In England, there were the Beatles and Rolling Stones. Here in Los Angeles, and in the 1970s Punk era, it was The Screamers and The Weirdos. There were many other bands in Southern California at the time, but those two were the ones that I found to be the most interesting. The Screamers were keyboard electronic orientated theater band. The Weirdos were rock n' roll but with a sense of absurdity. At least on stage, they were outlandish with their trashcan clothing style. On record, they are a powerful rock band.
It's amusing now to think of Punk as being one type of music. It never was. One would think it's all "One...Two...Three, and Go," but the truth that there were a lot of subtle differences between all the groups. The Weirdos will be placed in the Punk Rock section of a music store, but they are also a classic hard rock band. It is always backed by a powerful drummer such as Nicky Beat and the wonderful Danny Benair of The Quick/The Three O'Clock fame. Their music had a slow built-up tension, and then one approaches the chorus as it builds and builds to a sense of ecstasy. Listening to it now reminds me a bit of Howard Devoto's Magazine. There are intelligence and a fair amount of humor in how they presented their music and visuals. The other memebers of the band are Cliff Roman, Dix Denney, and his brother the vocalist John Denney.
"Who? What? When? Where? Why?" the six-song EP that is part of the compilation is superb. "Happy People," "Big Shot," and "Idle Life, among the others, are classic rock. Not far off from Slade or the hard glam sound of the early 70s. An artifact from my past, but when I listen to this record now, it takes me to a very contemporary present.
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