Help at La Cita

While I recover from slaving away on the print edition of Baby Jeepers, here's a guest blog from KRK. Photo by JKX & KRK.
 

Shane Williams mumbled something about La Cita in between plumes of blue smoke to me & that was all I needed to hear; I bounced from the Redwood.

Something about its dark atmosphere, freckled w/ cheap Vegas lighting that really endears this venue to me, that & the fact that I’ve never had to open my wallet @ the entrance.

I arrived just in time to witness the complete set of Help!, who to be dead honest w/ you, I had never heard of.

Almost immediately Slovenly & Mission of Burma came to mind. You know, real tight & angular songs. This band poses the kind of scenario where the singer/songwriter could explain his soul to you, w/ a calculator.

Maybe, 6 songs into their set I began to notice another point of interest. It appeared as though the vocalist wasn’t always singing lyrics, per say. It’s hard for me to state fact because my ears are wrecked but, it sounded like he was humming & making other noises into the mic.

Right around here it was announced that the band had a mere couple songs left in their set (nice! Keep ‘em hungry is my motto…).

Upon which another drummer & guitarist joined the band on stage. To me, personally, I thought this was a bit unnecessary. Bad-ass drumming was displayed – no doubt but, I felt it added too much aggression on an otherwise more song oriented band, rather than volume & impact.

In the end I couldn’t help but believe that, had this band existed in the mid-80’s, they woulda been on Homestead Records or maybe the more adventurous side of mid to late 80’s SST Records.

Fascinating band & I look forward to taking more of Shane’s advice.

KRK Dominguez *~* Boyle Heights *~* 3/30/11 *~* 11:03

Baby Jeepers # 10 is finally done!

Yes, it's true. Baby Jeepers # 10 is finished and I would very much like to thank all the kind folks who contributed content and photos like Mindee Jorgensen, Callie Biggerstaff (who took the Muffs cover photo), Ramblin' Eddie Lopez, KRK Dominguez, Jenn Kitner, Wolf Woodcock and Gitane Demone. I would also like to thank the featured bands the Muffs, Brainspoon, Kamikaze and Sassafras for giving us a little bit of their time for interviews.

I will be at the Redwood Bar Saturday, March 26 for Donovan's Fairies, Super Bees, the Neurotics and Pat Todd and Sunday March 27 for My Revenge, the Stitched Lips and Somos Mysteriosos. Come find me and pick up the latest issue of Baby Jeepers.

Vicky & the Vengents take St. Patty's Day on the Rox

(Baby Jeepers # 10 is almooost ready. Meanwhile, here is a guest blog review by Ramblin' Eddie Lopez. Photo by Ramblin' Eddie.)

It was 6 PM on a beautiful afternoon in Toluca Lake. I decided after four hours of abuse and three popped blisters later that my drummer Frank had had enough. I drove through downtown past two checkpoints(thank god for these bug eye glasses) picked up Jasmin and OFF! we went to see on of my favorite bands: Vicky and the Vengents. On our way to West Hollywood we made a pit stop at TOI on Sunset. Justin Myers from Gary 84 spun Nirvana, The Runaways, and introduced me to Chimay on this Saint Patrick’s Day... a match made in heaven. We get to the Roxy just in time to catch the Barb Wire Dolls, the crowd was not amused. Vicky takes the stage and blasts through " The Day He Went Away " the lead track off of their sensational debut album  A New Dawn . The crowd immediately hits the dance floor. Vicky and her male bookends - guitarist Matt Beld , bassist Vinn Malachi, & drummer Johnny Vile ripped through songs like " That’s Why I Cry " and " Nothing Left To Say " with abandon. While Vicky ordered the band to tune up I bump into the Woolly Bandits and Jasmin graces me with a Vicky & the Vengents button. Vicky orders me to hit the stage and I model my Vengents t-shirt for the crowd to see. Two songs that stood out are " Times It Takes " and " We Turned Into A Lie " which will hopefully be on the follow up to A New Dawn. Unfortunately just as Vicky was finishing the set I got a call from one of the many Electric Children who was in deep " trouble ". I popped in my Girls In the Garage CD and the rest is history......

Excerpt from issue # 10 interview with the Muffs

(Too busy working on issue #10 of the print version of Baby Jeepers to hit the streets much this week. So here is a sneak preview of the feature interview with cover band the Muffs.)
BOB: I didn’t realize that this was actually the twentieth anniversary of the Muffs.

