The Flytraps are an all-girl trashy surf-garage band who love hot tubs, the Mummies and Anton LaVey. The interview took place in Laura’s backyard which featured a large collection of disturbing statuary, including some cannibalistic french fries. More on that below. Other subjects covered include the perils of surfing, girl band geeks and Eurotrash pop. This interview by Janet Housden.

I was tragically unaware of your existence until yesterday, so I haven’t really done my homework. Just feel free to talk any shit you want—lies, slander, it’s all good. How long have you been together?
Kristin (bass/vocals): Probably almost a year?
Marz (rhythm guitar/vocals): I play rhythm guitar and I’m the lead singer. I’ve been in bands since I was 12, but it’s my second semi-serious band. And my favorite.
K: This is probably my most listenable band. I play bass, I sing sometimes … I was in a really shitty punk band before.
We’ve all been in shitty punk bands. The older you get, the more you fear Google. What were some of the bands that you’ve been in?
M: Mine was Marz and the Mess.
K: Mine was Dehumanized.
The trashy, surfy garage rock thing has been around for a long time, but somehow never gets old. What is it about it?
Laura (drums): The songs are usually short, it’s fun to listen to …
M: We’re not showing off. It might help that we do live in California and people do surf.
I think a lot of people in surf bands didn’t really surf.
M: The Beach Boys didn’t even surf! One of them drowned! How fucking ironic is that?!
It’s even more ironic than that—the one that drowned was the only one that surfed! So explain these creepy mannequins.
L: We moved in here almost two months ago, and when we came to look at this house it was the backyard that really sold me. It was just … I feel like we walked into somebody else’s dream. The landlord asked me if I wanted her to take all the statues away and I was like, ‘Please leave them.’ There’s a giant John Wayne in the corner, but my two favorite statues are the hot dog that’s pouring ketchup on itself, and this thing of french fries that’s eating itself, like, with crazy bug eyes. And I like to look directly into the woman right here, the butler woman’s eyes. She has the creepiest eyes I’ve ever seen in my life.
Those are pretty demented—so there’s a butler and a maid and half of a slaughtered pig hanging upside down?
M: If you turn it around you can see its guts.
And there’s also a giant palm tree lamp and a Marilyn Monroe.
L: And there’s a little Elvis …
K: His guitar is backwards.
Dyslexic Elvis!
L: Everything you see, it came with the house. The first time we had a party here, we had a hot tub party, and there was a boom box already out here, and we turned the radio on and it immediately started playing the Eagles. It was perfect! We didn’t even change the station all night.
What kind of people owned this house?
M: People with John Wayne statues who liked to party!
L: How could you live here and not party? Look at this place! We had that one party and then the landlord emptied the hot tub the next day and told us we couldn’t use it anymore. … It was kind of a bummer, but we’re just gonna refill it.
Let the dog swim in it. Landlord revenge is an art. You have to be subtle and make it look like an accident.
L: She sold us on the hot tub, like, ‘This place has a hot tub! Don’t forget about the hot tub!’ Then we use it once … Apparently there was a cigarette butt in it. Like one cigarette butt. She told us that it broke the hot tub.
At least you got to have one California hot tub party.
L: That party was pretty epic.
Being an all-girl band, do you ever get, like, douchebag promoters going, ‘We’re gonna have all-girl night!’ and they try to lump you in with a bunch of bands you have nothing in common with?
Everyone: Oh yeah.
K: We got asked to play at a lesbian club at Que Sera once.
M: Everyone assumes we’re like, feminists. That’s cool, but they just come at us like ‘Sooooo … what do you think about feminist rights?’ Just because we’re all girls.
Yeah—I still see bands, mostly lame ones, trying to pull the whole ‘we’re blazing new trails for women in rock ‘n’ roll’ routine. They’ve been saying that for 40 years!
K: Yeah, I hate it. It’s been fucking done.
M: I can’t stand it.
Then why did you want to be all girls?
L: It just sort of happened like that.
K: We just wanna play music. It’s not that I’m uncomfortable around guys, but you can’t really have the same connection.
K: We can just go to practice and not give a fuck about anything. We do have that feminine bonding or whatever.
