Featured image credit: George Rose (for The Los Angeles Times)
Ever since we wrote our Top 10 LA Glam Metal Bands list, we’ve been wanting to do something similar for the city’s innovative first wave of punk. Yes, the contradiction of a real estate brokerage reviewing punk bands isn’t lost on us. And we’d say that we’re definitely the most punk real estate brokerage in spirit, but that’s also probably the least punk statement you’ll read all year. So, we won’t waste any more time trying to push our punk credentials. Here are 10 of the best punk bands from late ‘70s Los Angeles who we feel most influenced all that came after them.
10. Redd Kross
It’s pretty impressive that Redd Kross’s first gig was an opening slot for proto-hardcore legends Black Flag. It gets more impressive when you realize that, at the time, Hawthorne-based founding members vocalist/guitarist Jeff McDonald and his younger brother bassist Steve McDonald were just 14 and 11 years old, respectively. Oh, and David Bowie was in the audience. Noted for never taking themselves (or anything else) too seriously and an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture, Redd Kross lovingly lambasted everything and everyone from Kiss to Charles Manson against a lean and bristling high-energy brand of punk-infused power pop.
Originally named “Red Cross” after a particularly crude scene in The Exorcist, a lawsuit from the American Red Cross prompted the McDonald brothers to change their band’s name to Redd Kross (a tongue-in-cheek reference to comedian Redd Foxx of Sanford and Son). Punk luminaries such as Greg Hetson (Bad Religion) and Ron Reyes (Black Flag) would do brief stints in the band. But ultimately, the McDonalds shrugged off the punk yolk in favor of a more psychedelic and sunny power pop sound.
- Formed: 1979
- Start with: Red Cross EP (1980)
- Recommended Tracks: “Cover Band”, “Linda Blair”, “Notes and Chords Mean Nothing to Me”
09. The Plugz
Punk rock in the UK and New York had a decidedly caucasian appeal in the late ‘70s, but the Los Angeles punk scene offered a more racially diverse experience. Punk’s come-as-you-are spirit offered an unfiltered voice for Latino youth to share their experiences, artfully represented by The Plugz who found just as much influence in traditional Latin music as rock ‘n’ roll. Along with Chula Vista’s Zeros, often referred to affectionately as the “Mexican Ramones”, the Plugz naturally amplified the Latin experience while crafting quality tunes. Just listen to the swaggering cool of “Electrify Me” which exhibited a control seldom heard in LA’s ‘77 punk scene.
Led by lead vocalist/guitarist Tito Larriva, the Plugz held their own among the best punk bands while also peppering their music with irreverent cultural notes such as their faster-than-light cover of Ritchie Valens’s “La Bamba”. They also leaned heavily into punk’s DIY ethos, being among the first punk bands in LA to start their own record label. In 1984, Bob Dylan selected Plugz bassist Tony Marsisco and drummer Charlie Quintana to serve as his backing band on a rare TV performance on Late Night with David Letterman, further upping the band’s profile. You read that right. Bob Dylan.
- Formed: 1977
- Start with: Electrify Me (1979)
- Recommended Tracks: “Electrify Me”, “The Cause”, “Adolescent”
08. Fear
A band that seemed to oppose everyone and everything… with maybe the exception of a cold beer… Fear stood as an early innovator of California’s hardcore scene. Sole constant member vocalist/guitarist Lee Ving almost sounded like a punk rock version of Bruce Springsteen on the band’s early records as he led an unapologetically politically incorrect charge against anything in sight (often his own audience). Needless to say, Fear’s onstage animosity instigated countless physical altercations that disregarded race, gender, or creed.
Yet, Fear fan John Belushi personally requested them as Saturday Night Live’s musical guest on a now fateful Halloween episode in 1981. Ving baited the audience as usual, the audience stormed the stage, and SNL director Dave Wilson pulled the plug as Fear began their third song, the appropriately titled “Let’s Have a War.” They were permanently banned from the show… not that they really seemed to care.
- Formed: 1977
- Start with: The Record (1982)
- Recommended Tracks: “Let’s Have a War”, “I Don’t Care About You”, “I Love Livin’ in the City”
07. The Bags
LA’s punk scene also served as a great gender equalizer for aspiring female musicians, perhaps best illustrated by The Bags, alternately known as the Alice Bag Band. The band started when future frontwoman Alicia Armendariz met bass player Patricia Morrison (later of Sisters of Mercy and The Damned) while in line to see Elton John guest on Cher’s talk show. After they adopted the monikers Alice Bag and Pat Bag, the band performed their first show with decorated grocery bags over their heads. Alice’s featured feline eyes and lipstick. However, the gimmick was short-lived as the Germs’ Darby Crash stormed the stage, removing the frontwoman’s bag, leaving her to quickly find her raw strength in a sea of vulnerability.
