Kim Shattuck formed the Muffs with bassist Ronnie Barnett, drummer Criss Crass and Melanie Vammen. After three singles for indie labels Subpop Records, Au Go Go in Australia, and Sympathy for the Record Industry, which generated a large underground buzz, the Muffs were picked up by Warner Bros and subsequently released their powerful eponymous debut album in 1993. Shortly after, Crass left the group and was replaced temporarily by drummer Jim Laspesa for the tour.

In the Spring of 1994, ex- Redd Kross drummer and longtime Muffs friend Roy McDonald joined the group. The Muffs had asked him back in 1990 but he was moving to Dallas and couldn’t do it. After switching to Reprise Records in Late 1994, the Muffs headed back into the studio to record the follow-up, Blonder and Blonder; now a three-piece due to Vammen’s departure.

They toured extensively in 1995 in support of their 2nd album Blonder and Blonder, creating havoc and chaos wherever they went. (Mostly in a good way). Happy Birthday to Me followed in 1997 and two years later Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow was released by a Fat Wreckords label, Honest Don’s; a rarities collection, Hamburger, appeared in early 2000 on Sympathy for the Record Industry. After a long break, The Muffs released their new CD Really Really Happy on Oglio Records during the summer 2004 and toured the US and Japan later that year.

BETTY BLOWTORCH was formed in 1998 by three members of Butt Trumpet. After releasing the 2001 album, Are You Man Enough?, the group toured with Nashville Pussy. During the tour, drummer Judy Molish and guitarist Sharon Needles left the group; Jennifer Finch from L7 joined in their stead. In December 2001, lead singer and bassist Bianca Halstead (Butthole) was killed in a car crash in New Orleans, which marked the end of the group. A collection of rarities and live performances was released as Last Call in 2003.

They are the focus of Antonia Scarpa‘s documentary film, Betty Blowtorch And Her Amazing True Life Adventures.

Halstead is buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Blare N. Bitch and Sharon Needles are currently both members of the Los Angeles based band, Psychostar.

About Jessie Deluxe

Jessie Deluxe describes her sound as heavy, melodic rock. Her songwriting is dynamic and powerful featuring choruses that, “lift you high in the air and then smash you back down to the ground.” This is in your face rock n’ roll that conjures up the grittiness of P.J. Harvey and the sex appeal of Elvis, all the while adding her own unique edge.

This fiery front woman packs an authoritative punch …live with her amazing voice. As she shreds on her Flying V, she commands the audience with the conviction of a rock icon. It is no surprise, this L.A. based band has become well known for high energy shows and electric performances. Joining Jessie on the stage is Spencer Lere on drums and Melanie Makaiwi on bass.

Formed in 1978 the Gears still play today. Featuring Axxel G Reese and Kidd Spike from the classic “Rockin at Ground Zero” lineup along with Mike Manifold on Bass and Sean “Shift” Antillion on drums.

About The Generators

The Generators have been at the forefront of the Los Angeles punk scene since 1997, and were recently mentioned by one of Americas leading news publications, the USA Today as one of Americas most under rated punk bands.  While The Generators story was brought to life in the late 1990’s, the true story of this band, and its members date back to the early 1980’s when the LA hardcore punk movement had evolved into a true musical revolution.

When the punk scene in Los Angeles was being recognized across the globe vocalist Doug “Dagger” Kane was one of the young familiar faces in the picture. Frequenting all the early Punk clubs like The Vex, The Cathay De Grande, and Godzilla’s, a then 16 year old Dagger joined in on the action, and started singing for his first Punk band Doug & The Slugz. In 1983 The Slugz were documented as one of America’s first OI! Street Punk bands, and on any typical night they were opening up for other notorious Punk acts like The Abandoned, Ill Repute, Mad Parade, and the Flower Leopards.

In 1989 Dagger would go on to lead the Southern California Punk band Schleprock. Through out the nineties the band supported the likes of Green Day, Rancid, The Specials, Sublime, as well as many others. After numerous records and non-stop touring over three continents, Warner Brothers Records eventually swept up Schleprock into the major label record feeding frenzy. In 1996 Schelprock released” Americas Dirty Little Secret”, but due to internal breakdowns and drug addictions Schleprock dis- banded in January of 1997.