Back in the day, we used to have these guys called GBGs—Girl Band Geeks—and they were just like the creepiest dudes that would follow female musicians around.
K: That shit still happens!
M: It’s flattering, but we definitely know where you’re coming from with this question.
The hardcore GBGs were kind of scary. Some of them, you just knew they had severed ears in their refrigerator at home.
K: Like locks of our hair! I would like to think that they’re just into the music, but in the back of my mind I think they, you know …
M: Last night was a perfect example.
K: We played on a Marine base! Camp Pendleton, last night.
M: I’ve never heard so many cheesy pick-up lines in a row.
That’s more like a normal dude thing. I’m thinking of those weird guys who say, ‘I only like bands with girls in them,’ and they show up and take lots of pictures. Anyway—do you have serious ambitions for the band?
K: We wanna travel—all over everywhere. That’d be fucking sick, if we could afford it. I just wanna have a good time.
M: More than anything else, I just wanna fucking travel. Everywhere.
I’ve heard rumors that they treat American bands nicer in Europe than they do here.
K: I don’t know, my friend’s band just toured over there, and this one vegan blogger or some shit spread all these rumors that they were, like, racist. And the singer’s Mexican! They just went to Europe a few weeks ago and they had all this shit happen—like their drivers dropped out … it was fucked up. Just from like one person misinterpreting something.
M: I moved here from Belgium six years ago. My grandpa’s husband is some big producer guy in Europe.
K: What the fuck? Hook us up!
M: I hate to bring up the whole girl thing, but honestly the fact that we’re all girls, they would eat it up over there. Because the talent in Europe, it’s such a lower standard. [Laughs] I’m just talking about Belgium. Belgium is just Eurotrash pop, that kind of thing. But they really like American bands. They really like American culture. And I can say this cuz I moved from there.
If you guys were all trapped somewhere, and it was just the members of your band, and you’re trapped on a ship lost at sea or in a fallout shelter or something, and you have a kitchen, and you have condiments, and all the things you usually find in a kitchen, but you have no food—who in the band would you kill and eat first, and how would you prepare them?
Everyone except Marz: Marz!
M: I don’t have any meat on my bones!
K: Roast her up on a fucking rotisserie.
M: No one would miss me.
K: Well, you’d be the most delicious. You have the lean muscle.
L: And she’s from Belgium.
M: I’d taste like waffles and beer. OK, so me.
What would be your ultimate gig?
K: We want to play with the Mummies.
M: Mummies, for sure. I just saw them in S.F.—I’ve been waiting to see them for years and years.
Russell Quan is the God of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
K: He was so fucking sick. He was like reading off a grocery store coupon list, like, ‘You can pick up a head of lettuce for 99 cents,’ while the rest of his band were putting on their mummy costumes.
I saw them once, and near the end of the set the Farfisa player just opened the door and threw his Farfisa into the street. I was like, ‘This is the best band ever!’
K: They still had tons of energy—the singer was picking up his keyboard over his head and acting like he was going to throw it at me.
When I went to google you guys, the first thing that came up was this pop band of Thai ladyboys called Venus Flytrap. Who’d win in a fistfight—you or the ladyboys?
K: I fight dirty.
M: I’m 5’10’ and I surf, and Kristin is just a nutcase. Laura’s a nutcase, and Beth is quiet—but it’s the quiet ones you’ve gotta watch out for, so honestly, like, watch out.
You have a picture of Anton LaVey on your MySpace page. Are you guys all evil and shit? Or do you just like his fashion sense?
K: Anton LaVey is fuckin’ rad. He just didn’t give a fuck about offending anyone. He just did what he wanted to do and that was his whole philosophy.
Beth (lead guitar): Didn’t he plagiarize? I just heard that he stole all his material from somewhere else.
He’s into Satan! You’re allowed to do that stuff when you’re into Satan.
K: His whole philosophy was like do what you want. Don’t hurt anyone else but do what you want.
He stole that one for sure.
M: ‘Good artists copy, great artists steal.’
K: My mom saw it on MySpace and was like, ‘You need to delete that right now!’ I wanted to appease her, like, ‘OK Mom, we’ll take some of the Satanist stuff off our internet page,’ and MySpace would not let me do it! MySpace supports Satanism. You heard it from me.