The blistering punk rock of The Bags created a perfectly savage landscape for the pacing wild animal of Alice’s sneered vocals. A palpable catharsis distinguishes her shrieking peals of rage at the climax of “We Will Bury You”, soaking the sonic Serengeti in a vicious intensity that signaled the band’s short lifespan. Yet, in those brief years, Alice managed to say more than most of her peers.
- Formed: 1977
- Start with: All Bagged Up… The Collected Works 1977-1980 (2007)
- Recommended Tracks: “Babylonian Gorgon”, “We Will Bury You”, “We Don’t Need the English”
06. Nervous Gender
While LA’s late ‘70s punk scene tended to encourage a certain openness, it didn’t guarantee a welcoming response. Perhaps this was most felt by synth-punk pioneers Nervous Gender who prominently included several openly gay band members over many incarnations. Tolerance was never a given in the punk scene, but it didn’t stop primary songwriter and vocalist Gerardo Velasquez and core members Michael Ochoa (synth/vocals) and Edward Stapleton (synths/vocals) from sharing their experiences in countercultural explorations that defied the preconceived expectations of gender norms.
While a queer lifestyle was a major aspect of Nervous Gender, it wasn’t the totality of a complex band that eschewed traditional guitar-bass-drums dynamics for aggressive music played on the relatively new technology of synthesizers. In a way, the preference for synths was the ultimate form of gender protest against the phallic establishment of 1970s rock ‘n’ roll. But the band also explored themes of religious guilt, childhood trauma, and general misanthropy.
Throughout the decades, Nervous Gender’s revolving door of talent included such punk notables as Don Bolles (Germs, 45 Grave), Paul Roessler (Screamers), and Bruce Moreland (Wall of Voodoo). In perhaps one of LA punk’s wildest tales of passive aggression, Nervous Gender replaced Bolles on drums with eight-year-old Sven Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer would serve as Nervous Gender’s live drummer until he and his mother were deported to Germany less than a year later.
- Formed: 1978
- Start with: Music From Hell (1981)
- Recommended Tracks: “Nothing to Hide”, “People Like You”, “Monsters”
05. Black Flag
You know that LA is spoiled with a wealth of quality punk rock bands when Black Flag is this low on the list. Primary songwriter, guitarist, and sole constant member Greg Ginn started writing songs for what would quickly become Hermosa Beach’s Black Flag in 1976, finding heavy influence from the speed and unbridled vitality of the Ramones and the Stooges. Recruiting initial vocalist Keith Morris (later of the Circle Jerks and OFF!), the band played for a while under the name Panic before pivoting to the Black Flag moniker in 1978.
Largely considered a pioneering force in hardcore punk, Black Flag’s songs about anti-social behavior and boiling over tensions attracted a particularly raucous crowd with audience behavior often being likened to riots. At a particularly memorable show, Morris was dragged out from beneath a parked car to play to an audience of fans mingled with leisurely families for an afternoon concert at Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach. A food fight broke out, culminating in a spectator heaving half of a watermelon into drummer, Robo. Less than 10 minutes into Black Flag’s set, Parks and Recreation forced them offstage.
After a slew of vocalists, Black Flag would recruit a young Henry Rollins as they explored even more brutal sonic soundscapes and cemented their legacy. But it’s still hard to touch the raw genius of their early EPs.
- Formed: 1976
- Start with: The First Four Years (1983)
- Recommended Tracks: “Nervous Breakdown”, “Wasted”, “Six Pack”
04. The Weirdos
LA’s punk scene was truly one of those “you had to be there” moments… because a few of the best punk bands from the first wave never even recorded a full-length album. Case in point: The Weirdos. To be fair, the Weirdos had no ambitions of being a “punk” band. As their name suggested, they were just a few weird lads who liked to write rock ‘n’ roll tunes.
Formed in 1975 by brothers John Denney (vocals) and Dix Denney (guitar), they quickly became known for their finger-cropped hair, dayglo stagewear, and competently constructed ragers that harkened back to the foundation stones of rock. As an interesting side note: the Denney brothers were the sons of actress Nora Denney, perhaps best recognized as Mrs. Teevee in 1971’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
As the Denney brothers explained over the years, they were an accidental punk band. And while they liked the Ramones and later the Sex Pistols and The Damned, they were writing songs in a vaguely punk style before hearing any of them. Eventually, they just acquiesced to their audience. But the Weirdos never tried to be anything but themselves which is likely why they’ve secured such a high spot on our list. But they had more than attitude going for them. Just listen to the pedal-to-the-metal rock of “Destroy All Music” and you’ll get what we mean.
