Tag: part time punks

Who’s The Better Brother? Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel at Echoplex

Rob Shepyer September 28, 2018

I love Gene Loves Jezebel. I love Jay Aston and I love Michael Aston. So, I will do my best to contribute to this band’s legacy by casting judgement on which twin brother’s band is the better Gene Loves Jezebel. Along with seeing a rare L.A. show by Jay Aston performing their favorite songs, many in attendance came to compare the two Gene Loves. Most likely looking to Michael Aston’s Part Time Punks show from years previous which I attended and enjoyed. Check out my review of that show below: related content: Gene Loves Jezebel Play Immigrant In Entirety At Part Time Punks Gig If you don’t know the band’s history, Michael and Jay Aston are twin brothers that each have their own version of Gene Loves Jezebel. Michael’s is based in the U.S., Jay’s is based in the U.K. Michael was the lead singer and Jay was the guitarist, back-up vocalist, and songwriter. After a tumultuous breakup resulting in a legal battle to see who gets to tour under the name Gene Loves Jezebel, they both play the same banner. It’s an interesting question to ponder. How do you cement ownership of a song? Is it the writer or

Nirvana Leads to Nothing… at the Regent

Rob Shepyer September 25, 2018

90’s alternative music is having an organic and overlooked revival that is making for some of the best rock and roll of this decade. Whether it be the post-grunge sounds of Culture Abuse or the hardcore infused shoegaze of Nothing, you should get into these bands before you miss the boat. related content: NOTHING Unhinge Echoplex Audience By Bending Sonic Waves Having just released an album and made the cover of Revolver magazine, Nothing is riding a wave at the moment with a cult-like following of hardcore kids that fell in love with gaze. This new album, “Dance on the Black Top” is for my money, the band’s best. You’d think that would make this Part Time Punks show at The Regent something magical to me but such wasn’t exactly the case. Nothing isn’t a bad live band, they’re just hit or miss. Hit or miss because something is missing. What great live music does, which is suspend your thinking mind and connect everyone by making them forget themselves, Nothing achieves this phenomenon better on record than in performance. It’s a big deal when Part Time Punks moves from the Echo or Echoplex to the Regent and opening up the

Color Me Punk: Rubella Ballet Plays First L.A. Show Since 1985 at Echoplex

Rob Shepyer September 20, 2018

Rubella Ballet comes from a time when there weren’t as many boxes for you to cram bands into. There was punk, metal, and a few subgenres in between. They were associated with the anarcho movement, namely Crass, in England in the late 70’s and 80’s but musically, their albums show more diversity than any label could commit them to. Their songs and look represented the essence of anarchy. Rebellion, even against itself. When everyone wore black, they wore Day-Glo. When everyone played fast, short songs, they experimented with slower rhythms and more nuanced arrangements. Singer Zilla Minx and guitarist Sid Ation still know how to get weird. For all these young kids born after Rubella Ballet’s heyday, this was a show unlike anything they had ever seen. Rubella Ballet’s latest album, Danger of Death, brought them back to Los Angeles to play Part Time Punks at the Echoplex for the first time since 1985. Along with a few death rock, anarcho, and post punk bands, their combined effort made for a very special night of music. related content: Gene Loves Jezebel Play Immigrant In Its Entirety At Part Time Punks Gig Spain’s Fatamorgana was the first to take the stage. Made

The Sound of Sex: Boy Harsher Seduces The Echoplex

Rob Shepyer January 29, 2018

If you were to cross Jae Matthews, vocalist of Boy Harsher, on the sidewalk you may not have any idea you were just in the presence of an industrial dance goddess. Hailing from Savannah Georgia, her and producer August Muller, don’t necessarily fit into your idea of what a goth should look like but then when you hear their combined force, you sense that this is the music that the world’s darkwave/industrial dance/EBM should crowd around. Part Time Punks did it again, lassoing a lineup that could sell out the Echoplex two times over with Boy Harsher getting support from Din and High-Functioning Flesh. Both bands feature producer Greg Vand, yet both bands sound completely different. Din was first, with female vocals and guitars to pair with Vand’s must-dance soundscapes. The filtered vocals gave the industrial sounds a bit of a shoe-gaze or post punk flare. Although sounding totally unique, Din offers a more straight forward and obvious dance triggering sound than High-Functioning Flesh. Using samples of voices to make musical medleys and punchy beats that marry Susan Subtract’s punchy crust vocals, High-Functioning Flesh sounds like revolution music for the cyber punk era. I’ve seen them numerous times now and

