh, well.

I came here to seethe Nymphs. That must be pretty obvious. They did not disappoint either. I love the dirgy groove and in this small club (unlike their Universal show) everything immediately fell together. It was interesting to see that a lot of their old arrangements had changed, they must have learned a lot during their recording sessions, but that hypnotic groove was still there (not Inger! The music!). Of course, Inger was gracious as ever, feathered and flamboyant. Surprise of the night was having Perry Farrell (Janes Addiction) get on stage for a very rousing version of “Pigs In Zen” which totally brought the house down. I’m still patiently waiting for that fucking Nymphs LP that’ scorning out “soon”. When it does the rest of the country will hear what we’re always talking about...

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The Fluid, Sister Double Happiness

March 10, 1990

At Second Coming

Review by Joy

I haven’t felt such excitement leading up to a show in a long time and most of that was probably due to the fact that the Fluid played such an extraordinary show their last visit to Al’s Bar. To say that they kicked butt there would be an understatement, to say they rocked my innards inside out might be a little bit closer, but whatever. The description, this Second Coming show was buzzing around peoples’ lips for weeks.

Sister Double Happiness were even better than the night before, undoubtedly due to the much larger and more rowdier audience. Gary is a heartbreaker, crooning out some more of the best blues singing that I’ve heard in ages, and the rest of the band went all out. I could go on forever about this band... (* Note - for our more sadomasochistic readers, here’s Flipside’s “How to Hurt Yourself in 4 Easy Steps” 1). Drink large quantities of alcohol 2.) Listen to a really really good rockin’ band like SDH 3.) Stand at the front of the stage holding onto a monitor with one hand and the base of a mikestand with the other and 4.) bang your upper torso so hard that you crash your head onto the low Second Coming stage, stf and I both heartily recommend this, we bragged about our shiners for days...)

Ahhh... The FLUID. Let me tell you a little story. As a general rule of thumb, everything that Martin McMartin likes, I hate. Everything that I like, Martin hates (MTX being the only common ground.) Martin likes stuff from the mid-seventies. I HATE stuff from the mid-70’s. The Fluid has been accused of being too 70’s. Well, Martin hates the Fluid. I LOVE the Fluid. End of story? Their “Roadmouth” LP has gotten so much use on my turntable that I’ve even opted for the permanence of a Subpop compact disc. That, plus the fact that the Fluid just plain ROCK, makes for an especially fine evening.

Expectations high, they didn’t fail us. John Robinson went all-out on the larger Second Coming stage and James’ and Ricks’ guitar-s were as jubilantly loud as my hearing could take. I don’t buy that current 70’s schlock rehash because it’s just so DAMN BORING but with the Fluid, well, they’re just so DAMN ENERGETIC! None of that ‘mellowing out’ pot influenced crap or here, this is total cut-andbleed, bash-yer-head electrocution. Sounding killer through “Hooked” and “Big Brother”, when they broke into “Fools Rule”, I came as close to losing total control as I possibly want to, I mean, I was singing, “Ah knothat Ahmuh little Crazeh... Ah knothat they wouldn’t save meh... Ah da'wanna scream lahk ah baybee...” for days. Just ask Al and stf, they were singing along with me. Although I am far from giving “any ’ol Subpop band” the double thumbs up, the Fluid, along with Nirvana and L7, are examples of the best that label has to offer.

(P.S. If anyone lost a black leather jacket that night call Steve 818-577-2679 and identify the contents to claim it)”

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Neurosis, Green Day, Mr. T Experience, Samiam

March 16, 1990

At Gilman Street, Berkeley

Reviewed by Joy

Well, this show seemed like the Can’t-Miss of the Month so undaunted by distance factors, Al, stf and I piled into my car and off we went to San Francisco! Five hours and fifteen minutes later (just set the cruise control on eighty, pull off the shoes, plug in the Buzzcock tapes and turn on the radar detector, no prob), we screeched into Berkeley with time enough to spare for a quick walk up Telegraph to buy some comic books for KRK and have a couple of beers to boot.