THE FLYTRAPS WITH SOME DAYS, FIM AND THE TERRORISTS ON THURS., JAN. 19, AT CHEETAHS, 4600 HOLLYWOOD BLVD., HOLLYWOOD. 8 PM / TBD / 21+. CHEETAHSHOLLYWOOD.COM. EMAIL THE FLYTRAPS AT THEFLYRAPS666@GMAIL.COM.

In 1966, in the wake of the critical acclaim from the masterpiece Pet Sounds, and coasting on the fame and fortune he’d earned for single-handedly competing with the entire nation of England for two whole years, Brian Wilson boasted to the press that the next Beach Boys album would be better still, grandiose beyond reckoning, as evolved from Pet Sounds as Pet Sounds had been from its predecessor, the goofy Beach Boys Party! album.

Finally on November 1, 2011, we’ll be getting the official, Capitol Records, Mike-and-Al-sanctioned confirmation that he was absolutely right. While Pet Sounds gets the accolades, consistently coming up number one in lists of the greatest albums of all time (Rolling Stone placed it as number 2, below only Sgt. Pepper), it’s now crystal clear that Pet Sounds was supposed to be just the wedge end of a growing block of masterful songwriting and recording genius—yes, the title “genius” is correct, despite what the elder Brian himself claims. Furthermore, it’s obvious from this box set (you can also get the gist of things in a two CD or two album set, though we know our readers will go the full monty on the big version with all the trimmings) that the Smile sessions were NOT written, arranged, and recorded by a drug-addled, paranoid recluse whose bad LSD trips had clouded his judgment—that would come later for Brian. Here, the only thing crazy is how intricate and beautiful the music is. Not only the songs themselves, but the meticulous false starts, the outtakes, the bonus ditties, and even the lighthearted banter with session drummer Hal Blaine and bassist Carol Kaye all show that Brian Wilson was in complete control of a masterful vision from start to near-finish. Done right, Smile could have tossed Pet Sounds around like a tidal wave, and maybe even made the Beatles yearn for yesterday. Though we’ll never know the answer to the mystery of what might have been, this collection gives us our best guess, while at the same time shattering any myths about what was assumed never could be.

You, fair reader, probably know those myths and never believed them, though it’s hard to avoid romancing the Smile saga. To rehash a tale that’s been told to death (and which is covered far better in the box set’s liner notes), Smile missed its historical moment, big time. Planned to be released after the Beatles’ Revolver and to make good on the promise of the “Good Vibrations” single, Smile instead became unwound and frazzled, hemorrhaging songs and lyric writers and well-wishers as its completion date got pushed further and further into 1967 (lyricist Van Dyke Parks famously amscrayed after one too many terse arguments with Mike Love, a major skeptic of Smile who likely hastened its destruction). When Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band came out, an album made by Beach Boys fans that was nonetheless far more abrasive than what the Wilson brothers were working on, it basically beat them to the punch.

And Brian effectively threw in the towel, scrapping all his hard work and instead gathering the Beach Boys together at his house to hastily bang out cheapo versions of the songs meant for Smile (the only true Smile session survivor being “Heroes and Villains”). The results, mostly recorded on the Capitol album Smiley Smile with just a few instruments and carrot-crunches, have their own oddball charm but did nothing to alert the world of Brian’s genius—instead, they seemed to confirm the drug-damaged rumors, and stand even now as perhaps the most stoned-sounding of all Beach Boys songs.

But those who paid attention knew that Brian was leaving a trail of breadcrumbs back to that unfinished gem. On record after subsequent record throughout the late 60s and early 70s, some of the best Beach Boys songs lifted their lyrics from Smile snippets (“Mama Says” on Wild Honey) or were outright pieced together from Smile sessions (“Cabinessence” and “Our Prayer” on 20/20, “Surf’s Up” on Surf’s Up). These gave the few remaining Beach Boys fans a taste of the masterpiece that somehow slipped through everybody’s fingers. In the CD era, we got even more treats as bonus tracks and box set extras, with great bootlegs such as the Sea of Tunes Unsurpassed Masters series filling in the rest. Finally, in 2004, a newly refurbished Brian Wilson with a new wife, new band, and new meds got his ass up on stage and took Smile on tour, culminating things with the release of Brian Wilson Presents Smile, its recorded anew in the studio with Wilson’s touring band (mostly made up of the Wondermints) and an assist from Van Dyke Parks himself.

But what about the other Beach Boys? Hearing a finalized running order for Smile was great (it certainly settled a lot of long-standing bets). And the songs were recorded well—in fact, Wilson got the Best Rock Instrumental Grammy that year for “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow.” But the Brian of 2004 was no match for the Brian of old; nor could the Wondermints surpass the original Wilson brothers’ harmonies—not even with an Idol-worthy female singer hitting Carl’s high notes. The original Beach Boys’ vocals, the harmonies that were supposed to guide us through Smile, the kind you can ONLY get from a group of siblings (think of the Bee Gees, or the Chapin Sisters, or the Chambers Brothers, or the Carter Family) were still sitting in the vaults at Capitol. We fans could splice together our own Smiles from those CD bonus tracks and a few brave Pro Tools edits, but Brian had denied us access to the rest, going so far as to say that the original “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow” was terrible and would NEVER be unearthed, and might even be destroyed.

