Whatever became of Felix from Life's Halt? Right here....

When I first moved to LA in 1997 Felix Reyes was one of the first people I befriended. I believe Life's Halt were pretty much starting out at that point. I do remember going to some of their practices when Nate played drums, and one time we rode our bicycles up and down Venice Beach putting up LH stickers on any inanimate object we could.
Life's Halt eventually blew up and put out a few records, did a couple tours, or more. They split up in 2001 I think. Noel went on to play in Annihilation Time, Jon and Charlie have been in a number of bands, and Felix played in a couple as well. Then he moved away, started a family.
But, as time went on he got the itch to play again, and has a new band called Big Crux. Sounds more San Pedro than Seattle. But I think this was where he was bound to end up, since he talked a lot about the Minutemen way back when.
You can check them out here at this site:http://bigcrux.bandcamp.com/

ZINE UPDATE AND ODDS & ENDS...

Alright, working on the print version at the moment. Should be interesting, and it's definitely diverse in its coverage. Interviews include Total Abuse, Glass Candy, Secret Society of the Sonic Six, Gary Panter, Timebombs, and more. Check back at least by the end of this month for an update.

Went to the Timebombs / Dry Rot / Nomos / The Men show at the Unity Church in Long Beach last weekend. Awesome night the whole way through. Best hardcore show I've been to in some time. The whole line up was solid.

Cülo, and the School Jerks are coming through California in February. I hope to attend a couple of their shows. I hear the Fullerton show should be amazing. More details will be posted as I get them.

Within the next week I'll post my top records of the past year. Nothing to lose sleep over, but you know...

Going to a show on a Wednesday night? Yeah, if it's the TIMEBOMBS.

So I'm messing around and bored on a Tuesday night and start checking out websites looking for shows in the area. I see the Timebombs are playing at the Blvd the following night with Progeria, and Mindless and a couple other bands. I stared at the image for a few moments, wondering if this thee Timebombs, the band who's put out nothing but great records, and in particular their recent 10", "Mumbling", and the "I Belong In Hell" LP from last year. Both still available from Cowabunga Records. Do a search on the net for the site, if you don't already have these. The first couple EPs were straight up hardcore, whereas the latest two, though still very much hardcore, are more noisy and misanthropic. Distortion permeates everything, the cover art and lyrical subjects are darker and less, ermm... I don't know, definitely not for the weekender types.
So yeah, turns out it was thee Timebombs who played. They had some problems with the bass cabinet at first, but once it was rectified they ripped it up for a brief moment and it was over. Maybe a 10 minute set at best? I haven't seen a band play a set this short since the days of Mohinder, and that was back in 1993 / '94. No pause, all go. I didn't even see a set list. I must admit, as much as I enjoy their records and try to spread the gospel to others to pick 'em up, these guys are even better live. Run, don't walk, to see them when they play your area.
Here's a few photos I managed to get from their set.

DESTROY LA / BAD ANTICS show this weekend...

Here's a digital version of the flyer for this weekend's show. Should be good. 

Don't forget the Nomos / Timebombs show coming up in a couple weeks. 

Also, I hear Culo are coming out in February. If you've heard their records, you know this is going to be an awesome show.

For those into post punk / dark wave sort of music, I heard on the Part Time Punks radio show on KXLU today that Soft Moon are playing the Echo on February 6. 

Flyer image for this Friday's SECRET SOCIETY OF THE SONIC SIX show

UPCOMING SHOWS IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA....

Haven't posted anything in a while due to being extremely busy with other more pressing things... But things are winding down, so expect more soon.

For now, here's some information on 3 upcoming shows.

December 10, 2010 - THE SECRET SOCIETY OF THE SONIC SIX with Orlando Greenhill, ssleeperhold, and Jeanelle Mastema's Virgo Rising @ Show Cave, 3501 Eagle Rock Blvd, LA, CA 90065 Doors around 10pm.

December 18, 2010 - Bad Antics, Destroy LA, Broken Patterns, GOA, Wiseguys, Neckties, and Plan A @ Unity Church, 935 East Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802  Starts around 7pm. $5 to get in.

January 8, 2010 - NOMOS (NY), THE MEN (NY), Francis Harold and The Holograms, THE TIMEBOMBS @ Unity Church, 935 East Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802  Starts at 7pm. $5 to get in.

Also, the debut of the print version of Tastemaker should be out in January / February. A couple interviews to complete, and some odds and ends and cleaning up the layout is all that's left.

IRRITONES and NEON MANIACS!!!!!

I haven't been to many shows this year, but I have to say, and with only two months left, that this show is the best I've seen. Not only one good band on the bill, but two!! Two good bands!! Not too common lately, unfortunately. Lately there's one worthwhile band on a bill, and four shitty ones. Anyway, this show was held at the Redwood Bar & Grill in downtown LA, right up the street and around the corner from La Cita. Another great thing about this show, is that one of the good bands is semi-local. Neon Maniacs, from Fullerton opened the night up with some pretty good punk with a hardcore undercurrent (could be the ripping drummer). The music is driving as hell, and catchy to boot. I haven't heard their records yet, but would definitely see them again, and if I come across their vinyl, I'll pick that up too.

NEON MANIACS...

Sometime during the summer I picked up the Irritones "Negative Dots" LP (P.Trash / Relax-O-Matic Vibrator) to review for Razorcake. Gave the record a positive review, and found out soon after these guys were coming all the way from France to spread their punk rock filth up and down the West Coast. Hmmm... The last good punk band from France that I've seen play in Los Angeles were the TV Killers, and that was at least ten years ago at Al's Bar. Anyway, so the Irritones are in town and the reason I left the house to start with. Neon Maniacs being as good as they are was sort of like an extra bit of frosting on the cake. I didn't really know what to expect from the Irritones. I mean the album is pretty damn good, and definitely in my top ten records list of 2010. As soon as they hit the stage I was blown away. Non-stop energy, tight as hell, charisma, the whole nine yards. I haven't witnessed a punk band this great since the early days of the Stitches (their shows in San Francisco are legendary, as well as some of their shows in Costa Mesa). The guitar has a nice crisp sound, and drummer who wails away. The vocalist is all over the place, climbing on top of amps, going into the crowd, smashing drinking glasses against the mic stand, flipping hats off onlookers, and never missing a beat. Their cover of Abwarts' "Computerstaat" was great; doing justice to the original and injecting a new energy into is as well.
They have a new 10" out, which I need, and a split 7" with the Rough Kids, which I'll review and post next week. Hopefully they'll come back to the US in the near future. And hopefully there will be more Irritones on this blog and elsewhere. Lots of photos this time around. Why not?

IRRITONES...

I believe this is where they started playing the cover of Abwarts "Computerstaat". 

The bass player from Neon Maniacs picks Olivier up...

IRRITONES set list