HOW THE WEST IS FUN: Studies have shown that the West Coast is the best coast. What other state in our union has been so emblematized in style, so immortalized in song? Until the San Andreas faults us for loving too much, we’ll keep it rocking. In the next few days, many acts arrive in town to remind us why California love has so endured.
First on the roster is the Thursday, July 9, Velvet Jones show by punk super group The Adolescents, founded way back in 1980 in Fullerton with members from Social Distortion and Agent Orange before breaking up and reuniting countless times since. Before pop punk came along and squeaky-cleaned the name of punk, The Adolescents were breathing musical hellfire with growling vocals and ripping guitar, influencing acts for decades to come. It’s raw, raucous stuff. In the words of one YouTube commenter on their debut: “This album makes me want to beat up my neighbor.”
They will be joined by The Weirdos, who have also reunited multiple times since their founding in the first-wave days of the Ramones and the New York Dolls. They put their own L.A. spin on punk and were certainly weirdos within their realm, dressing up in outlandish costumes and making jokes of the whole thing. In their kooky eccentricities and fun-loving flippancy, they were purely punk. Thursday’s gig will see these two bands of adolescents punking it up like olden times, decades be damned. What’s my age again? Well, what’s age but a number, anyways?