Thank GOD that’s not true, and thank GOD for this final mix, which sends the bootleggers running to the hills with crisp and clear recordings that provide plenty of surprises, at least compared to the Smile detritus we’ve heard in the past. The running order is largely the same as what Wilson gave us in 2004, but many of the details are different than what was presented then, including the song titles, which go by the names fashioned by Wilson and Van Dyke Parks at the get-go rather than what they became after Parks’ renewed participation more recently. And perhaps due to limitations in what the young Beach Boys had laid down on those Capitol sessions (there’s no cheating or re-dos, like Carl Wilson used on the 70s’ “Surf’s Up”), you’ll also hear some Parks lyrics that are different here than on the 2004 version. We’re missing a few good words, such as the megaphone bit on “Holidays,” or the “Maybe not one/maybe you too” lyrics that tied “Wonderful” to “Song for Children” on the 2004 Smile.

Actually, that’s probably my biggest complaint about the “final” Smile, mild as it is: the slightly clumsier connection between songs than what I’m used to in earlier trial mixes of Smile. I’m sure this, too, was a limitation in resources, since in a finished Smile, the piecing-together process would have happened last, and it’s far too late to get the Wrecking Crew back together for a final run-through of the xylophone intro to “Wind Chimes.” But one of the many, many ways that Smile would have been ahead of its time (or at least contemporary with Zappa), and one of the things that was to make it truly symphonic, was the fact that it was more than a collection of songs—it was supposed to be a woven tapestry, where one song became the next gradually. And I can’t help but think that some of this version’s fade-outs and decaying bass lines prevent the full cohesion of the cloth.

But a lack in connections is more than made up for by all the new revelations! Oh my god! In some places, it’s subtle, like in the extra minute of “ba de ba” meat slapping in “Vega-Tables,” or the ridiculously satiating bits of “Cool Cool Water” that show up in the background of “Love to Say Dada.” Other songs, like “Child Is Father of the Man,” contain brand new delicate vocal and instrumental arrangements that almost nobody has ever heard before. If you just put this on in the background while washing dishes and aren’t paying attention to the differences, you might just break a plate at the beauty of the sudden piano break in the middle of “Holiday,” which makes the instrumental sessions from the Pet Sounds era sound like immature stumbles by comparison.

The other four discs of the box set make this comparison even more blunt, proving how much more complex Brian’s arrangements had grown, even when compared to similar session tracks from the Pet Sounds box set. There, though the songs were heartfelt and wistful, many of the arrangements were still largely verse-chorus, the kind like “God Only Knows” that could be recreated in a live setting with minimal changes—just get a concertina player on stage with a banjoist, and let Mike shake a tambourine.

We’re far, far further through the looking glass with Smile! So much is crammed into each song, yet they feel so light! And on some of these sessions, you see that Brian had been even further out there than on the more “finished” tracks, especially on the sessions recorded while the other Beach Boys were still deep into their English tour England in 1966. Some versions of “Vega-Tables” have laughter all the way through them, like a madhouse. And one version of “Heroes and Villains” (track 22 on the first disc, if you want to check it out) is so psychedelic, you’ll drool—certainly this could have made “Tomorrow Never Knows” look like “Yesterday Already Did” if it hadn’t been usurped by the Brit guitar gods, then by Hendrix and the hard rock gang that followed to delegate vocal music to the sidelines.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Smile without some humor. Perhaps my favorite parts of the whole collection are the goofy bits between songs, when Brian and friends pretend that he’s stuck in a microphone or piano, or when you hear Brian in the recording sessions chiding his players into slapping actual chains at just the right velocity to get the desired percussion he needs for a song snippet. Actually, the goofiest part of all is the box set packaging! As though the music and all those sessions wasn’t enough, this gigantic… thing comes with a book, a bunch of photos (er, I mean “lithographs”), and the piece de resistance, a re-rendered Smile “shop” cover that lights up and is in 3D! I guess these are the features that will make the box sex $140 instead of $80? Well, as long as I get my vinyl singles, my vinyl albums, AND my CDs AND all this stuff, I’ll accept the frills and chills as part of the package, like a cigarette after sex.

Too often, history has treated Smile like the fire that Brian Wilson’s bad behavior kicked over, causing the Beach Boys careers to burn out and fade away. So perhaps it’s in some ways fitting that this Smile is the first attempt in a long time to patch things up between the existing Beach Boys—instead of suing each other, as they’ve done so often in the past, Mike Love, Brian Wilson, and Al Jardine came together on this and actually agreed to release this box set of their most celebrated unreleased songs. Maybe they knew it was too important to wait. Despite all the tacky turbans and cynical business decisions Mike Love has used to keep the Beach Boys machine afloat through the years, it’s his gentle voice that makes so many of these songs great: and yes, the final song on here is his “Good Vibrations” with Mike Love vocals and lyrics, and not the original Tony Asher ones as sung by Brian in 2004.