Along side Dagger, there is also founding member guitarist Mike Snow. Snow and Dagger’s friendship go all the way back to 1980 as child hood friends. Snow was one of the early faces upon the Los Angeles mod scene in the early 1980’s, and his first band Subway also played along side Doug & The Slugz on some of these early LA punk gigs. Mike Snow was also part of one of California’s first street punk bands The Choice through out the mid to late nineties. In 2009 Schleprock guitarist Sean Romin re- joined Daggers side to take front stage for The Generators. Romin has also been around the LA Punk scene since the eighties and has been playing lead guitar for the old school LA Hardcore band Decry over the past decade. With the always reliable rhythm of Bassist Brandon Lutz, and the recruit of long time LA punk drummer Lou Guzman, The Generators prepare to embark on another journey, and another mission to the manipulate the sound waves.

In September of 2011 The Generators will be releasing their 8^th Full-length album “Last Of The Pariahs”, with producer Rich Mouser (Weezer, Chris Cornell). The new album catches the bands signature southern California melodic punk n roll sound, while also bringing fans back to some of their earlier 1977 old school snarl. The new album grabs you right away with the melodic heart-wrenching “Angels Looking Down”, a song about Dagger’s twenty-one year separation from his son, only to find him again in 2010. Theirs also new ones like 3AM, and Condition Red which show how much traditional punk bands like The Clash, or The Ruts remain to have heavy influence on The Generators. This new release will be followed up with an anticipated European and US Fall headlining tour. More than anything else The Generators somehow always remain to set themselves apart from the typical punk rock pack.  Whether it is with their creative story telling approach, or the way they twist, and turn all the melodies around. The boys from the city of angels somehow always manage to keep changing things up, while keeping their fans feeling safe in that familiar place.

Bio – Roger Martinez

About The BillyBones

The BillyBones is an American punk rock band. Based in Los Angeles, California, the band features Steven William “Billy Bones” Fortuna, formerly of The Skulls (U.S. Band), guitarist Alex Mack, bassist Rob Blue, and drummer Alex Gomez, formerly of U.S. Bombs.

The BillyBones released their debut 7″ single We’re Selfish on Dr. Strange Records in late 2007. Produced by Kevin Preston of the band Prima Donna, the record features two original songs and one cover. The A-side contains the title track and the song “All Excess”. A cover of the song “Editions of You”, originally performed by Roxy Music, takes up the B-side. In addition, saxophonist Aaron Minton of Prima Donna makes a guest appearance on “Editions of You”.

The record has been described as “upbeat” and “catchy” with “a real full sound, without sounding at all over-produced.” “Definitely top ten material.”

The BillyBones are currently in the mixing stage of their first full-length album, “The Complexity of Stupidity.”  Produced by Steve Fishman, the record is set for a 2011 release and will feature saxophone performances by visual artist Bad Otis Link.

About The Ex-Gentlemen

THE EX-GENTLEMEN are a brand new and much needed sensation in Los Angeles. Featuring former members of several hundred other punk rock bands that you don’t care about, the group has taken traditional Amercian power-pop and blown a ’77 snot rocket on top. They self-produced and released a debut EP, received incredibly good reviews, and are now preparing to release a bunch of new amazing shit. Believe it or die a traitor’s death.

“I saw them rip through their enviable batch of catchy uptempo punk with the power and intensity of a young Generation X.”-AFG Must Rock

“equal parts Ramones and good Springsteen that will bring punk rockers, and Huey Lewis fans alike, to their knees…”- Jerseybeat

“A little garage punk and a little bit power pop– truly a combination of the vegetables that make up this little tossed salad of music we call Punk Rock.”- PunkRockReview

About Art In the Streets @ MOCA

The Museum of Contemporary Art presents Art in the Streets, the first major U.S. museum exhibition of the history of graffiti and street art. The exhibition will trace the development of graffiti and street art from the 1970s to the global movement it has become today, concentrating on key cities where a unique visual language or attitude has evolved. Following MOCA’s presentation, the exhibition will travel to the Brooklyn Museum, where it will be on view March 30–July 8, 2012.

Art in the Streets will showcase installations by 50 of the most dynamic artists from the graffiti and street art community, including Fab 5 Freddy (New York), Lee Quiñones (New York), Futura (New York), Margaret Kilgallen (San Francisco), Swoon (New York), Shepard Fairey (Los Angeles), Os Gemeos (São Paulo), and JR (Paris). MOCA’s exhibition will emphasize Los Angeles’s role in the evolution of graffiti and street art, with special sections dedicated to cholo graffiti and Dogtown skateboard culture. The exhibition will feature projects by influential local artists such as Craig R. Stecyk III, Chaz Bojórquez, Mister Cartoon, RETNA, SABER, REVOK, and RISK.

