Punk Rock

Sublime Is 25! Fans Reflect on What the Band Means to Them

Sublime played their first gig in Long Beach on July 4, 1988, and this year the group would have been 25. A new live album, 3 Ring Circus: Live at the Palace - October 21, 1995, marks the occasion, growing the reggae-punk act's posthumous catalogue to Pac-like proportions. Though the original in ... More >>

RIP Santa Monica Civic Auditorium: Former Punk Haven Finished Holding Concerts

For the last 55 years, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium has had all types of boring conventions, cat shows and craft fairs. But it's also held some amazing concerts; truth be told, its importance to the local rock and punk music scenes cannot be overstated. Due to a combination of obsolescence and ... More >>

Henry Rollins: Kill Your Past

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Sunday KCRW broadcast.] See also: Henry Rollins: The Interview! Anger, Drugs and the Black Flag Reunion Several days ago ... More >>

MOCA Web Series Chronicles the Art of Punk

The logo is simple. Four heavy black bars sitting side by side — one up, one down, one up, one down — creating a wave effect: a black flag flying in the wind of discontent. Few logos are as universally recognized and revered as the one Raymond Pettibon designed for L.A. punk legends Blac ... More >>

Fans Share Their Favorite Henry Rollins Memories

It's Henry Rollins week here at West Coast Sound. In conjunction with Ben Westhoff's cover story interview with our columnist -- who has a new book out of collected L.A. Weekly writings -- we asked our readers for stories about meeting him, and about what his work meant to them. See also: "Henry R ... More >>

Fanatics! We Are Onto Something With This Playlist

RADIO BROADCAST #219 06-09-13 See also: Henry Rollins: The Interview! Anger, Drugs and the Black Flag Reunion Fanatics! Good grief, we are onto something with this playlist. Celebrating the Stooges being in Southern California this weekend, we will begin both hours with Raw Power tracks. Alas, t ... More >>

How's the Food at the Old Black Flag Church?

By Kate Stephanus As referenced in our Henry Rollins cover package this week, a 1924 abandoned Baptist church in Hermosa Beach hosted some of the most influential punk bands in the SoCal scene's nascent days, like the Descendants, Circle Jerks, Redd Kross, and, of course, Blag Flag; some of the lat ... More >>

Henry Rollins: The Interview! Anger, Drugs and the Black Flag Reunion

Henry Rollins began writing his L.A. Weekly column in early 2011, and it quickly grew to be one of the paper's biggest draws. The column succeeds for many reasons -- readers' innate fascination with his time with hardcore punk heroes Black Flag, the fervency of Rollins' unflinching advocacy for his ... More >>

Fanatics! We Think This Is the Right Show for a Sunday

RADIO BROADCAST #218 06-02-13 See also: Henry Rollins: Rush Limbaugh Gets It Wrong, Again Fanatics! I don't know why I keep thinking that each show we do is the best one yet, but I almost always do. This is an amazing line up of songs. I know we have played the Prehensile Monkeytailed Skink track ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' Radio Show This Week Will Be Live

RADIO BROADCAST #217 05-26-13 See also: Henry Rollins: Remembering Ray Manzerek Fanatics! Below, you will see what we have prepared for your hopeful enjoyment. I will be back from location, and we will go for our first live Sunday show. As some of you know, I have been out on the east coast, work ... More >>

Fanatics! Sunday's Show Is Packed With Mix Tape Goodness

RADIO BROADCAST #215 05-12-13 Fanatics. I would like to thank the girls from Honest Marquee for giving us one of their new tracks for us to play. I think it's a great one. Sunday's show is packed with mix tape goodness and I think you're going to dig it. I want to thank you for all the letters yo ... More >>

Yes, Jennifer and Jessica Clavin Used to Be in Mika Miko, But Now They're Bleached

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] Let's just get this out of the way. Until now, Jennifer and Jessica Clavin have been primarily known for singing and playing bass in the seminal Smell pu ... More >>

Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Moves to Sunday Nights

See also: Henry Rollins: Dead Children in Afghanistan KCRW BROADCAST #212 04-21-13 Fanatics! Our show has moved, or that is to say, has been moved by forces much, much greater than The Big Three and now we find ourselves on Sunday nights from 8 to 10 pm. The wisdom or lack thereof shall make itsel ... More >>

Five Unsung Punk Rock Guitarists

You can't please everyone. No sooner had my list of the five best punk rock guitarists gone up than the complaining started. Folks were annoyed that there was a tie for first, yes, but that was only one of the things they found to complain about. Mostly it was about how their no-talent low-life favo ... More >>

The Top 5 Punk Rock Guitarists

Somewhere along the line, punk rock's amateurish enthusiasm became conflated with a dearth of talent. That's OK -- anything to keep the squares out -- but it's not entirely accurate. Indeed, it was hard paring this list down to just five. While you might complain that your favorite isn't on here, it ... More >>

