Artwork from Tomata at MutMuz Gallery (Pic: Liz O)
A cool thing that happened this summer is that, little by little, more people started to read this site. I don’t know how most of you got here, but, thanks for reading! If you like what you see, please check back often or sign up for the weekly newsletter. And, please, share what you enjoyed with anyone else who you think might be into it.
I do like to check the site’s stats, but don’t really live by them because if there’s any lesson to learn from the age of enshittification it’s that numbers do not equal quality. But, since I also don’t like to pick favorite stories, it makes more sense to do a round-up of the five most read stories between Memorial Day and the day I made this list (8/26 in case you’re wondering).
Paul Barker returns to Slipper Clutch for a Lead Into Gold set on Saturday, August 30 (Pic: Liz O.)
I’m not DJing this weekend, but there’s a lot happening in L.A. over the Labor Day holiday. Keep reading for some of the concerts, dance clubs and movie screenings going on between Thursday, August 28 and Wednesday, September 3.
Last week, Hunx and His Punx released their first new album in over a decade. Walk Out on This World is an album several years in the making and the backstory is marked by tragedy, including the death of bassist Shannon Shaw’s fiancé in 2022 and, more recently, the Eaton Fire, which devastated Seth Bogart’s neighborhood. You might think that would make for a somber album, but Hunx and His Punx don’t play like that. Walk Out on This World is real, an album that acknowledges that life is rough without dropping the beat.
The Ohm Records booth specializing in vintage Jamaican music at VinylCon. (Pic: Liz O.)
It’s Saturday morning, maybe 11 a.m., and I’ve criss-crossed the floor of VinylCon at least a couple times already. This is the second time I’ve passed Ohm Records, who specialize in vintage Jamaican music, and I’m curious to see what they have, but, I don’t know where to start digging. I listen to ska and rocksteady and reggae and dub, but don’t collect these records and don’t feel all that knowledgeable on the subjects. I look around and notice two boxes of 45s priced at $5. I guess I should head there first. Almost instantly, I’m overwhelmed by the amount of music I don’t instantly recognize.
Last weekend, VinylCon, which has already had shows in Philadelphia and Denver, made its debut in Los Angeles with a two-day record fair at California Market Center. The event brought together dozens of vendors, whose collections varied from new and vintage rock to Latin American music to global dance to hip-hop. There was a lot to take in and, over the course of nearly two hours, I barely scratched the surface of what was inside VinylCon. While Random Internet Dude might think I should have spent more time perusing the bins, my budget said otherwise. Random Internet Dude will probably also side-eye my purchases. There was nothing rare in my haul. No grail records or undiscovered heat. It wasn’t even really a haul. In total, I bought five records. But, I’m not writing this for bragging rights.
Album cover of The New Eve Is Rising by The New Eves
Earlier this month, I read a review of The New Eves album The New Eve Is Rising, which referenced The Slits and The Wicker Man, on Bandcamp and promptly bought the album based on my love of post-punk and the original 1973 The Wicker Man, which is the only version of the film that matters and, yes, I’m including that overhyped waste-of-time Midsommer when I say that. But, back to The New Eves. The album is killer and I’ve been wanting to play “Highway Man,” but haven’t because it seemed like the first play should be for a very specific crowd. That brings us to Underground on Friday night. I was playing upstairs. It wasn’t packed or anything, but there were a handful of goths in flowing skirts dancing to “Christine,” the Siouxsie and the Banshees song, and, I thought, if anybody is going to get The New Eves, it’s them. So, I played the song and every single one of them stayed on the dance floor for the whole three minutes and 43 seconds.
I finally got around to playing Confidence Man’s new track, “Gossip,” as well. It did pretty well and someone came up to the booth and asked about it, which is a good sign. The same person then mentioned a mashup that I played way back in the day that was Ladytron and Kylie Minogue. I love that one, but, I said, I literally only have it on vinyl. There’s a story behind that record too that I’ve been meaning to post, but you’ll have to wait for it.
Anyhow, the set list is below. New/ish tunes are in bold.
SPO-20 (the robot) and Professor B. Miller (the human) of Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra (Photo: Becky DiGiglio)
The first time I dropped the needle on my vinyl copy of Have an Existential Crisis, guest vocalist Spencer Moody kicked off the Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra album with “Pick ‘Em Up.”
“I’m picking up the pieces/Of my belief system,” he sang in a voice that’s instantly recognizable if you ever listened to Murder City Devils.
On my second listen, the same song played. This time though, Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra’s usual lead singer lamented the loss of core beliefs.
“It’s crumbling apart,” the robotic SPO-20 declares, “Fact/By fact/By fact”
This Friday, August 22, is Yeah Yeah Yeahs x Siouxsie and the Banshees Night at Club Underground. Larry G. and I are DJing and both floors of Grand Star Jazz Club will be open. It’s been more than a year since Underground last did this theme and, if you’ve been to it before, then you know it’s a good time. Tickets are available now and you can get yours on either Eventbrite or Dice. Party starts at 9:30 p.m. on Friday night and it’s 21+.
Saturday, August 23, is the last day to check out Monday Nights: L.A.’s Scene of the Century, the retrospective exhibit of Sean Carnage’s Monday Nights, which I co-curated, at Leiminspace in Chinatown. For the closing party, John Thill will be playing live and Kyle Mabson is DJing. This is also Leiminspace’s 10th anniversary, so come out and celebrate from 4 – 7 p.m. There’s more information on Sean Carnage’s website.
Keep reading for my club, concert and movie screening recommendations for this weekend.
Sam Wachman was in Romania helping to organize an English immersion camp for youth from Ukraine, drinking tea with some of the kids. A year had past since the start of the war and, after hearing their stories, he suggested they write a book. “They said, we’re busy,” he recalls, “you write it.”
Six months later, Wachman had a first draft of The Sunflower Boys, which was released on August 12. In it, a Ukrainian boy on the cusp of his teens, Artem, sees life forever changed when war comes to his hometown. After tragedy strikes his family, his priorities shift as Artem must now escape the country with his younger brother in hopes of reuniting with their father. It’s a riveting, and heartbreaking story. In fact, there are two, equally compelling stories that intertwine in The Sunflower Boys because, while Wachman was able to complete the novel after that conversation over tea, he had actually started work on what would be his debut novel before the war began.
On Friday night, the party at MutMuz spilled out of the gallery and onto the otherwise quiet Chung King Road, a semi-hidden pedestrian street in Chinatown that’s known for art galleries. First wave L.A. punks mingled with my own generation of electro-weirdos, while a handful of teenagers milled about the gallery owned by Mark Mothersbaugh. On the walls was a retrospective of of the late artist Tomatâ du Plenty, including his paintings, as well as photos and ephemera related to his performances, including his time as the frontman of seminal synthpunk band the Screamers.
It’s been a minute since I’ve DJed at The Mermaid, long enough where I hadn’t seen how the corner near the DJ booth now looks like an underwater cave (see pic above). It’s super cute. Anyhow, last night was an open format set, so you heard everything from new Alison Goldfrapp and Tyler the Creator to oldies from Brenton Wood and Creedence Clearwater Revival to everything in between. Set list is below.