- Formed: 1975
- Start with: Weird World – Volume One 1977 – 1981 (1991)
- Recommended Tracks: “We Got the Neutron Bomb”, “Fallout”, “Destroy All Music”
03. The Screamers
Easily the most criminally underrated of all the best punk bands LA had to offer, the Screamers never officially recorded a single note. Thankfully, tons of bootleg recordings document this short-lived pioneering synthpunk band. Led by the charmingly chaotic Tomata du Plenty (vocals) with support from the clinically precise Tommy Gear (synths), relentlessly raw beats of K.K. Barrett (drums), and occasional support from Paul Roessler (synths), Screamers shows were full-fledged events. Labeled as “techno-punk” by The Los Angeles Times, the Screamers attacked synths with an added ferocity that set them alongside the most aggressive punk bands in the scene. But they also had an immediately recognizable intelligence that elevated their violence to an art form.
While even some of the best bands seemed to coast at times on chaos, everything the Screamers did was deliberate. Gear was like a doctor dissecting musical anatomy while du Plenty stalked the stage in exaggerated outrage. By the end of their short lifespan, the Screamers were selling out multiple nights at the Whisky a Go Go. They were also the first band without a record deal to headline the Roxy. Obviously, no record ever came. And the music world is all the poorer for it.
- Formed: 1975
- Start with: Demos 1977-78 (2005)
- Recommended Tracks: “Vertigo”, “122 Hours of Fear”, “Thru the Flames (She Frightens)”
02. X
Of LA’s ‘77 punk bands, X was the closest to achieving mainstream success. Led by the charismatic yet erratic couple of Exene Cervenka (vocals) and John Doe (vocals/bass), the classic lineup of the band was rounded out by Billy Zoom (guitar) and D.J. Bonebrake (drums). And compared to most of the best punk bands in the city, they held this lineup for a long time.
Propelled by Cervenka’s unconventional lyrics and the band’s competently crafted songs rooted in twangy rock ‘n’ roll and Americana, X quickly got the attention of The Doors’ Ray Manzarek. The legendary keyboard player was so taken with X’s performance that he approached them in the dressing room of the Whisky a Go Go to offer his production services on their debut record. Notably, Manzarek had no prior production credits.
Yet, Manzarek was heavily involved in X’s success, performing as an unofficial fifth member for much of their early career. But he was always just supporting the genius that the band worked hard to establish. Their debut album, Los Angeles, appropriately summarized the at-times horrifying essence of the city’s bohemian underground. Ultimately, X would go on to inspire legions of future musicians with a reach that spanned far outside the confines of the LA punk scene.
- Formed: 1977
- Start with: Los Angeles (1980)
- Recommended Tracks: “Johny Hit and Run Paulene”, “Nausea”, “Sugarlight”
01. The Germs
In their early days, it seemed the Germs made it as far as they did simply because they didn’t care. But right when you were beginning to write them off as bored teenagers having a laugh at everyone else’s expense, their true brilliance would shine through. And it was usually a bit scary. Their legendary first gig was at the Orpheum Theater at what today is Book Soup. They’d talked their way onto the bill without having any real practice and only the vaguest concept of songs. It quickly became apparent that they didn’t know how to play, but their stage antics kept the audience’s attention… if only because no one wanted to get peanut butter all over them.
Yet, the band quickly grew beyond their shocking introduction, settling into a classic line-up that included Darby Crash (vocals), Pat Smear (guitar), Lorna Doom (bass), and Don Bolles(drums). Smear would go on to later success with Nirvana and Foo Fighters while Bolles would play in Nervous Gender, 45 Grave, Zolar X, and, more recently, Ariel Pink. At the height of their popularity, fans would line up asking to receive “Germs burns” from the band; cigarette lighter burns that formed a circle reminiscent of the band’s album art.
By the time of the Germs debut (and sole) full-length record (GI), Smear, Bolles, and Doom were playing accomplished compositions and Crash was an electric force that seemed beyond control. Sadly, Crash took his own life in 1980, bringing an early end to the Germs. But their legacy persists. Love them or hate them, the Germs were easily at the front of the best punk bands when it came to doing what they wanted.
- Formed: 1976
- Start with: (GI)
- Recommended Tracks: “Forming”, “Manimal”, “Our Way”
