Punk Rock

D Generation - The Troubadour - September 24, 2011

Lina LecaroSinger Jesse Malin finds his way to the bar ​D Generation at The Troubadour September 24, 2011 Better than... shows where the lead singer doesn't leave the stage, head to the bar, and throw back some tequila. Though they sweat and bleed New York, D Generation has an L.A. fan ba ... More >>

The Five Best East L.A. Backyard Punk Bands

Jennie Warren​[Editors' note: In this week's print edition Javier Cabral has a downright amazing piece on the eastside backyard punk scene. See also Jennie Warren's excellent slideshow.] Growing up in the East L.A., it seemed like everyone tried to form a punk band. Even I did. The scene goes ... More >>

Rancid - House of Blues Anaheim - 9/7/11

Keith PlocekTim Armstrong​Rancid, Agnostic Front House of Blues Anaheim Downtown Disney September 7, 2011 Better than: Knocking down brews with your bros at ESPN Zone. Sing the song of shirtless guy, he's sweating all over you... The House of Blues is smack-dab in Downtown Disney: no smoki ... More >>

Fucked Up at El Rey Theatre 7/26/11

Timothy Norris Fucked Up's Damian Abraham​Fucked Up, Trash Talk, and Fidlar July 26, 2011 The El Rey Better Than ... being security that night. When you enter the El Rey you feel like you're walking into a classic Hollywood theater. The venue's full bar, chandlers, balcony seating, and b ... More >>

Falling James' Gig of the Week: The Middle Class and Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds at the Echoplex, 6/24

Falling JamesThe Middle Class​So much of punk rock is centered around nostalgia these days, whether it's played by modern corporate pretenders aping their elders in watered-down, insipid ways or the surviving elders themselves, whose reunions are often too sluggish and self-congratulatory to e ... More >>

Music Picks: Willie Nelson's Country Throwdown, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs, Peter Murphy

Also, Erykah Badu, Andre Williams, Animals & Men and others

Music Picks: Matt & Kim, Partch, Booker T, Motley Crue,

Also, Spain, Civil Wars, Bruno Mars and others

Further Proof That Punk Rock Can Lead to a Fulfilling Career

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Saturday Night: Happy Birthday, Ian MacKaye

Timothy Norris​KCRW BROADCAST #110 for Saturday, April 16. Fanatics! It is Record Store Day. It is also Ian MacKaye's birthday. Today, Ian hits the deck at forty-nine years of age. I believe he will be at the Coachella Festival this weekend so we send our greetings and congrats from here. To ... More >>

Tuesday Twofer: The Sounds at Avalon, Punk Rock Karaoke at The Dragonfly

Kirsti Anna UrpaThe Sounds' Maja Ivarsson ​Tuesdays are always teeming with possibility when it comes to live music in Los Angeles. Of course, the toe-to-toe hipster hoedowns that are Dim Mak Studios and Check Yo Ponytail dominate the night most of the time, but other venues big and small seem ... More >>

Punk Marketing and other godawful motivational business books

​ Yes, Punk marketing exists, and it reads just like you would expect: like someone somehow converted the sound of those guys beating up Jello Biafra that one time into the medium of a self-helpy bullshit business book. The authors actually write: "The punk rock that burst rudely onto the scen ... More >>

"Hardcore Is a Complete, Legitimate California-born Music Form": An Interview with "American Hardcore" Author Steven Blush, Who Speaks Today at Book Soup with Keith Morris and Others

​ In his 2001 compendium, American Hardcore: A Tribal History, New York writer and former promoter Steven Blush all but dispensed with your dad's glamorized spit-scabs-and-safety-pin punk, instead focusing on hundreds of DIY, anarchic hardcore bands from the scene's peak between 1980 and 198 ... More >>

Music Picks: Iannis Xenakis Now and Tomorrow, Ozzy Osbourne, War Tapes, Liz Pappademas

Also, Savage Republic, Tanya Morgan, the Church, the Fling and others

Mick Rock

Joy Division's Peter Hook: "We Wanted to Sound Like The Damned and The Sex Pistols"

​After a Joy Division U.S. tour was thwarted 30 years ago, the opportunity for most Americans to hear the band's 1979 debut album live was, much like its title, an unknown pleasure. For the past several months, Peter Hook -- without fellow Joy Division/New Order members Bernard Sumner and Step ... More >>

Bad Religion, the Book

The Rain Makes LA More Analog Than Digital: Henry Rollins on the Weather, Alyssa Milano's Charity Work (Yes, Alyssa Milano) and Shaking Booker T's Hand

