Once Bitten

The holidaze are here, and since Nightranger's been a really good girl this year, we're hoping Santa will stretch out our stocking with lots of big punk-rock books: Brendan Mullen's pic-packed Masque manuscript, Amy Wallace and The Dictators' "Handsome" Dick Manitoba's The Official Punk Rock Book of Lists, and Punk 365, a fat 'n' fittingly ferocious photo flipper. The latter shared its release party at La Luz de Jesus last week with that of Robert Matheu's amazing new Creem book (we couldn't wait for Xmas and already bought that one), which chronicles the self-proclaimed "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine" in all its snarky, beer-drenched splendor. We've talked with Matheu before — when he was working on bringing the iconic/ironic mag back (he says it's still a possibility) — but we never knew just how many ties the Detroit-born photographer had to L.A. (he lives here, his work is all over Slim Jim Phantom's Cat Club, and at the party, he told us he and La Luz's Billy Shire were old comrades). "I helped a lot with the old Melrose gallery," he said as the X-like trio Los Trendy rocked out in the background. Also seen reminiscing about the bad ol' days at the party: 365 photogs Jenny Lens, Chuck Krall, Ann Suma and Theresa K (punkturns30.com), Rhino Records' Steve Gorman, Flipside mag's Pooch, and two ghosts from the rock gutter — Haunted Garage's Dukey Flyswatter and former Mau Mau Rock Wilder. Books are one thing, but with these two still roaming the city, we know punk really isn't dead.