RONNIE: January 25. That was our first show at the Shamrock with Terror Train, the Hellbillies and another rockabilly band.
BOB: I was there. Standing on a chair next to Paula Pierce.
KIM: She was screaming "Yay for Ronnie!"
RONNIE: We had a hot crowd. Paula and Sheri Kaplan were there. Donita Sparks, Steve McDonald and Sophia Coppola were there.
KIM: Bunch of people we know from a long time ago.
ROY: That was quite a crowd.
RONNIE: And then the next gig... nobody!
(LAUGHTER)
KIM: That’s because we played on a Tuesday.
RONNIE: At the Gaslight.
BOB: Did you guys ever think you would have your band going this long?
KIM: No. I mean, why would we even think we’d be able to?
RONNIE: I never thought about it.
KIM: I didn’t think about it, I just wanted to write songs.
RONNIE: You don’t think about it then and then twenty years slips by. As you get older, it goes faster and faster. The people who know us and like us, tend to like us a lot. That helps. If we were playing to no one and no one cared...
KIM: It would be harder to play. Or harder to justify it.
BOB: I know you don’t like the first album very much but have your feelings changed about any of the songs?
KIM: I totally appreciate the song writing on it. Still don’t like the production. I don’t know, there’s kind of a cool vibe on it. I don’t know why, but it pisses me off. Why does everyone’s first album have to sound like shit? Even if it cost a ton of money, why is that?
BOB: Tradition.
KIM: Well, we follow that tradition.
BOB: But some Fruitopia money came out of that.
KIM: True. And that song, that was a shock. That was really cool.
RONNIE: That was when everything was still happening. We haven’t had proper management in ten years and we don’t go looking for stuff. We’re just lucky. Now that rock is a dead art form like reggae, you know. We can still work this.

Cosmeticators rock a "mostly girl's night" at the Redwood

Friday, March 11 saw the return to L.A. of Phoenix, AZ all-girl band the Cosmeticators (pictured above) who haven’t played down here since 2009. This night at the Redwood Bar was a "mostly girl’s night" that featured four bands with prominent female band members. The four young ladies in the Shrapnelles are on tour from Calgary, Canada and they opened the show with a solid set of songs that displayed their catchy garage rock/punk sensibilities. This tour will include a stop at South By Southwest and take them across the U.S. until they return to Canada on April 10. Phoenix, AZ trio the Cosmeticators rocked a fine set of Ramones-y punk rock as well. Still without a proper release, the girls brought along their self-pressed demo EP CD which is worth picking up. With a set that successfully blends surf rock, garage rock and psychedelia, Tucson, AZ band the Mission Creeps sort of remind me of a cross between the Cramps and San Diego’s Deadbolt. Mainstay members James Arrr, on vocals and guitar and Miss Frankie Stein on bass, along with Rikki Styxx on drums possess the stage with spooky imagery and a great hypnotic light show. Transplanting themselves from Greece to Los Angeles, the Barbwire Dolls have captured the fancy of KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer. Fronted by singer Queen Isis, the band is something of an 80's throwback to the days when you could catch a Pat Benetar wanna be band at the FM Station in the Valley. They have many local shows lined up so escape is nearly impossible.

Girl band night at the Mezz

Located on the second floor of the Alexandria Hotel on the corner of Spring St. and Fifth (right above the Down and Out) is a decent sized venue called the Mezz which has been having periodic shows. Wednesday, March 9 girl band night which featured one all-girl band and two mainly girl-fronted bands. The Mezz is certainly an interesting space with a small stage and a full bar that looks a bit like a haunted grand ballroom. The sound was a bit echo-y, like a high school gymnasium, but not at all un-tolerable.

Openers the B-Noirs (pictured) were the only band with an entire female line up that consisted of Sheli B. on guitar and delivering some pleasing vocals with the powerful rhythm section of Susan Raygoza on bass and Maureen Curiel on drums. The three-piece group played a perky set of catchy punk/pop numbers that started the evening off right. Unfortunately I had to miss the Damselles & the TC4 in order to work the door at the Redwood for Exene Cervenka’s album release party but I was able to catch a few songs from C-Horse who feature some very nice harmonies and who I am told do a terrific Buzzcocks cover. Hopefully there will be more nights at the Mezz with a variety of themes coming up in the future.

Bob's first BAM piece

This is a photo that paved the way for my brief foray into the world of professional rock journalism. It first appeared in the July 30, 1993 issue of BAM magazine and it was taken back stage at the Butthhole Surfers/Stone Temple Pilots/fIREHOSE/Basehead show, which took place at Castaic Lake the month before.
I was on fIREHOSE’s press list ‘cause I was a Flipside writer and so I was allowed in the VIP area where there was a complimentary BBQ for the media and a tub full of alcoholic beverages. Needless to say, I took advantage of the situation and was in a very good mood that entire day.
In the late afternoon/early evening, following fIREHOSE’s set, I, along with other media gawkers, spotted Shannen Doherty walking into the Stone Temple Pilot’s dressing room trailer. She came out after about 20 minutes and because she was wearing an oddly cut, striped shirt (and because that’s how I am) I shouted "Oh my God! Her shirts on backwards!" Of course, it wasn’t but I got big laughs from the crowd around me.
Mind you, Beverly Hills 90210 was still a guilty pleasure at this point in pop culture history. Steve McDonald from Redd Kross, then KXLU DJ Adam Bomb and Jula Bell of Bulimia banquet/Bobsled fame and I actually wanted to meet Shannen. So I suggested that we go over and tell her that Jula was Jennifer Finch from L7, reasoning that Doherty would want a photo op with a genuine grunge starlet. And it worked. I got the shot. You can see Jula in the picture trying to form the L7 logo with her hands (she’s doing it backwards). And what’s more, Shannen told Jula that she loved seeing L7's set at Lollapalooza tour earlier that summer. We all stifled a laugh at this ‘cause L7 weren’t on the Lollapalooza tour that year, Babes In Toyland were. (L7 wouldn’t play Lollapalooza ‘till the following year.) Pleasant Gehman reported on this in her Tinsel Toons column in BAM #413 which included my photo and credit. Paul Westerberg was on the cover. The dough was the icing on the cake. I was happy to be identified as "Flipside’s Bob Cantu."