Maura LanahanOur eminent columnist, Mr. Henry Rollins!​[The one and only Henry Rollins will be contributing a weekly column and far-reaching reportage to the music section of the LA Weekly. Look for your weekly Henry Rollins fix right here on West Coast Sound every Friday and make sure to tune ... More >>

Return to Kill City

Iggy Pop's L.A. album, cleaned up

Interview: Beloved DJ Joe Sib On Growing Up Punk Rock in LA

Joe Sib, unplugged​Joe Sib -- Side One Dummy Records co-owner, former Wax frontman and former Indie 103.1 DJ (he currently hosts Complete Control on Star 98.7) -- gets nostalgic in his one-man show, California Calling: Growing Up Punk Rock, which he's been touring for a year and performs at th ... More >>

Exclusive Interview: Megadeth's David Ellefson on Thrash Metal, his Favorite Bible Story and the Status of That Elusive American "Big Four" Tour (Yes You, Metallica. We're Waiting.)

Valerie McRobertsDavid Ellefson enjoying a stiff Starbucks before Megadeth's set​Megadeth are undoubtedly one of the biggest thrash metal bands of all time. Fronted by Dave Mustaine, founder, guitarist and vocalist, the band was formed in the early '80s after Mustaine was kicked out of Metalli ... More >>

A Punk Rock Interview with Shepard Fairey, Featured Artist for Alternative Press Magazine's 25th Anniversary Exhibit

Shepard Fairey, the DJ​Although his most recognizable (and controversial) work is 2008's Barack Obama "HOPE" poster, influential street artist Shepard Fairey's biggest motivation comes from connecting with music, not making splashy headlines. Old school album art, flyers and T-shirts from band ... More >>

KNOW YOUR PUNK

Over the Weekend: Buzzcocks at Club Nokia

Falling JamesThe Buzzcocks' Peter Shelley​ Let other punk rock bands sing about anarchy and nuclear destruction. The Buzzcocks specialize in affairs of the heart, and singer-guitarists Steve Diggle and, especially, Pete Shelley have penned an endless series of love songs that distill all of th ... More >>

5 Questions with The Stranglers' Hugh Cornwell [ Free Album Download!]

5 Questions with The Stranglers' Hugh Cornwell [ Free Album Download!]

Tonight in NYC: Sebastian Meissner and Kwartludium Adapt SST Records Output

This struck us as a potentially fascinating exercise that we would love to see tonight --except it's in New York. German electronic producer Sebastian Meissner (aka Klimek) is teaming up with Polish avant-classical group Kwartludium to present "Solid State Transmitters," an homage to great LA label ... More >>

The Clash's Coolest Dance Floor Moments

There are those who think that The Clash was at its best during its early punk rock days and others who believe that the band didn't hit its creative stride until London Calling, when the dance floor-friendly rhythm section began to truly take shape. Since this writer falls into the latter category, ... More >>

New Year's Eve in LA: Bubbly and Bumpin' In the Clubs with Arabian Prince, Hang the DJs, Part Time Punks and More

The year -and decade- are done, and the city's biggest, most buzzed about New Year's Eve bashes (Hard, Giant, Gridlock) are either out of your budget or out of your comfort zone. The house party of a good friend -with lots of other good friends- might be optimal this Thursday night, but we think we' ... More >>

Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Antonino D'Ambrosio and Shepard Fairey at Subliminal Projects: Bitter Tears, Fury, and Politics

By Barbara Celis Art is the antidote. This timeless truth became clear once again on Saturday night when Subliminal Projects, the Echo Park art gallery owned by Shepard Fairey, hosted a politically- and musically-charged event that celebrated artists as activists and art as a way to agitate conscio ... More >>

LA Ink's Corey Miller: "I'm a Grateful, Old-School Kind of Carny"

Powerflex 5 via MySpace​St. Louis is hosting a tattoo convention and Nick Lucchesi at our sister paper The Riverfront Times scored an interview with LA Ink's Corey Miller, reality star (he's the one on the show without the boobs), surf rocker, punk rock lifestyle decorator, and self-described ... More >>

Mullen on Music

Brendan Mullen the Writer: Highlights of his Work for the Weekly

In addition to opening punk club the Masque, LA DIY music giant Brendan Mullen, who died at age 60 yesterday after suffering a stroke on Saturday, was a longtime LA Weekly music writer whose prescient insight and in-the-trenches curiosity captured the experience of being a music head in LA in the 8 ... More >>

Part Time Punks Festival Weekend: Raincoats, Gang of Four, and more.

Part Time Punks Festival Weekend: Raincoats, Gang of Four, and more.