A collection of so many things—themes of Americana, minor key standards, English and Hawaiian languages, the four elements—this final Smile is also a collection that brings the past and present together and makes some sense out of them, somehow. Here’s to not making us wait another ten years—and here’s to the thousand times I’ll be listening to this album, and smiling, in the next month.

-Dan Collins

Just when you think summer’s over, a heat wave comes to L.A. and Waved Out 2 comes to the Echoplex, to hose us down with the reverb-soaked sounds of teenage noise pop, chill wave, surf punk and psych-folk. I didn’t know what to expect. The only bands listed on the bill whose names I recognized were the trippy headliners, the Entrance Band and Dungen, who were playing the first show of their US tour.  Sponsored in conjunction by the Aquarium Drunkard music blog, KXLU and L.A. RECORD, the all-day event featured an eclectic assortment of West Coast bands on two stages, a vegan tamale stand, DIY silkscreening station, and tarot card readings.

Kicking off the event, the Zig Zags played the loft at Origami Vinyl. Hailing from Oakland, California, the two piece won my heart with their lo-fi surf punk jams, reminiscent of the Wipers but with Beach Boys harmonies. The highlight of the Zig Zags set was what I think was a Big Star cover (“I was outta my mind…”) and an original tune they ended the set with “It’s What I’m Looking For,” a sludgy garage punk singalong. Zig Zags don’t seem to have any releases yet, but I hope they record some demos with their friend Greg Ashley soon, because I’m hooked!

Next up were Young Prisms at the Echoplex. The aptly-named San Francisco quintent plays loud, wall-of-sound shoegaze bathed in prisms of light. Stef’s haunting vocals blend perfectly with Matt and Jason’s layers of fuzzy, droned out guitar. Although I had them pegged them for 17, they are indeed very young (21-24) and sure enough, they met in high school. Now, why weren’t there any My Bloody Valentine fans at my highschool?

Summer Darling at The Echoplex; this taut, angular 4-piece plays angsty, post hardcore indie rock ala Hot Snakes, Clinic and Spoon. Not what I was in the mood for, but an energetic performance nonetheless.

In between beers, I hung out with Oliver, (the Young Prism’s bearded schnauzer), photographer extraordinaire Sarah Morrison snapped pics of the local kids we met, and I got an unbelievably spot-on tarot card reading by the lovely and talented Marcella. While the tarot cards clearly spelled out my destiny (romance and creative pursuits on track, whew!), she failed to tell me I was missing a great band. I ran up the stairs and back to the sweaty loft at Origami Vinyl just in time to catch the end of a short and sweet set by So Many Wizards!  Hailing from Long Beach and L.A., this 3-piece plays jangle pop heavy on the reverb. I definitely see more of So Many Wizards’ magic powers in your future!

Now Shannon & The Clams was the 1st performance of the evening that blew my mind.  Imagine the Ventures meets King Kahn & BBQ Show and you’re half way there. Fronted by a statuesque blonde who looks like she stepped out of a John Waters movie, the voluptuous female vocalist/bass player Shannon is the Anita Eckberg of cowpunk, commanding the stage with all the star presence of Dusty Springfield or Peggy Lee, but with the pipes of Wanda Jackson. Man can that girl sing! Sharp dressing and impish guitar player/male vocalist Cody is like a post modern Link Wray or John Doe, all elbows and knees, playing tawngy 60s seaside guitar riffs. Their set highlights include wild covers of Del Shannon’s “My Little Runaway” and Dion’s “The Wanderer” and catchy original garage punk numbers like “Hunk Hunt” that got the whole crowd rollicking.

I caught Hanni El Khatib, a two-piece consisting of guitar and drums of spirited post rockabilly garage in the tradition of Alan Vega and the Gun Club. Then, the very handsome John Carpenter took to the Origami stage, starting his set playing a solo set of folk ballads with hushed vocals reminiscent of Leonard Cohen, lulling his rapt audience with dreamy story songs. Carpenter dispensed with the acoustic vibe as his set went on, wailing on an electric guitar and screaming like The Yardbirds.

Hailing from Brooklyn by way of New Jersey, doe-eyed singer-songwriter Sharon Von Etten played pretty heartfelt songs with a breezy sincerity. Sharon has a beautiful, bird-like velvety voice and an easy rapport with her audience, consisting primarily of girls, many of whom sang along to her standout songs like “Sick of Trying,” an ode to her family, Sharon explained, “and dealing with my Pisces-ness. Is that a word?”  Uh oh, Lillith Fair, watch out! We have a contender!