Hop in the car again, down University to San Pablo and turn onto Gilman Street and then some horrendously bad ‘Mexican’ food in this restaurant that’s just a quick walk down the block. That bland crapola that tried to pass as a 'vegetarian burrito' just didn't cut it for us ’Mexperienced’ SoCals and even the Heinekin on tap couldn't wash that shit out of our mouths for quite awhile (LA might have smog, gang warfare and glam rock, but its Mexican food sure beats the pants off anything north of Santa Barbara). While waiting for the appearance of our buddy, Lawrence Livermore, I spied the countenance of the one and only Murray Bowles, ace photographer, and drunkenly (and quite kiddingly) yelled, “Hey Murray, we’re from outatown, buy us a beer!”

Well, let me tell you, Berkeley breeds Cool People like the fleas on Al’s cats and before you could even say, “Maximum Rock-n-Roll” here comes Murray with a pitcher in his hand! What a swell guy.

Time for the show... Off we go to Gilman Street and what to our wondering eyes appear but a HUGE crowd waiting to get in for this Lookout blowout. Waited around. None moved. Looked at the walls...waited some more. Ah! Spotted Dr. Frank and Aaron of the Mr. T Experience and back we go to the restaurant for another round of beer! Got the picture?

The bands: Samiam opened the show and were represented by the release of a three song 7 inch. I like this band, especially the way the James’ and Sergies' guitars play off each other but Al’s complaint (and I agree with him) was the relative sameness of all the songs of their set and vocalist Jason’s singular tense treatment of them. The post-hardcore / punkpop tendencies (though more the former- they are NOT a pop band by any margin) sound was convincing enough but they seem like a band that isn’t secure in their own sound yet and/or hadn’t the time to break out into other ways of playing. I don’t want to say ‘immature’ because that might give the impression that they are simple. On the contrary, I think some of the playing gets pretty sophisticated but I’d like to hear more catchy stuff like “Because You Don’t”, a song that switches instantly from some bass funky crooning to screaming guitars and then back again in the blink of an eye. Samiam is a band that makes me want to hear more from them, although I wasn’t particularly overwhelmed by their show. I think this band has the talent and potential to be some heavy duty aural candy, but I also think some more experimentation could help them out.

The Mr. T Experience has also released a single with Larry Livermore that I absolutely LOVE. Punkrock at its finest this single has gotten more use out of my turntable in the past week than all my Subpop and Lookout singles combined. Live, MTX were in excellent form tonight. While not as hot as that last legendary Al’s Bar show, the enthusiastic Gilman crowd went totally bonkers with every beat on Alex’s drumset. Even Al was waltzing around singing “Vel-veeetah...” all night long. I could go on and on but I think I’ll wait til our all-MTX Appreciation Issue comes out.

Green Day’ has an LP out now on Lookout called 39/Smooth which I’ve borrowed from Al’s Public Record Library many a time. Al Sobrante was looking mighty suave tonight doing something quite different than when I last saw him in Isocracy; really pop-punk oriented but unlike Samiam, Green Day go more of the pop route. Now don’t think I talking ‘pop’ in terms like the Oingo fuckin Boingo or something, Green Day would go right into the middle of the "punk section" in any half decent record store but are still miles away from headlining thrashers Neurosis. Think in terms of a suburban Undertones or something, add a great deal of teenage exuberance and a punk attitude and I’m a new fan. I MIGHT even forgive Lawrence if I have to BUY the record.

Speaking of Neurosis, I watched a song, wasn’t entirely impressed with the hard ‘thang’ they were doing but was out the door to interview Green Day for the duration of their set so I’ll not comment til I see them again. Sorry, guys, next time.

A big hello to Lint and Matt, I miss you, come back to LA so.

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Double Freak, No Doubt, Desperation Squad, Psychofunkapuss

April 12, 1990

At the Roxy

Review by KRK

I walked in as Desperation Squad were midway through what they called a set. The only tables that were occupied in the standing room only Roxy had little signs that read "Reserved for MCA Records". Ha ha ha ha ha! The tables were empty and the kids were sitting on the floor! I sat on the fucking tables only to put frowns on the No Doubt pussies who I guess were waiting to have some bald fat man sign 'em up. When the MCA geeks showed up, I couldn’t believe how cocky and pretentious these "hip" scenesters were. One quickly tells the waitress "These five are from MCA" referring to his friends, not me. This is the type ’o shit that makes the whole major label thing solid FUCKING GARBAGE!

