ON DECK: playlist from the past

Drunken Butterfly - Sonic Youth

For a little while Greg, Tommy and I were doing a weekly show on IM Radio. At this time (It's since moved to Echo Park) IM Radio was broadcasting from a rad little spot in the window of the MJ Higgins gallery, which at that time (It has since moved a few blocks east) was on Spring between 5th and 6th; my block!

At that time we were all DJing together. We all found ourselves with Spring St. addresses (we have all since moved on, Tommy and I to the retired comforts of Silverlake and Greg to fuckin' Mexico City) and thusly operated under the banner of "Bruce SpringStreet" a local, very local DJ collective. It was a fun way to listen to Punk Rock records, stay out late on weeknights and drink enough pints of Schlitz to float a manatee.

Our radio show was a rather moist affair, as well, with bottles placed among the begged, borrowed and stolen Internet radio equipment. We always had fun but I wanted to banter. I felt like Greg always wanted to "get back to the music", leaving me silently screaming, "just let me get to my punch line!!"

Well, on the night which hosted this particular play list from the pleasant past was different, I was alone. Engagements of natures forgotten kept both of the boys away. I was alone to banter, ramble and play as much "new shit" as I pleased.

Knowing that I had no buddy at my saddle, ready with a vinyl life vest, I scratched the following play list. No song titles, just band names and denotations concerning medium; "vinyl", "7 inch","CD".


Set 1 (I call this my, "geez, go to The Smell much?" set)
1. Ponies
2. NO AGE(2)
3. Silver Daggers
4. Mika Miko
5. Abe Vigoda
-talk-

Set 2 (This is my, "I'm old but I still like drugs and only listen to KCRW sometimes" set
1. Phychic TV-Godstar
2. Feathers(7)-LSD MUSIC
3. Animal Collective-Feels
4. White Flight
5. Violent Femmes(18)-American Music
-talk-

Set 3 (Um???? this is like a "I go to college in Oregan and have mad natty dreads coming in" set. weird one)
1. Aesop Rock (last song)
2. Dangerdoom
3. Ghostface Killah
4. Paul Barman
5. Kimya Dawson
6. Juiceboxxx
-talk-

Set 4 (This is like a "fuck you I'm gonna play bands from high school and a couple from nowadays...and Buddy Holly" set)
1. Propaghandi
2. Black Flag
3. Upsilon Acrux
4. Buddy Holly
5. French Film Blurred
6. Clip'd Beaks
-talk-

Set 5 (This is my "raddest set EVER" set)
1. Raooul
2. Old Tyme Relijun
3. Econochrist
4. XBRX
5. Elvis Costello
6. Sonic Youth
-fin-

My favorite parts were when I got to -talk-

Works Every Time: The Make Out party, Fool's Gold and Abe Vigoda at the Colt 45 Party 06/06/09

(no photos because Vivi STILL has my camera...UGH!)

I think the unanimous decision is that Three of Clubs sucks for shows. It sounded bad and it was sectioned off into two lounges, which caused the show side of the bar to be packed tighter than an astro van full of Mexicans.

It was a Vice/Colt .45 party and was touted to have free tall boys, which it did for like 2 seconds. Maybe Billy D. Williams is a Black Jew, because those cocksuckers showed up with a six-pack. All you heard all night was, Sorry, we’re all out, try the other bar.” You know the other bar doesn’t have any, asshole!

Broken malt liquor promise aside, Thee Make Out Party was the first band to play. I was a virgin and I was pretty stoked. The garagey-power pop quartet played sweet songs about love, drugs and bubblegum. They wore the appearance of the kids who hung out beneath the bleachers in High School, eager to pontificate over Sabbath or The Stooges, Raw Power.

TMP finished strong and the room filled gypsies in anticipation of a Fool’s Gold performance. I don’t even know if these dudes were even singing in English but they were def, def getting down. My big Cousin, Luis, was there with some of his sorted friends. I overheard one of his homeboys say, “That fucking white boy GETS DOWN on that guitar, he OWNS that shit.” quite excitedly. This performance also marked the second in a week’s time that I bore witness to a dude that wasn’t scared to drop his primary instrument and toot a flute. The first time was Brittany’s Mexican wedding band leader, this time it was one of two Fool’s Gold sax players. Although, this time there was no drunken wedding crowd violently insisting that the band “play more Steppenwolf.”