A special emphasis will be placed on photographers and filmmakers who documented graffiti and street art culture including Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant, James Prigoff, Steve Grody, Gusmano Cesaretti, Estevan Oriol, Ed Templeton, Larry Clark, Terry Richardson, and Spike Jonze. A comprehensive timeline illustrated with artwork, photography, video, and ephemera will provide further historical context for the exhibition.

Art in the Streets will feature several shows within the show. There will be a special section dedicated to the Fun Gallery, which connected New York graffiti artists with the downtown art community in the early 1980s. Co-curated by gallery founder Patti Astor, the Fun Gallery installation will feature the work of Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the graffiti artists who shaped the gallery’s history. A section dedicated to the seminal film Wild Style (1983), co-curated by the film’s director Charlie Ahearn, will document its influence on the global dissemination of graffiti and hip-hop culture. The exhibition will also feature a memorial presentation of Battle Station, a rarely seen work by legendary artist and theorist RAMMELLZEE, and a display of graffiti black books and other historic works from the Martin Wong Collection presented in collaboration with the Museum of the City of New York. A highlight of the exhibition will be a Los Angeles version of Street Market, a re-creation of an urban street complete with overturned trucks by Todd James, Barry McGee, and Steve Powers.

The exhibition will open with a skate ramp designed by pro-skater Lance Mountain and artist Geoff McFetridge. Skate demonstrations by the Nike SB skate team will be held onsite for the duration of the exhibition.

“Art in the Streets will be the first exhibition to position the work of the most influential artists to emerge from street culture in the context of contemporary art history,” said MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch.

“This quintessentially urban and dynamic partnership between the Brooklyn Museum and MOCA began with the 2005 Brooklyn-organized exhibition of the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, the consummate American street artist of his generation; continued with the MOCA-organized ©MURAKAMI in 2007, defining critical elements of worldwide street art; and now culminates with a groundbreaking exhibition devoted entirely to street art and graffiti,” said Brooklyn Museum Director Arnold L. Lehman. “The partnership has, in itself, provided a major record of public art over the past half century.”

(Description from MOCA. For more information on the exhibit check out the official MOCA blog, The Curve)

PRS favs Bobot Adrenaline are celebrating 10 years in the Los Angeles punk scene with an LA show on June 18. Bobot Adrenaline has played many Punk Rock Socials over the years, including their CD release show for “Unfurled”. After 10 years, they remain one of our all-time favorite local bands. Congratulations on 10 years Bobot!

About Bobot Adrenaline

Formed in 2001, Bobot Adrenaline is a Los Angeles political rock band with punk aggressions, featuring Pepper Berry from now defunct Buck, which also featured Lisa Marr. (Buck reunited @ Punk Rock Social for 1 show in Feb 2008)

After five songs released on several Geykido Comet Records compilations (one being a benefit for Indymedia) the band went into the studio and recorded their debut EP, Unfurled, in 2007. It was produced by Tommy Stinson, who has worked with The Replacements, Guns N’ Roses, and Soul Asylum as well as two tracks produced by Joey Santiago from The Pixies. Unfurled was released on August 27, 2008.

In 2009, the band signed with Southern California punk record label Basement Records in order to release their second album, Dumb Bomb which came out in 2010.

Punk pranksters the Meatmen had one of the nastiest, most offensive senses of humor in all of hardcore — and that’s saying something. Politically incorrect before the term existed, frontman Tesco Vee — the one constant in the band’s lineup — kept things as gleefully stupid and tasteless as possible, cracking graphic jokes about various bodily functions while baiting women, minorities, homosexuals, rival punk bands, and handicapped children. The Meatmen’s music was generally standard-issue hardcore punk, with nods to heavy metal in their latter years; much more important, however, was their sheer outrageousness, which was the real basis for their following.

Meatmen founder Tesco Vee was born Robert Vermuellen, and grew up mostly in Lansing, MI, where he discovered the music of Detroit proto-punkers like the MC5 and the Stooges. Starting in his teenage years, he published several punk fanzines, chronicling the Midwestern scene in one called Touch & Go. In 1980, he adopted the stage name Tesco Vee (the first part after his favorite record store) and teamed with brothers Rich and Greg Ramsey (bass and guitar, respectively) to form the Meatmen. Initial drummer Jim Forsey quickly gave way to Eliot Rachtman, and the Meatmen soon built a following for on-stage antics that had little to do with Vee’s day job as a fourth-grade teacher.