Krautrock Nite With Malcolm Mooney of Can At Echoplex: To Outer Space And Down To Earth

Rob Shepyer December 15, 2017

On the tapestry of world genres, that hangs in heaven’s music hall, one square is not quite like the others. Krautrock, is an enigma and maverick genre, it was when it was created in Germany and it’s still a mystery till this day. After the war and iron curtain, German artists felt stifled and trapped and wanted to reinvent their reality. I’m sure many musicians living in East Berlin stared up at the sky and decided to make music inspired by the cosmos itself. Krautrock is futuristic and retro at the same time, in other words, it is timeless. Can was a band without hierarchy that brought together jazz, rock, and contemporary classical music together. The music was so new and unique it was almost a political statement. Can was one of Krautrock’s most essential bands, one of the singers of which, Malcolm Mooney, played a rare performance at the Echoplex for Part Time Punks’ annual Krautrock Nite and even though I had just been barraged by a hardcore music festival for two days, I couldn’t miss this show. related content: For The Children 2017 At The Echoplex: Hardcore Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving Opening for Malcolm Mooney was Savage

Chameleons Vox At The Echoplex: Sorrow Never Sounded So Sweet

Rob Shepyer September 14, 2017

I’ve been fiending HARD for death rock ever since I read this bandcamp article exposing me to the bigger bands in the small dark punk revival scene. One of those bands I discovered was The Wraith and they were playing in support of Theatre of Hate at Part Time Punks. It was one of those rare occasions where I was just as stoked for the opening band as the headliner. Fast forward to a few weeks later, and Theatre of Hate gets stricken with visa issues, stranding the band in Europe so Chameleons Vox gets added to the bill after their show the night before sells out. Now with two British goth bands from the 80’s playing, this booking became an accidental powerhouse bill. Part Time Punks did it yet again, Michael Stock might just be the best promoter in this town for this whole, “rare vinyl come to life” thing Part Time Punks has going on. I waited for The Wraith as the fog machine’s outpour of haze consumed me and the stage. The Wraith is led by East Los Punk turned death rocker Davey Bales, who started the set by polishing off a plastic bottle of TAAKA vodka,

High-Functioning Flesh “Culture Cut” Release Party at Echoplex

Rob Shepyer June 28, 2017

For every genre, there is a right sound. A band’s music and vocal style have to marry each other in a familiar, yet original way to occupy the space in the ether that has always been waiting for them. High-Functioning Flesh captures the right industrial sound for 2017. Susan Subtract’s coarse vocal tone harkens back greats like Al Jourgensen and Nivek Ohgr, while Greg Vont’s music does the same with both singers’ respective bands. The difference is, High-Functioning Flesh uses highly danceable rhythms and melodies to make classic industrial sound new and fresh. If you listen to Ministry’s Twitch or any Skinny Puppy albums before Last Rights, you’ll find plenty of gems but only a few songs that could really hold their own on a mainstream dance floor. Meanwhile, every song on High-Functioning Flesh’s third and new album, Culture Cut, can pull any person onto a dance floor. I first discovered High-Functioning Flesh after seeing an Instagram video posted by Blaque Chris featuring the band headlining a Planned Parenthood benefit. The band’s compassion towards women and trans rights is just as pronounced as their music. After that, I made sure to check them out at Lethal Amounts’ Sado Maso Disco

The Primitives at Part Time PunksThe Primitives at Part Time Punks

The Primitives: Yet Another Rare Score for Part Time Punks 12th Anniversary

Rob Shepyer June 12, 2017

At this point, the musical muscle memory I’ve developed as a contributor for Janky Smooth has revealed at LEAST one thing- I know how to spot a good show from a mile away. So, when Part Time Punks announced that The Primitives were playing Los Angeles for the first time in twenty-three years aaaaand on top of that, it was the 12th anniversary of Part Time Punks, well I knew there was no earthly way I was going to miss it. The last few months of the weekly club alone have bestowed upon us Gene Loves Jezebel, James Chance and the Contortions and the first ever L.A. gig of British sensations, Sleaford Mods. Along with marquee headliners, Part Time Punks have excelled at booking complimentary opening acts, as well- and this past Sunday was no exception. related content: Part Time Punk Past… The openers for The Primitives gig on Sunday were Susan– a band made up of three women, none of them named Susan, playing alternative pop rock. Jessica O, the band’s guitarist plucked her six string with punchy sounding notes and soloed with impressive chops. Combined with bassist Bobby B. and drummer Katie Fern, the three would harmonize with