As the air cleared of that funky waft that only a talented jam band could fill a room with, it was time for Abe. Michael was wearing a jacket I made, Juan was drinking a martini, and David was drunkenly celebrating a birthday and who the fuck is the white boy on drums. Jesus Christ, I need to get to The Smell more. I took my customary position aside Raul and Abe began with a pre-Skeleton crowd favorite and it began to degenerate from there. I was pelted with several beer cans, Juan’s guitar broke and I experienced the staple black-guy-in-the mosh-pit. There is always a non-punk black guy in the pit taking a sort of science experience approach to our not-so-sacred dance ritual. After being hit in the nose, not once but twice by the life-size Billy D. cardboard cut-out the set ended with Juan flat on his stomach (yummy) and David banging his bass on the low ceilings of The Three of Clubs. The white boy drummer gets 2 thumbs up, BTW.

This concludes the most racist show review I’ve ever written.

Mike Watt and BARR @ Mountain Bar 03/21/09

Tommy and I went to see Mike Watt and BARR play at the Mountain Bar on Saturday night. How could the legendary Mike Watt of Minutemen and Firehouse fame play with Brendan Fowler of BARR and Disaster; one of the most well known musical personalities of the Smell phenomenon at the little-ass Chinatown Mountain Bar on a Saturday? It’s gotta be a shit show, right?

No. There was like 50 people there, and 40 of them had no idea who Watt was, let alone BARR. It was fucking insane. Sure enough, there was Mike Watt, spankin’ the shit out of his slap-shovel. Fowler was there too, wearing Air Max; ready to sing us the single and tell us why it sucks.


I guess it was an after-party for some art show, so the crowd was ready to get their art-fag on; hence the non-understanding of the punk that was about to go down.

I caught Mike Watt's set...Stellar! I was shooting the shit with Tommy's Limey-ass Kiwi friends and completely missed BARR. PISSSED! 'Ol T-Rex promised it was rad, I guess he played as BARR and rinsed the hits that make the Toms wearing girls ooze vagina creme. All and all an unexpected and super-stokeded evening.



Lonely Metro trip

Chinatown is my favorite

Steffi was there kicking it with the Minuteman, himself!

we met these chicks

pic sucks but you get the idea

your boy hit the love bucket in one toss!

all n' all, a pretty sweet ride


Dude is old, but still KILLS it


You've all heard this one

ja, bitte

Please Believe Me

So, The Bruce SpringStreet DJ's are getting together for another installment of CRASS MONDAYS at Bar 107, this Monday, October 20th

It's traditionally a Punk night where we rinse classic Punk, Noise, Garage and shit like that.

However, I am going to play Ghettotech and Booty Bass, 'cause right now songs about Anarchy make me sad.

BAR 107 is located in lovely, historic Downtown LA on 4th Street between Spring and Main. We start at 10 and rage 'till you leave

High Places/Abe Vigoda 10/10/08, The Smell

As I walked up the alley leading to The Smell I noticed what looked like an in-between-set alley crowd of a smallish variety; strange given the year of popularity New York’s, High Places has enjoyed.

I soon found out that was because Ponytail was mid-shred and the fucking place was packed; SOLD OUT sign on the door. “High Places is playing for free at Family Bookstore, tomorrow” Jim was assuring turned away show-goers.

“FUUCCKK, I shouldn’t have stopped for that burrito”, I thought.

We stood around in the alley contemplating for a moment when a drunk-ass Blaque Chris, in his constant effort to con me into making him an Afrika print spandex bodysuit, gets us some looks in the door.

Inside, we were bummed that we only caught the last two songs by Ponytail but Abe was next and they were fucking loud; like super-loud for The Smell.

This was their last hometown show before heading on tour with Diplo and Telepathe and you could tell that they are fucking fluffed. Such a good set bringing new intensity to old songs and executing new ones flawlessly. They really are LA’s finest.

As Abe exited, my ears were noticeably fucked but High Places were already setting up a fence of flight cases along western border of the main stage. I posted and watched Mary and Robert, the boy/girl duo that comprise H.P. fine tune many knobs, pedals and drum pads necessary to what they do.

Soon the crowd flooded back in and I couldn’t help notice how fucking young this band’s fans are, like Menudo young!

So, High Places tweaked and twittled, the music constantly chasing Mary’s vocals like a kindergartener chases a kitten in the sunroom; almost catching up, only to have the thing once again spring away. It’s child-like only in it’s refusal to wear a cloak of contrived seriousness that none of us were looking for that night in the alley.

On Deck: Marnie Stern drops today

So, marnie Stern dropped her new record, "This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That" on Kill Rock Stars, today. which is the raddest album name ever, BTW!

