As a young kid and future music nerd growing up in the 90s, the first band I obviously became obsessed with was Nirvana; and the first album I became obsessed with was their Unplugged in New York. From that album my early music palate expanded. First, it led me to the Germs by way of Pat Smear’s guest appearance on guitar, then later, to the Vaselines by way of Nirvana’s cover of “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam.” Having prefaced with this, seeing the Vaselines perform in Los Angeles was a rare, unexpected treat. The Vaselines’ first ever Los Angeles show, and the first show of their brief first United States tour, was nothing less than charming, and definitely worth the wait. Founders Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee chatted with the crowd between songs, with McKee playfully joking about bikinis and masturbation, and Kelly getting red, trying to curb her remarks. However, the real charm of the evening was when the two of them sang and played their signature songs, including “Molly’s Lips,” “Sex Sux,” “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for A Sunbeam,” and others, as well a couple of new ones. Throughout the set, the two constantly quipped about how they were poor musicians, despite playing quite competently all evening. Possibly for that reason, or possibly for the reason of treating Los Angeles to one of our favorite Scottish guitarists, they were backed by fellow Glaslow native Stevie Jackson of Belle and Sebastian on lead guitar and a couple of seemingly younger guys on bass and drums. Added on top of McKee and Kelly’s guitar work, Jackson’s leads and rhythms gave the songs a fresh and full sound. The band really seemed to fall into their peak during the encore, where they played “Rory Rides Me Raw,” “You Think You’re A Man” (which my friend and fellow L.A. Record contributor Dan Collins made sure to mention is a Divine cover of which he owns the original LP), and closed out the evening with a great version of the title track of their only full-length album, “Dum Dum.”

—Daniel Clodfelter