Kicking off their tour with Dungen, The Entrance Band was in top form at the Echo, playing new material including “Masquerade” and “Spider.” Between Guy’s wild gesturing and Paz’s free-spirited hopping and barefoot strutting, The Entrance Band are one of the most highly original psych bands to come from L.A., evoking a whirling dervish take on 1960s rock, informed in equal measure by Eastern influences and Nuggets flashbacks.  Through heavy touring, The Entrance Band has definitely evolved and become a more sophisticated and tight unit. Paz has to be one of the most exciting bass players today—her body is her instrument—all legs, swaying brown hair, and hypnotic rhythms. Their set highlights included an inspired cover of Arthur Lee & Love’s  “A House is not a Motel” and “Temptation” on which Guy channeled Jason Pierce of Spaceman 3.

The Entrance Band Sarah Morrison

by Gather fanboys now for Dungen! Starting off their set with an oldie but a goodie, their breakout U.S. single “Festival”, the Swedish psych-folk/acid jazz pioneers whipped their bespectled fans into a frenzy.  Some of us even tried to sing along. Good luck! In broken English, frontman Gustav announced: “We will now play some new stuff—in Swedish!” You gotta love them Swedes! One can’t help but remark how perfect it would have been for Dungen to score a remake of The Wickerman. Dungen continues to release epic, sprawling records that deserve subtle contemplation, but I’m not sure if American audiences are ready yet to stand watching a 15 minute set of extended flute playing in a rock club. Unless you are really, really stoned. That said, Gustav’s virtuosity is remarkable, and his vocals in Swedish are unreal. Switching from flute to piano, with unusual song structures closest to free jazz, Dungen is the kind of band that would make Ornette Coleman proud.  Me on the other hand, I was all waved out.

—Zoë Bower

In honor of the Tribute To The Beach Boys, WHEN YOU AWAKE made L.A. RECORD an exclusive mixtape of songs those guys notoriously covered. Say thanks to Jody, who has established a sweet union between tribute shows and charity events.

—Daiana Feuer

Download: When You Awake Beach Boys Mixtape

TRACKLIST:
Moon Dawg (written by Derry Weaver and recorded by The Gamblers)
Barbara Ann (written by Fred Fassert and recorded by The Regents)
Cotton Fields (written and recorded by Lead Belly)
Sloop John B (a traditional West Indies folk song)
I Should Have Known Better (written by John Lennon and recorded by the
Beatles)
I Can Hear Music (written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector
and recorded by the Ronettes)
Devoted To You (Written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and recorded by The
Everly Brothers)
Ruby Baby (written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and recorded by The
Drifters)
Just Once In My Life (written by Gerry Goffin, Carole King and Phil Spector
and recorded by The Righteous Brothers)*
Don’t Worry Baby (ok, not technically a cover but Brian Wilson did write it
as an attempt to capture the essence of The Ronettes’ tune “Be My
Baby”….and I couldn’t do a Beach Boys mixtape without including it)

*This one’s on the mix in honor of Andy from the World Record/Parson Redheads, who was our backing band’s fearless leader and worked tirelessly to make the music at the tribute amazing. Thanks Andy!

Stream: Happy Mondays “24 Hour Party People”

(from Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) on Factory)

Happy Mondays were the actual 24 hour party people and legendarily—but perhaps not actually, says drummer Gaz here—helped bankrupt Factory Records during the recording in Barbados. They have been banned from Disneyland and the BBC (but will still appear at both) and speak now despite a million mea culpas about being boring. This interview by Dan Collins.