If you're not familiar with Marnie's jams, she sounds like Yoko Ono fucked the band, Yes. Yes's amalgamated sperm created a baby, that baby raped Upsilon Acrux in the alley of The Smell and, voila, Marnie was born.

Of course, I neglected to pre-order this biatch so I can't actually review the new record. I mean, I'll get back to you, but unless she did a collab with the drummer of The Bravery, I'm pretty sure I will fucking love it.

ok, now let this bitch melt your face, real quick



uno mas...



thank you and good night.

I Love Rock N' Roll

When I fucked Becky Stark from Lavender Diamond, she hit that high note that’s how you know I be shinin’

After I boned down Black Black, I never text back, now I have the whole band paging me like, “Where that Dick at?”

Juan from Abe, he’s been giving me brain. We keep it on the hush cause in the hood I’m not gay

Dean and Randy, I aint gonna talk shit, but I had ‘em on their knees like a couple of chicks. I was fiddlin’ with their asses like a couple of clits

Ariel Pink took two in the stink. What do I say, I’m in love with them twinks

Mika Miko had to get a new drummer; I filled Kate with so much jizz she was fucked all summer

Even Jim Smith got a slice of dis dick, only he was on top, yup, I was HIS bitch. Dude was stone-cold, he didn't say shit!

Dear Mae Shi, your record was horrible but your cheeks spread open; now that was adorable

I made Baseck taste it. Sprayed jam in his eye that’s my kinda lasek

Jesus Christ, I love L.A. A pretty good sound and a damn good lay

High Places:EXPOSED!!

High Places say they are from Brooklyn but I see the dude with the beanie errywhere in LA.

Assuming that High Places is indeed from Brooklyn they are 1 of maybe 5 good bands from New York right now (shout out to Vivian Girls!!). So that leaves the score at NY:5, LA:87, yet I still hear dorks Worldwide lament about how rad New York is and how hopeless LA will always be.

Voicing this opinion in 2008 is basically an admission of dorkdom and means one of two things:

1. Either the person making this claim is super out-of-the-loop concerning where to go and what to see in The City of Angels
2. They are just regurgitating the same poison they heard 4 or 5 years ago when this claim actually held a little agua.

Basically what I’m trying to say is FUCK A HATER.

High Places make cloudy stoner jams with chick vocals that don’t bug the shit out me, which is rare.

I would suggest packing the wizard bong and letting High Places S/T rip, no matter which coast you rep. WEST SIIIDE.

ON DECK: Raooul/Skinned Teen...Slut-Core from the 10th grade

I walked into the uncomfortably hot Ooga Booga store on July 4th in hopes of swallowing some beer and catching a day time set from our favorite hybrid bitch-band; Tony (Formerly Teenage Moms).

These goals were indeed accomplished along with a windfall find that has left me with a Punk boner ever since. I found a brand-new gleaming copy of the 90’s Slut-Punk masterpiece Jailbait Core by Raooul.

Raooul was a band existing in the heyday of Lookout Records, when I would sit around my bedroom and daydream about dropping out of Greenway High and hopping a train to Gilman… never to return. Half the reason this Crust Punk utopia was so enticing was close proximity I would be to the members of Raooul(who were like my age, 15 or 16 , at the time) and their famed vaginas. Maybe, just maybe, if I played my cards right I would trip on Telegraph and find my teenage pecker coated in Raooul goo. God that would have been great.

This re-release is pressed as a split with Skinned Teen. They are from England or something.

Lookout! Records

On Deck: Urinals (Best Band EVER)

“You wanted the best and you got the best, the hottest band in the world…The Urinals!!”

Dude ain’t lie! Raul gave me a copy of Negative Capability…Check it out and blew my fucking mind.

Apparently, these rippers formed in Big Los Ang in the late 70’s and never looked back.

There tunes are at times fuzzy surf rock and at other moments blistering fucking punk rock. Every song however is a classic. If I could frame a song, my apartment would be decorated floor to ceiling with urinals.

I will probably never recommend any record/collection/compilation as highly as I do this one…Not that you give a flying faggot’s fuck which records I dig.

New Bloods and Hornet Leg at The Smell

When I saw her dancing and bouncing about to New Bloods, she reminded me of you.

Your hair was much curlier, but she had things about the way she looked that made her different, like you.  Your curly hair is what made you look different.

She was dancing and bouncing and looking at her friend the way I imagine you looked at boys back then; the way I hope you looked at me on occasion.

She was imitating her friends dance moves, mirroring them.

You NEVER imitated me.