Sleaford Mods Hit The Echoplex On Last Date Of First Ever U.S. Tour

Rob Shepyer April 12, 2017

Part Time Punks, Sleaford Mods And Accidental Pop Music What makes a concert special and superior to the rest? It takes more than just the band playing well. Sometimes a bit of coincidence has to be involved to bring all the karmic forces together. On Sunday April 9th, a drunk veered his truck into a bunch of construction vehicles across from the line at The Echoplex. It was omen for the chaos to come. Before I get into the meat of this article and make any pretentious observations about Sleaford Mods, opening bands, punk rock or culture in general, let me begin with writing out the chant that follows the subject of this article everywhere they play. A chant that was repeated over and over by drunken middle-aged men that listen to this band on the car stereo as soon as they drop their kids off at school. Ahem… Sleaford Mods! Sleaford Mods! Sleaford Sleaford Sleaford Mods! Over and over again, I heard this…. Sleaford Mods! Sleaford Mods! Sleaford Sleaford Sleaford Mods! It could drive you a bit loony…. Sleaford Mods! Sleaford Mods! Sleaford Sleaford Sleaford Mods! Right until it gets stuck in your fuckin’ head… Sleaford Mods! Sleaford Mods! Sleaford

James Chance and the Contortions Play First Show in L.A. Since 1984

Rob Shepyer March 23, 2017

James Chance and the Contortions Zig and Zag, Jig and Jump at The Echoplex This Past Sunday for Part Time Punks Gig Sometimes punks become so punk that you can’t even call them punks anymore. Sometimes punks become so punk that they turn punk into jazz. But before they dive head-first into crate-digging for Japanese pressings of Thelonious Monk records, they discover the bridge between the two genres: No Wave. Punk rock saxophone has always held a special place in my heart. Whether it be Steve Mackay playing on my favorite album, The Stooges’ Funhouse, or it be Derf Scratch pouting out “New York’s Alright if You Like Saxophones”, or if it be X-Ray Spex ripping through “Oh Bondage, Up Yours!” The Saxophone always seemed to me to be a superior phallus to the guitar that can make any punk sound peak into pure Dionysic release. Never has there been a better practitioner of punk rock saxophone than the man, Part Time Punks just wrangled to play The Echoplex. It only took 33 years but on Sunday March 19th, James Chance and the Contortions finally made it back to Los Angeles. I had been waiting and hoping for years that this would

KXLU's Part Time Punks presents Gene Loves Jezebel

Gene Loves Jezebel Play Immigrant in Entirety at Part Time Punks Gig

Rob Shepyer February 7, 2017

There was a time in pre-smells-like-teen-spirit Los Angeles when the goth music scene was second only to glam rock. New romantics, death rockers or whatever you want to call them, made their presence known on the Sunset Strip and beyond. Teasing their hair, wearing dark eye makeup and clad in lace and silk, these creatures of the night chiseled out an undeniable chink in the old concrete understanding of gender roles and Gene Loves Jezebel were one of those bands. It wasn’t that these guys wanted to be women or were in any sort of gender crisis. They just had a different idea of what it meant to look good and in manifesting this, received an onslaught of attention from chicks offering to share makeup and hair products with the tortured souls of this music scene. Yes, I often think I might’ve joined them had I been alive in goth’s heyday. I would’ve pierced my ear with an Egyptian Ankh and worn rose-colored shades at night, seen Christian Death play the Roxy while Rozz Williams made out with strangers on stage. Gene Loves Jezebel, still very much alive and still singing songs about love and death, announced their participation in KXLU’s

Corners puts Cosmonauts To Test As Headliner at Part Time Punks at The Echo

Danny Baraz December 15, 2014

It’s amazing how many young people are picking up instruments and starting bands these days. What’s more amazing is that the attraction to do so seems to be motivated by the purest of intentions. There is less hope than ever to reach the heights of rock stardom achieved by every American generation since Elvis because of the relatively recent collapse of the music industry- When most young people at the time thought Metallica was out of touch in their fight with Napster, it appears they had a clear vision of what the future held. Bands work harder for less money. Album sales have been replaced by marathon touring schedules. Mega bands are asked to play the Superbowl for free. The tallest heights are measured by landing a single in a national commercial. Music has been devalued by a society that’s not quite sure how to make money off it anymore. While the internet is the greatest technology ever created to reach people all across the world, sell your product, book a tour and promote it, there are so many shiny objects distracting us all that the very ADD nature of it seems to have shortened the careers of many young