Psychofunkapuss were the lamest white boy rock rap thing I’ve ever heard and unfortunately seen. The band had one token black guy on vocals. So predictable and stupid I couldn’t handle it. I got up and left! There was no way on earth I was going to sit through this slew of backwash doo-doo. Double Freak I didn’t have to see. I know where they stand and how deep in it they are. No Doubt had such a major label boner I didn’t even want to stick around for fear I might have lost it and started throwin’ chairs at 'em. Exactly the type of attitudes I try hard to avoid. What kind of band has their fans sit through such an obvious display of pompous, money starved antics?

World Trust were really upset on how the gig turned out. I’m sorry they got bumped to last as it was them I wanted to see.

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Saliva Luv Box, Holy Love Snakes, Anus the Menace

April 14, 1990

At the Casbah, San Diego

Review by Al

I hadn’t been to San Diego in a long time, so when the opportunity arose, I jumped. The Casbah (714-294-9033,2812 KettnerSt. San Diego) is a small, Gaslight-sized club, with a well stocked bar and a low attitude staff. They’ve had some cool shows here in the recent past (Weirdos, Celebrity Skin etc) and are good with pay and all that stuff. Anyway, I was a roadie for the Anus’ tonight so I shouldn't really review them, except to say that they were beautiful. Check their interview in this issue for more on them. Up next were the Holy Love Snakes, who are one of those Janes Addiction/Chili Peppers offshoots that seem to be popping up everywhere. Energy and hooks in their original material as well as a few covers, including a rave up of “Parasite” (Kiss) made their set enjoyable and fast paced. They timed it right so ended before I even knew it. They’ll probably do good in L.A., unless people harsh on them for their blatant influences.

Sativa Luv Box are a band you will certainly be hearing a lot form in the future. Chief character in this 3 piece unit is Patrick Mata of the legendary Kommunity FK. Pat, along with Mark (formerly Paper Bag) and Gerard on bass play a way more up-beat style than KFK did. Pat is still a very good front person, who sings with passion and conviction, and plays some mean garage hooks on his vox guitar. Adding to the garage overdrive is the fuzz bass, that seems to double as a lead instrument whenever Pat puts down the guitar to concentrate on some particular vocal passage. The drumming is no less than excellent, and totally compliments their sound, including a unique crash symbol sound that is such a signature of uniqueness it was all I heard for days. Put it all together and they’ve come up with their own sound - borrowing from everyone, sounding like no one, completely enjoyable. They raced through a good solid set and even threw in an old KFK song “We Will Not Fall” for all the Pat-fans, and there were a few there. If you have any interest in discovering new cool bands at all, then you should check out Sativa Luv Box. I know you couldn’t help but at least like them, you’ll probably love them.

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Satan’s Sadists

April 28, 1990

At partyhouse in Long Beach

Review by Al

A long time ago I saw Satan’s Cheerleaders at Safari Sams in Huntington Beach. They were an awesome instrumental group, playin’ up some of the meanist, evilest tunes this side of the Cramps, and doin’ it better. I thought I’d be seeing a lot of this band around, but that wasn’t the case. They crawled back into whatever cave they came out of and were never to be heard from again. Well not exactly. They changed their name to Satan’s Sadists and released a group of singles with various singers, including one with Vampira! But still, no live shows - or at least none that I had heard about. ’Till now, that is. It just so happened that I caught wind of this secret party/gig by sheer luck, and wouldn’t miss it for the world. The band was set up in a small room, playing only to the sinister glow of candle light and playing through modest equipment that was more than adequate for the room. A small group of “Satan” worshippers gathered to pay respect for a rare live performance of a band that I find is black-listed or generally banned from playing at most places around town, especially Long Beach. This 4 piece unit of otherwise normal looking maniacs raged thru their set, led by yet another new singer. Loud and distorted, driving and satisfying. Some sort of religious experience. Eventually the police had to come and close down the fun, but I went away satisfied!