I’m recording you on side two of the tape I interviewed Billy Bragg on.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan (drums): Okay! Just don’t ask any political questions. He knows a lot more than me about that.
Shaun Ryder flaked on the interview today. Is he out doing something he shouldn’t?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: He’s probably at home. We’re all really boring these days! I’m really boring. I’d lived in Australia for a few years, but that’s just too far.
You should try L.A.! It’s burning hot. I came home and poured myself a glass of Scotch and realized the Scotch is HOT!
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Ha ha! It’s warm here. It’s fantastic! I’ve been walking about in the briefest of shorts!
What were things like when you joined the Happy Mondays?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: From the very start of the band—from the very first song, it’s only been me and Shaun from the start to the very end. I was fifteen, back in the early eighties, and Shaun was about 19 or 20.
And you’ve always been a principal song writer.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Yeah! Shaun did the lyrics mainly.
I was listening to the ‘Delightful / This Feeling / Oasis’ EP from your early years. It sounds SO MUCH like Joy Division! Was that conscious?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: That’s just because we were fucking rubbish! Maybe. We tried not to sound like Joy Division, but the first couple songs when we first started… the thing when you start a band, you start a band and learn your instruments later. And so we tended to do Joy Division songs early on, and we did a Depeche Mode song. But we made a point of not sounding like that band. Can—I thought we sounded more like them than anything. But yeah, it’s probably inevitable. We’re all miserable fuckers in Manchester. It just fucking rains and it’s grey so you just end up being miserable. So you come up with good lyrics because there’s nothing else to do.
Your first album was produced by John Cale. I heard it didn’t go down quite like you’d expected.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: How he was then is how we are now. And he’d given up smoking the day before we started the album, which is probably bad timing. And he just ate oranges and tangerines all day. We got on quite well, but it wasn’t the session we expected it to be. I don’t think he really got us.
I was thinking about what you guys were doing in terms of the rave culture. It seems like you guys were part of the rave ‘culture’ without playing what I would consider ‘rave music.’
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Shaun only listens—as far as I can remember—to hip-hop, and I mainly listen to electronic and soul and Felix da Housecat. There’s lots of stuff I like. So when we get in the room with guitars and live drum kit, that’s the only way we know. We tried to do electronic music organically and sometimes make a mess of it. We were big fans of A Certain Ratio, who were kind of like Joy Division but with funk and a horn section—with the great Don Johnson, a great drummer who taught me how to play. They started on Factory, but like if Joy Division had a DJ in the band and a funk drummer.
It’s funny you mentioning Shaun’s love of hip-hop. I interviewed Chuck D a few months back, and he mentioned Public Enemy being sort of the Rolling Stones of rap. Do you think with the dynamic between Shaun and Bez, you guys are like the Public Enemy of rock?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: You know what? We’ve been likened to two U.S. acts—Public Enemy and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. That’s absolutely spot on!
Is Shaun the Chuck D, or is that you?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: No, I’m more kind of the studio, um, who is that? Shocklee! Absolutely spot on!
It’s getting to surreal levels, with Flavor Flav becoming a reality show star in the U.S. and Bez being a reality star in the U.K. and winning Celebrity Big Brother.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Yeah, that’s exactly a similarity as well. Bez is good at it! He jumped off a cable car with Jack Osbourne! He’ll do anything. He always wins them all!
Bez was going to play with you guys in the States recently—at Coachella. But he couldn’t get in.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: He couldn’t get a visa. Because he’s a very naughty boy! He’s always going bankrupt.
How did he join the band?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: We’d been together probably four years, and we’d been doing gig shows for about two years, and Shaun was a bit embarrassed about not wanting to be seen as the front man, and so we had different friends of ours and buddies getting up and dancing with us. And he just did it once, and he’s never… we never actually asked him to join the band! He’s just never left. He just decided he’s in the band and that’s it. But it took the pressure off Shaun a little bit. He kind of took the pressure off all of us. He could just do his Flavor Flav thing! That’s all part of rock ‘n’ roll, innit? That’s what it’s all about. To me, anyway. You got to play the part.
Has his recent turn on reality TV helped or hurt the Happy Mondays?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Both! When he does these TV shows, people like him because he’s very genuine. He’s who he is. He’s actually quite a likable person. And he is hilarious—he says lots of ridiculous things. One of the first tours we did of the States—about 1990—we arrived in New York and we did a bit of a press conference. And there were journalists from different newspapers, and they spoke up and said what newspaper they were from. And one woman said she was from the Pennsylvania Tribune, or something and Bez said, ‘Pennsylvania? Perfect! Where Dracula’s from!’ He takes away the credibility, I suppose—but he’s funny.
Bez has been popular on TV, but Shaun was actually banned from the BBC’s Channel Four.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Yeah, he was actually named in the law. It’s the ‘Shaun Ryder’ something…
The ‘Shaun Ryder Rider!’ He’s literally the only person ever specifically mentioned in the Channel Four BBC Reference Guide as someone who’s not allowed to appear! But despite that, you guys appeared on there last year, right?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Yeah, we did a live gig. It’s all delayed. See, we’re groundbreaking! The problem, to be honest, is that we all swear when we speak to each other, and when we come do TV we find it hard not to! We’re just rubbish at playing the game! That’s been our downfall as well.
