If you’re in the mood for a blast of primal, early L.A. punk, you won’t find a more authentic band than The Controllers. Not only were they the first group to play at Hollywood’s notorious Masque club in the late 1970s but they were also among the earliest bands to combine the raw power of their native Michigan roots (Stooges, The MC5) with the faster, curter sonic reductions of The Ramones. Songs such as “Suburban Suicide” transplanted Iggy Pop’s nihilism to a ruthlessly bleak version of the San Fernando Valley, punching you in the gut with serpentine yet heavy riffs. The Controllers decried the neutron bomb even before The Weirdos did, and their unsentimental arrangement of Frankie Laine’s “Jezebel” set the template for such simpatico modern acolytes as The Mormons, demented contrarians Man-Wray and rabidly feral Gears spinoff The Gypz.

Wed., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., 2014
(Expired: 12/31/14)

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