LAist: Indie = Local

Josh Strike

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 17:37:43 -0800

Noted - LA bore a lot of responsibility for the Paisley movement, too. For some reason, I've always thought of it as a bay area sound. Personal biases? I dunno. The Marquis is absolutely right, of course, from a certain perspective. Jesus, I wish I had a new LA band like Possum Dixon to write about. Those guys were on a different fuckin' plane. Yes, it's true that nostalgia, interpretation and pastiche have replaced genuine originality in music -- not just in LA, but in all American rock. And it's true that over-production has gotten so rampant as costs have dropped that it's hard to pick out one band from another. It's even true that we're living in a redux of the corporate '70s. But...come one. Some of these bands I listed are pretty good. What about Ninja Academy? They're not exactly Slug, but they've definitely got something going and it ain't bland, that's for sure.

MarquisChaCha

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 10:37:05 -0800

The Paisley Underground was an SF based music scene? I don't think so, I'm sure Mike Quercio would disagree with you too... Damn, no wonder the LA music scene is so dead and lacking community, all these bands are so utterly bland and unoriginal. We got people making music totally devoid of any real personality or purpose. Half-assed soft rock only it's being disguised under the moniker of "indie rock" now. Yes folks it's updated 1970's MOR for the new millenia. Get yourself a shaggy hair-do, some converse hi-tops, and some kcrw play time and you got yourself an "underground" band. In the early 90's when no one gave a shit about LA, it was pumping out some weird off kilter and kick ass music that you could only hear on kxlu and Andrea Enthal's 12 o'clock rock. Slug, Distorted Pony, Ethyl Meatplow, Sylvia Juncosa, Charles Brown Superstar, Possum Dixon, shit even Beck back then. I guess things come and go in cycles, eventually the good stuff will rise to the top, hopefully...

Ted

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 04:33:14 -0800

I would nominate Helen Stellar as the best local band in LA/ Thanks.

Dave

Mon, 08 Aug 2005 17:09:43 -0800

Thanks for the info, I'l check it out.

Josh Strike

Mon, 08 Aug 2005 15:58:00 -0800

Hey, Dave. I'd suggest starting with a website like Ambitious Outsiders, who have a very good calendar of upcoming shows well in advance, a focus on local and more underground bands, and a list of venues.

Dave

Mon, 08 Aug 2005 15:42:03 -0800

Hey there, recently moved to LA I was wondering what some of the best places to catch bands like these (Underground LA) would be, bear in mind that im setting up shop in Santa Monica. Thanks

Perv

Mon, 08 Aug 2005 14:02:36 -0800

Dammit! Am I too old to get in on this underage chick-banging? I'm 30, but I could probably learn my requisite 3 chords by tomorrow.

Marleigh

Mon, 08 Aug 2005 13:54:25 -0800

"No matter how good their songs are, how ferocious their delivery, we can't help thinking of every new band on KROQ just how many dicks they sucked to get that little slice of faux-fame they can't wait to leverage by banging as many underage girls as they can cram into their tour bus before their fifteen minutes are up." Genius!