Rock Picks: Future of the Left, Deerhoof, Ronnie Mack's Barndance, The Urinals

Also, Torche, Alejandro Escovedo, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, and others

Rock Picks: Jon Brion, Andrew Bird, Tortoise, Vice Squad

Also, Beyonce, the Datsuns, the Veils, the Germs and others

Rock Picks: Daedelus, Peanut Butter Wolf, Femi Kuti, Isis

Also, The Choke, Nouvelle Vague, Wilco, Sunset Rubdown and others

25 Years of 'Double Nickels on the Dime': Celebrating Los Angeles, 1984

The 25th Anniversary of the Summer of LA Post-Punk is upon us. It was a quarter-century ago this month that San Pedro's best, the Minutemen, with a simple, defiant declaration -- "Take That, Huskers!" -- unleashed Double Nickels on the Dime, a double-album response to SST labelmate Husker Du's equal ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Oprah/KFC Backlash, Lebowski Fest, Video Game Girls Burlesque, Anthony Kiedis Gets Iggy Pop's Sweat in His Eye

Mother's Day may already be a Hallmark holiday but that didn't stop Oprah, KFC and El Pollo Loco from turning it into a full-blown, corporate flame (grilled chicken) war over the weekend. Is nothing sacred? As Gendy Alimurung reported on Saturday, "The latest installment in our continuing coverage o ... More >>

Live in L.A.: Anthony Kiedis Gets Iggy Pop's Sweat in His Eye, Receives Stevie Ray Vaughn Award

View more photos in the "MusiCares: Anthony Kiedis, Iggy Pop, Ronnie Wood, Steve Jones @ Club Nokia" slideshow. Colin Young-WolffAnthony Kiedis at the fifth annual MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit"I'm not crying, that's just Iggy Pop's sweat in my eye," joked Anthony Kiedis at the MusiCares fifth annual ... More >>

LA People 2009: Punkissance Man — Tim Armstrong

Ten Great Cover Songs from Coachella 2009 (and a few extras)

Timothy NorrisEven the machinery was flashing the horns. Nothing says "I love you" like a cover song. Artists at Coachella like to acknowledge their influences, love to thrill the crowd with a surprise singalong. This year bands drew from music of many genres, from ragtime to post punk to hip hop. ... More >>

Rock Picks: Mulatu Astatke, The Soft Pack, Katy Perry, Merle Haggard

Also, Cut Chemist, NOFX, Hal Blaine’s 80th bash and more

The Day the Music Died: The End of Indie 103.1

Henry Rollins, music director Mark "Mr. Shovel" Sovel and DJ Darren Revell talk about the shutdown

Rock Picks: Scarcity of Tanks, the Walkmen, Chromeo

Also, the Ettes, the Dogs, George Jones and others

Weiss' 50 Best Albums of the Year (#40-31) (Sponsored By Crystal Pepsi)

If you're going to drink one clear cola this year, make it Crystal Pepsi. Please.40. No Age-Nouns (Sub Pop) Face it, *Nouns* is this decade's *Let it Be* (The Replacements, not The Beatles): A ragtag posse of scruffy dudes sonically illustrating their homes with spectacular tunes and pure passi ... More >>

Idealist Propaganda: The Raw Power of Glen E. Friedman

Photos by Erin Broadley. Click images for entire Idealist Propaganda slideshow."Search and Destroy" funnels out onto the 10:30 p.m. Saturday Sunset Blvd. sidewalk, violently greeting late-arrivals to Glen E. Friedman's Idealist Propaganda exhibit. Iggy's cocaine cacophony carves up Tymphanic cavitie ... More >>

Partying Like It's 1983: Part-Time Punks Announce Post-Punk Fest Featuring A Certain Ratio, Pylon, Savage Republic, Vivian Girls and More

A Certain Ratio's "Shack Up" This just in from the great Part-Time Punks posse: Los Angeles will be the location of the world’s first-ever Post-Punk Festival (or at least the first since 1982 or whenever the last Futurama was held in the UK!). The day-long event will be held in conjoined venues ... More >>

Live Nation's Crown Jewel: Hollywood Palladium Reopens This Week

From Blue Eyes to Jay-Z, venue has played host to the history of American music

Rockers at Morrison Hotel Gallery with Legendary Music Photographer Bob Gruen

To be honest, I never thought I'd be standing in legendary photographer Bob Gruen's teenage bedroom. The unkempt bed covered by a Led Zeppelin blanket, the shelves of rock memorabilia, the walls plastered with photos and cutout articles from vintage rock magazines like Creem and Rock Scene... it is ... More >>

Crash Landing: What We Do Is Secret

Germs biopic turns a lens on the infamous L.A. punk band and its ill-fated front man, Darby Crash

Joe Carducci's Book Enter Naomi Recounts History of SST Records

Recalling label's photographer Naomi Petersen, rock critic looks back at his roots in the L.A. punk explosion of the 1980s