The night was young, so of course we headed off to X=Art which had changed location at the last minute from the Second Coming (closed for drinking age violations) to the weird, all ages (where were the youngsters!) New Moon restaurant downtown. For some reason we got there early and so decided to go have a beer at Gorkys, just blocks away. I dont know if it’s just me, but I was thirsty and Gorky's beer was still a hard brew to swallow. The stuff sucks! Finally L.A. gets a brew pub and the beer sucks! Figures. Otherwise we watched some GIT students do their Santana set. Luckily we got in without a cover. Back to X=Art for better fun, or so I thought. Mirakel put on some great bashes at the Second Coming, himself getting into the dancing or swininging from a rafter swing, he arranged various performance pieces to always be going on somewhere. That worked good at the Second Coming with it’s various rooms, but tonights quick change of venue must have caught him off guard. The living room atmosphere of the New Moon (no stage, only a carpeted floor) kind of took away from any special settings, and the bands/performance artists starting with Theatre Carnivale and ending with H-Bomb White Noise were way too experimental in away too typical way. You know the way those bands sound, they fall into a certain tempo that is hypnotic in small doses, but quickly becomes toxic when you hear it all night. The performances were pretty cool but I actually came to see Sativa Lux Box who I have reviewed elsewhere and will spare you the drool. Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast, Mirakel is a genius at digging up the obscure, twisted and insane. We’ll see what he does next.

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Weirdos, Celebrity Skin, Liquid Jesus

Friday the 13th, April like

At the Roxy

Review by Joy

Another little story... back when I was in Jr. High School, the other kids used to torment me by throwing garbage and lunches and stuff and taunting me with “Punkers suck” jibes everytime I walked by. My locker was constantly vandalized and all my ‘peers’ generally made my life pretty miserable. I felt that I was the only one in the entire planet who absolutely HATED Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and pooka shell necklaces. Well, that might have been ten years ago but at the Roxy for Liquid Jesus on Friday night, all those emotions of anger, disgust and contempt came flooding back because this music is EXACTLY what made me become a punk rocker in the first place. As I watched this retro crap that, (while inexcusable enough to begin with for copying such a dismal genre) lacked even the slightest bit of originality or imagination, I couldn’t believe that people were EATING THIS SHIT UP! I don’t know if they were old enough so hat they could look upon the 70’s (bleah) fondly, or if they were too young to experience pre-KROQ music, but even thinking about their ’performance’ makes me want to throw up. I only felt better when I threw my drink at them. Then Al’s drink followed. Then I threw Gus’ drink. Then Johnny’s. Hippies suck. Cut your fucking hair.

By the time Celebrity Skin were scheduled to go on, the Roxy was so packed that it was almost unbearable. It was so oversold that it was not possible to walk from one side of the club to the other without a great deal of difficulty (bodies were packed solid from the stage to the back wall). Situations like this make me WANT to call the fire marshall. Anyway, as I was standing there with my face pressed into a leather-clad back, the lights dimmed and Celebrity Skin jumped into their opening song, "Monster". But wait...Where was singer Gary? All of a sudden, the rear balcony lights up and as everyone swiveled around to take a look, a figure totally clad in a suit of armor starts singing as clouds of smoke billowed down from the rafters. After the first verse the suit of armor disappears in darkness but SOMEBODY’S still singing! Turning to face the stage, there was Gary, surprise!, he was there behind the amps all along, looking amazingly like a sans-mustached Raymond Marble. Well, that was all of Celebrity Skin that I managed to see (although I did get a good view of the back of peoples’ heads) before I manhandled my way to the rear of the club. Not getting any better of a view, I realized how terribly BAD the sound is when you get past ten feet from the stage. Anyway, through the glimpses that I got of the band, they were not at their peak. Yeah, the songs sounded okay but the intimacy of a club atmosphere was gone and I was not particularly fond of suffocation.

The Weirdos were such a fresh breath of relief that it was the turning point in the whole night. Even though they started off a bit slow and it took a few songs to get warmed up, the change between the Country Club show and this show was enormous. The few shows in between have made a lot of difference as they played tighter and with more energy. Dix, in particular, seemed more in his element (a gorilla suit) and seemed to go out of his usual stoical self and beat his guitar around a bit more. “Shining Silver Light” sounded especially good but every time I hear its’ opening drums and guitars, I think that I’m going to be hearing the Dickies’ “Hideous”. Nickey looked like a Weirdo once again, his glam-fag outfit was gone but his drumming was right on the spot. John was his usual insane personality on stage, glaring out at the crowd like his face was about to explode but it was new bass addition and resident fashion statement, Tony, that stole this show. Their set built up after the shaky start and was at full force when they broke into “Solitary Confinement”. Directly after that, the bass amp blew out and after a few confusing minutes to get it to rights (gee, it must be nice to have Flea as a roadie) it took the “Destroy All Music” medley to get the momentum back. When they cracked into “Helium Bar” I knew that this was the climax as Tony jumped around the stage like a man possessed. Possessed by what, I don’t know, but he climbed the speakers (still playing) then dived off onto the middle of the stage without missing a note. Six feet off the ground, as if it were six inches. The song itself was perfect, not too long and not too short (their experiments with it didn’t work a lot of the time) and I think everyone there will pretty much agree that The Weirdos blew away the Skins on this particular night. Will there be a rematch?