Mike Atta Benefit - The Echo & Echoplex - 1/25/13

The Adolescents, Mike Watt, and others Mike Atta Benefit The Echo and Echoplex 1/25/13 It's time to "pogo and stomp the shit out of cancer," said Alice Bag at Friday's benefit concert to support punk forerunner Mike Atta. See also: Henry Rollins: The Column! Alice Bag's 
Punk Rock Legacy Diagn ... More >>

Black Flag Are Back Together

Black Flag is back together, and are almost done with a new album, according to an SST press release. See also: Black Flag's Damaged Changed Punk, and L.A.: 30 Years Later, Its Impact Is Still Felt The lineup is Greg Ginn on guitar, Ron Reyes on vocals, Gregory Moore on drums and Dale Nixon on bas ... More >>

Bad Religion's Greg Graffin Challenges Authority Through Fucking Science

For over 30 years, Bad Religion have carved out a niche as the thinking man's punk rock band. When they formed in Los Angeles in 1980, the inspiration for their lyrics came from the topic of corporate greed and the conflicts between philosophy, science, and religion. The band's 16th full-length albu ... More >>

The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend

Friday, January 4 Los Cincos, Silver Daggers, et al, at The Smell's Quinceañera THE SMELL When a truly DIY, all-ages space lasts for 15 years, you don't celebrate a birthday -- you celebrate a victory! So let's salute L.A.'s Smell, which has survived and even thrived to become a hometown instituti ... More >>

Music Picks: Lord Huron, Matthewdavid, Smell 15th Anniversary Party

Music Picks: Chino XL, Marissa Nadler, As Blood Runs Black

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: More Hendrix and Some Old Favorites

KCRW Broadcast #182 for Saturday, September 29, 2012 See also: Fanatics! I am in Pierre, South Dakota. Tonight, we finish our four-part Hendrix trip. Hour 1 is some bootleg material and some of the less traveled roads of Mr. Hendrix. Most of these tracks are in print on different labels, most of ... More >>

Music Picks: Fiona Apple, Austra, and the Hives

Music Picks: FYF Festival, Jillinda Palmer, Gaslamp Killer

Snarl For the Camera!

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: British Invasion

KCRW Broadcast #175 for Saturday, July 28, 2012 See also: Henry Rollins: The Column! Americans Will Never Give Up Their Guns Fanatics! Since I will be in beautiful Dorset, UK on this evening, we have already put this show together and it is ready to lunge forth when the engineers at KCRW hit the b ... More >>

The Zeros, The Muffs - The Troubadour - 7/20/12

The Zeros, The Muffs The Troubadour 7-20-12 See also: Our interview with Javier Escovedo Even though the Zeros were born at the dawn of the punk era in 1976 and the Muffs didn't start until the depths of the grunge scene 15 years later, they couldn't have been more perfectly billed last night at ... More >>

The Zeros Play the Troubadour Tonight!

See also: The Best Five Concerts in L.A. This Weekend The Zeros were punk when most people didn't know what punk was. The L.A.-by-way-of-Chula Vista band released their first single on legendary Bomp! Records in 1977, that magical year when punk exploded. The folks involved in their early days re ... More >>

Roberta Bayley

The Top Five Pop Punk Bands of All Time

Top 20 Greatest L.A. Punk Albums of All Time Top 20 Worst Bands of All Time In the past couple of decades, it's hard to think of a more-maligned genre than pop-punk. (That is, except nu-metal.) But it's a shame; and as someone who spent a lot of time listening to pop-punk in his preteens, I can app ... More >>

Top 20 Greatest L.A. Punk Albums of All Time: The Complete List

*Top 20 Worst Bands Ever: The Complete List *Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre: The Complete List *Top 20 Sexiest Female Musicians of All Time: The Complete List *Top 20 Sexiest Male Musicians of All Time: The Complete List The history of Los Angeles punk is largely composed of a series ... More >>

Top 20 Greatest L.A. Punk Albums of All Time: 20-11

*Top 20 Worst Bands Ever: The Complete List *Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre: The Complete List *Top 20 Sexiest Female Musicians of All Time: The Complete List *Top 20 Sexiest Male Musicians of All Time: The Complete List The history of Los Angeles punk is largely composed of a series ... More >>

Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival - Las Vegas - 5/26 - 5/28

See also: *Punk Legends Pennywise Have a New Singer, But You Shouldn't Write Them Off *The Adicts on Football Hooliganism, Masturbation, and Running Up $400 Bar Tabs Better than: Fucking Coachella. Punk rock has its own festival in the middle of a desert somewhere -- Las Vegas. Organized by the St ... More >>

Still a Malcontent

A midlife crisis spawns Keith Morris' new band Off!