I got the biggest laugh however, a few days later, when I heard a KROQ DJ report on the Castaic show and said on the air that "Shannen Doherty was seen coming out of the Stone Temple Pilot’s trailer with her shirt on backwards..." Oh, the power of the media. Or, as Albert Brooks put it in Broadcast News, "I say it here, it comes out there."

I came home last night a bit legless...

Here is a guest rant from KRK Dominguez, former Flipside writer/photographer and friend. Photo by KRK and Jenn Kitner - Bob

I came home a bit waffled the other night

& inspired by seeing Peg Leg Love @ La Cita, I set forth & hammered out a stunning critique of the night on my un-trusty baby, my Toshiba.

I know you don’t believe a word I write but, I can be clever, witty & insightful - I insist. & those were the knives I wielded that night in my semi-conscious state as I methodically & accurately deciphered the intricate sounds of said band.

Seriously people, I was on. Bet you a day-pass it made ole Lester Bangs’ bones rattle w/ envy, tell you what. I spilled some insightful post punk references too, like the akward dryness of Magazine & the voodoo cool of the Cramps. Yeah, I was on fire!

I was already cashing the check.

Then, as my nemesis would have it, I awoke the next day to my baby & she had no recollection of such text! Either I didn’t save it or I erased it or…

maybe I didn’t even type it in the first place (GASP!), perhaps I merely dreamt of greatness (scary thought here people).

The thought of me excelling @ writing only in my dreams is frightening – FRIGHTNING! - I scream @ you!

Which brings to question, maybe I am not qualified to write about music if I can’t keep it together on such a fundamental level?

Wild thought.

Scratch that last remark; I can prolly pull it off. You’re just going to have to give it some time, be patient w/ me. Don’t expect Claude Bessy to reincarnate for chrissakes.

Remember, English is my 2^nd language, I have an excuse! Let me see you write something in German bitch? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Besides, I have confidence that Bob wouldn’t let the reputation of his publication, Baby Jeepers, be tainted by the antics of a, drunk by noon, fool.

None-the-who:

check out Peg Leg Love next time you’re out w/ a drink in your clutches, they’re sexy.

KRK Dominguez ~ Boyle Heights, LA ~ 3/3/11 ~ 8:37 AM

　

the Mo-Odds rock the gloom off a rainy night

Sadly there was a low turn out for the Mo-Odds, Keepers of the Sun and Venus Rising show at the Redwood Bar on March 2. (What is it with Angelenos and a little bit of rain anyway?) The bands put on good show, particularly openers the Mo-Odds. With a definite 60's garage influence and powerfully soulful vocals, the Mo-Odds are a band certainly worth braving the elements for. The four members (Craig, Tony, Jonah and Christopher by name) gave 110% that night for the benefit of the dozen or so people watching. They will be playing Casey’s Irish Pub on March 17 and I recommend that fans of the "Maximum R&B" (a term coined in the sixties to describe bands like the Who) sound should check them out.

Cheetah's dancers ride the Lightnin'

One business group that has been hard hit by the current recession are the city’s exotic dancers, particularly the ones working in smaller clubs frequented by working class patrons. After all, in this economy what paid-by-the-hour guy can make it rain anymore? Some clubs like Crazy Girls in Hollywood have added live music into the mix, featuring rock bands on certain nights. Of course the legendary Jumbo’s Clown Room (where Courtney Love once stripped) has for quite some time featured an occasional rock band and now Cheetah’s, also in Hollywood, has begun booking rock nights on Mondays. And it’s quite fitting that Cheetah’s has joined in on the rock scene since some twenty years ago the beloved Shamrock - once a staple in the Hollywood rock club circuit of the 80's and 90's - once stood at the same location.

Monday, February 28, Cheetah’s offered up a fine bill with Electric Children, Noah Engh Kid Fantastic and Lightnin Woodcock & the Bad Muthafuckas. Although a fine performer, Noah Engh’s gritty, stripped down blues-rock was a bit too quirky for the dancers to groove to, but a couple of brave girls did try. Contrarily, the strip club’s atmosphere was a perfect fit with Lightnin Woodcock’s style of music which is Jimi Hendrix-inspired blues with filthy lyrics. (Song titles like "Smoochie Coochie Man", "Finger Bangin’" and "Like A Dog" need no further explanation.) Lightnin has played Cheetah’s before and the girls seem to really dig both his rocking presentation and his on stage banter. Electric Children unfortunately had their set cut short just as the room was getting into them (There’s a midnight curfew for the live music at Cheetah’s) but it seems like once they get bugs out, Mondays at Cheetah’s could be a good thing.