Later in 1980, Vee teamed with Necros bassist Corey Rusk to found Touch & Go Records, which released the Meatmen’s 1982 debut EP, Blood Sausage. It was followed in short order by another EP, Crippled Children Suck; it was later reissued as part of an LP that also included demos and outtakes. By this time, Rachtman had been replaced first by Mr. X and then by ex-Necros drummer Todd Swalla; meanwhile, Greg Ramsey had also quit to have brother Rich take over his guitar slot, at which point Mike Achtenbourg joined on bass. Vee, uninterested in the business aspects of running a record label, also ceded control of Touch & Go to Rusk, who would build it into one of the most influential indie labels of the ’80s. The Meatmen’s — and Touch & Go’s — first full-length LP, We’re the Meatmen…and You Suck!!, appeared in 1983, and contained both Blood Sausage tracks and live versions of Crippled Children material. Following its release, the first version of the Meatmen disbanded, and Vee relocated to Washington, D.C.

With help from ex-Minor Threat guitarists Lyle Preslar and Brian Baker, Vee recorded the solo EP Dutch Hercules in 1984. Preslar and Baker subsequently formed the backbone of a musically potent new version of the Meatmen, which featured bassist Graham McCulloch and drummer Eric Zelzdor. Leaving Touch & Go for Homestead, this lineup released War of the Superbikes in 1985. Baker subsequently left the group to start the early emo band Dag Nasty, and was replaced by Stuart Casson. Casson, in turn, left halfway through the recording of 1986′s Rock & Roll Juggernaut (now on Caroline), and was replaced by James Cooper; when Cooper left in 1987, Casson came right back. Also in 1987, Zelzdor departed and gave way to Mark “Gooly” Kermanj. This lineup embarked on a farewell tour in 1988, which produced the live album We’re the Meatmen…and You Still Suck!!!

Two years after the Meatmen’s breakup, Tesco Vee emerged from retirement to form the Hate Police, which recorded several singles and an album over 1990-1993. Meanwhile, Touch & Go compiled the entirety of the Meatmen’s recordings for the label on 1991′s evocatively titled Stud Powercock: The Touch and Go Years. In 1993, after the Hate Police disbanded, Vee teamed with a Meatmen-influenced band called True Grit to form a third version of the Meatmen, this time featuring guitarist Norman Voss, bassist Mark Davis, and drummer Mark Glass. Vee formed his own Meatking label to issue the new lineup’s first effort, the limited-edition Toilet Slave, in 1994. The follow-up, 1995′s Pope on a Rope, featured new drummer Rob San Pietro and landed the group support slots with the likes of Gwar and Butt Trumpet. War of the Superbikes, Vol. 2, released by Go Kart in 1996, featured the entirety of the original album plus a selection of new songs to fill out the CD. A final EP, Evil in a League with Satan, appeared in 1997 before the group broke up once again. A decade later, the Meatmen returned to the studio to begin work on Cover the Earth, which was released in 2009 and followed by a mammoth U.S. tour.

After more than thirty years, D.O.A. remains as active as ever, touring internationally (including a trip to China, the first punk band to do so) and recording regularly (their thirteenth studio album was released in 2010); their fan base now spans three generations. This full-color large-format book is a sprawling visual history of the group by lead singer/guitarist Keithley—made up of vintage photographs, posters, handwritten lyrics, and other various ephemera—that offers a visceral glimpse into the hardcore life of one of the hardest-working punk bands in the business.

“They rock out. They blow the roof off. Some of the best shows I’ve ever seen in my life were D.O.A. gigs. I’ve never seen them not be amazing.”
—Henry Rollins of Black Flag

“The proper medicine growing young minds need. “
—Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys

Joe Keithley—the Godfather of Punk—is the founder of D.O.A. His autobiography, I, Shithead: A Life in Punk, was published by Arsenal in 2003 and has been translated into French, German, and Italian. He has long been an activist, including as a candi- date for the Green Party, and is the founder of Sudden Death Records. He lives in Vancouver with his wife and their three children.

TALK-ACTION=0 will be for sale at the June 17th show @ Alex’s Bar!