Esther Wong: Her Flawed Legacy

Contrary to revisionist history, her club Madame Wong's did not propel L.A.'s punk scene

The Vex and Chicano Punk: A Very Brief History

See also: The Five Best East L.A. Backyard Punk Bands Chicanos have played a defining role in punk rock since its inception. In fact, Michigan's ? and the Mysterians are a strong contender for the first band to be labeled "punk rock." A little closer to home, East Los's Cannibal and the Headhunter ... More >>

Green Day Never Sold Out, You Just Got Old and Complacent

One of the most mainstream punk bands since the new millennium, Green Day has faced criticism for selling out ever since releasing 2004's American Idiot -- some would say as far back as after the release of 1994's Dookie. Fuck that. They didn't sell out. In fact, American Idiot and 21st Century Br ... More >>

X, Dead Kennedys, the Avengers - MOCA at the Geffen - 1/28/12

X, Dead Kennedys, the Avengers MOCA at the Geffen 1-28-12 (Much) Better Than ... hearing many of these same songs butchered on punk rock karaoke night at the local sports bar. Of course there's something oddly oxymoronic about a museum inviting punk rock bands over to play (albeit safely outside o ... More >>

NOFX - House of Blues - 1/17/12

NOFX House of Blues Sunset Strip 1/17/12 See also: Our NOFX slideshow Better than ...All of the other shows NOFX played this week After nearly four hours of opening bands, NOFX finally took the stage in front of a packed house at House of Blues Hollywood last night. Lead Singer Fat Mike enticed t ... More >>

Punk Rock Museum Opens Today: Our Exclusive Preview

See all our pictures from the Punk Rock Museum Opening. L.A. scenester icon Taquila Mockingbird made a heartfelt promise three decades ago to keep "keep punk alive," and she's been doing it pretty much everyday of her life since. It fuels her very existence. But this weekend, the writer/singer/arti ... More >>

Henry Rollins: The Column! The Time I Made a Punk Rocker Cry

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.] Weeks ago, my L.A. Weekly super editor Ben Westhoff asked me about my plans for 2012. I told h ... More >>

The Talking Heads Were Way More Innovative Than The Ramones

The Talking Heads​Welcome to our new column, Deathmatch. Here, we'll compare two artists who have something in common -- musical or sartorial style, era, fan base -- and then determine, conclusively, who is better. The statement "The Talking Heads are a better band than The Ramones" will draw ... More >>

"She Gets a Free Abortion": The Five Dopiest Political Punk Songs

See also: *The Top Five L.A. Punk Albums of 2011 *Kelly Clarkson Endorses Ron Paul: The Five Most Baffling Political Pairings The Iowa caucuses are being held today, which means that Republican primary season is about to kick into high gear. Spoiler alert: The candidates all suck. But you knew tha ... More >>

CBGB Gingerbread House

UnknownCBGB gingerbread house​24, 24 hours to go, we wanna be sedated -- with cookies and sugar. Perhaps we will be if we tear into the most punk rock gingerbread house ever. Didn't think punk and baked goods could go together? Think again. We spotted this gingerbread replica of legendary NYC ... More >>

Black Flag's Damaged Changed Punk, and L.A.

30 Years Later, Its Impact Is Still Felt

GV30: Black Flag, Descendents, The Vandals - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium - 12-18-2011

Javier CabralKeith Morris and Chuck Dukowski of Black Flag​See also: *Reviewed: GV30 Night One, featuring Social Distortion, X, Adolescents, 12-16-2011 *Tons Of Punk Videos Were Yanked Off YouTube: Here's What Happened *Milo Aukerman Interview: The Descendents Attempt To Clone Themselves Las ... More >>

Tons Of Punk Videos Yanked Off YouTube: Here's What Happened

Robert KenneyGreg Ginn, second from left​By Nicholas Pell On Wednesday morning, several punk bands awoke to find their videos had been removed from YouTube. They were understandably irritated; that's almost worse than running out of beer. In their places were notes that they'd been yanked d ... More >>

GV30: An Epic Interview With Social Distortion's Mike Ness

​See also: Goldenvoice: The Hazy Punk Rock Early Days. Founder Gary Tovar recalls the unlikely beginnings of the influential concert production company Thirty years in, Social Distortion are as vital and voracious as ever. Their shows continue to sell out, and their material still speaks to p ... More >>

Total Chaos - Someone's Backyard - 12-10-2011

Javier CabralRob Chaos and Shawn Smash of Total Chaos​See also: *East L.A. Backyard Punk Scene Rages On *The Five Best East L.A. Backyard Punk Bands Better than...drinking beer anywhere warm. On Saturday night around three hundred heads showed up to a tiny backyard in Elysian Valley, where t ... More >>

Iggy and The Stooges - Hollywood Palladium - 12-01-11

See also: *Henry Rollins: The Column! Is Raw Power the American answer to Exile on Main St.? *Our Iggy and The Stooges and Le Butcherettes slideshow *Le Butcherettes' Teri Gender Bender is the most volatile woman in rock *Le Butcherettes' Teri Gender Bender On Raw Meat And Sexism In Mexico Iggy and ... More >>