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Down by Law, NOFX, Uncle Slam, Motor Psycho

April 1, 1990

At Coconut Teaszer

Review by Joy

Motor Psycho was crash-n-bash hardcore from Monrovia that was alright in their own genre but just not too original or exciting. Couldn’t live up to the cool name.

Uncle Slam had a more metallic edge to their hardcore, similar to the bandanna-clad sound from the Venice-SM area (Suicidal, etc...). The first big strike against them was when they took forever to get up and start playing.

With this many bands (ten) on the bill who are forced into short twenty minute sets, spending thirty minutes waiting is unforgivable. I wasn't too excited with their performance but then again, I’m not really into this type of sound and judging from the rambunctiousness of the audience, it was well received.

I’ve known the guys in NOFX for years, I went to high school art classes with drummer Erik and when I was booking Roxanne’s and 12XU (with Bob Fartblossom), they’d always show up, equipment in tow. looking for a chance to play. Much ribalded for their defense of Mystic Records, I had always sorta seen them as the "band-next-door" and half-dismissed their intentions to become serious musicians. Well, that was years and years ago and sometime between then and now, NOFX got good. I mean, really REALLY good. Now they have a killer record (CD even) on Epitaph and with these years of experience of playing and writing, they have become one of the great representatives of non-SE hardcore and have firmly etched out a permanent niche for themselves somewhere between SF and LA.

Energetic and playful, these guys can do punk rock better than most. Singer Mike practically drips with the sarcasm and humor that seems such the missing element in a scene that’s become so single-mindedly serious these days. Flying dreadlocks and accomplished players now, guitarist Eric gets some of the highest air I’ve seen since SNFU (although he seems to have a problem with loose picks). To quote a song title... "Don’t drink and drive, you might spill your drink!" You’ve come a long way, baby.

Down By Law features Dave Smalley fronting Chemical People doing all new songs ('cept one) and did a really killer show. Using a more hardcore singing style, Dave has used his experience doing ALL melodies to break away from his lan-ish tendencies that I felt was Dagnasty’s singular fault. Also playing rhythm guitar, he has again proven that he can sing with the best of them. While the guitar kept a certain punk/hardcore tune, it was the bass guitar that was cranked so loud that it overpowered BOTH guitars. They managed to pull it off because it was the intricate stylizations of Ed (Shit-Iforgot-his-last-name-again) that gave the songs that extra spark and freshness. Dave Naz did the usual excellent drumming job and they even closed with a killer rendition of "Values Again", one of the best tunes from Dagnasty's great "Can I Say" LP.

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The Music

The show reviews are so fun, but what did some of those shows sound like? Here’s music from some of the bands mentioned in the show reviews.

Satan’s Sadists

Al Flipside described this band’s music as “some of the meanist, evilest tunes this side of the Cramps”.

Holy Love Snakes

What one Flipside reviewer described as “…one of those Janes Addiction/Chili Pepper offshoots that seem to be popping up everywhere.” This albums’ last song, “The Stillest Hour,” has similar hippie vibes and instrumentation as Jane’s live cover of “Sympathy for the Devil.”

Spiderbaby

Gothic post-punk? Whatever you call this, I love it.

Too good not to include two. This one’s from 1989, but let’s go with it.

Sativa Luvbox

From 1989, but close enough. Cool guitar.

Psychofunkapuss

No Doubt

Before they released their self-titled debut in 1992, No Doubt recorded a lot of that music on a demo tape. This song got taken down from YouTube. It’s better that way. It was a horrible song.

Green Day

Circa 1990, on Lookout Records

The Fluid

Sub Pop

Liquid Jesus

Naked Soul

From the ashes of the Orange County punk band M.I.A.

Celebrity Skin

Before there was the Hole album Celebrity Skin, there was the glammy L.A. hair band.

Hole

And before there was Pretty on the Inside, there was this single.

Babes in Toyland

From their first album.

Neurosis

Killdozer

The Weirdos

70s punks who kept writing songs in the ’90s

NOFX

Alright, stay tuned for more Flipside show reviews and music.