Steve Jones swore on TV in England, but they gave him a radio show here in L.A.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Me and Shaun did it last year. We got taken there really late and got lost. We were supposed to be there for two hours, and we only ended up doing ten minutes.
I’ve been talking with you eighteen minutes! So L.A. RECORD beats Steve Jones. Did you get to see him play with Hollywood United’s football team when you were in L.A.?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: No! I used to play professionally for six months for Everton in Liverpool, just down the road. I was just a rookie, and had to leave it because of the band.
Do you ever wonder what could have been?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Every fucking day! Every fucking day.
I think you did okay.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: I got lucky! I can’t complain. I complain all the time because I’m British—that’s what we do.
A lot of us in L.A. really like Black Grape a lot. Which band was better, Black Grape or the Happy Mondays?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: I prefer Black Grape! Shaun’s answer would be that they’re the same band, and they kind of were almost. We were veering towards what Black Grape were, anyway. We do a couple Black Grape songs when we play live.
I know you’ve been interviewed to death about 24 Hour Party People, but what percentage of the movie was actually true?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: I’ve not seen it properly! I’ve only seen bits of it but it’s poetic license, you know. A lot of their stories are mixed up.
There were lots of scenes of tour buses and snorting cocaine off naked women, and things like that.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: No! We used to play a lot. We used to play Scrabble.
You never snorted cocaine off the Scrabble table?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: No, ha ha! Absolutely not!
I have read interviews with Shaun—and maybe you—saying that in the early days of the band, he would walk around on ecstasy like every day. Just take a quarter tab or a half tab and walk through record stores.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: That’s back in the old days! I can’t remember when I was younger! Them days were pretty bad days. It’s like asking someone about the sixties. There were days in the eighties… I was teenaged and in my early twenties. I was out partying. I can’t remember!
Was ecstasy as important in your scene as LSD was in San Francisco in the Sixties?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Absolutely—without a doubt!
What do you tell your kids about your drug use?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: The funny thing is, they’re not old enough yet. But that’s my biggest fear! My parent instincts kick in.
Most parents can just lie, but you guys are on the public record. Like right now!
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Not me personally, so I’m okay! But I’m sure they’re going to come to me one day, and say, ‘Dad, you know your band, this and that.’ I’m sure that’s what Mick Jagger had to do.
At least your kids won’t ask if you had sex with David Bowie. But didn’t Shaun get kicked off a plane once for threatening a flight attendant with a plastic fork?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: No, that didn’t happen.
I looked it up on Wikipedia!
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: No way! Absolutely not. That never happened. Ian Brown from the Stone Roses got sent to jail for something on a plane, but it certainly wasn’t us!
Were the Stone Roses a band you felt pressure from—like competition? Were there other bands at the time you felt pressure from?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: We never felt pressure to do better.
Maybe it was the opposite? A rising tide hoists up all the boats?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Maybe. But we never thought about it. That was our problem. We never thought about things. We’d just do them!
Was there a particular show where you guys looked out in the audience, and you realized, ‘Wow, we’ve really done something. We’ve crossed a threshold?’
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: There was a gig at the Free Trade Hall, which is a famous building in Manchester where the Sex Pistols played and Bob Dylan played with his electric band. That was probably the one. Definitely. I think it could be ‘89. I could be way off.
Were you surprised when in the U.S., news about the Madchester scene became totally eclipsed by grunge band coverage?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Not surprised. I think punk rock was a very English thing, and grunge was a very American thing. I think it was great. I was never a huge fan, and then I saw Nirvana do MTV Unplugged, and they did ‘All Apologies,’ and I thought that was absolutely mind-blowing. Dinosaur Jr. I thought were great as well!
Were there some American bands in the late eighties that you were influenced by?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Talking Heads were a big influence early on. We were massive Talking Heads fans. We liked the Breeders; we liked the Pixies. We did our first U.S. tour with the Pixies, and became great friends. They were a massive influence. American music is the greatest music of all time!
I listen to it a lot.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: The Rolling Stones were the biggest influence though. Charlie Watts’s killer drumming—Mick Jagger was one of the greatest frontmen ever, along with Jim Morrison.
Those guys had a bad-boy image, which definitely you guys had as well. Was there a conscious decision to play up that side of yourselves?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: I don’t think so. That’s just who we listened to. It just found our way to our conscious soul, but it wasn’t a conscious decision. Early hip-hop was a massive massive influence, but we all read the Stones books and the Doors books.
Now that you guys are all friends again, what are some of the bad things that made you break up in the first place?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: We did years and years of touring—the usual one in the back of the small fucking van—and then all of a sudden we’re getting all these luxuries, and people are going off getting their own friends, and there’d be five or six different parties on the bus. We weren’t hanging round together. There’d be whispering—the he-say-she-says—and because they’re old friends, you don’t want to bring anything up. And then things fester. And then Factory went bankrupt.
Some blame has been thrown your way about that.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Someone said we spent too much money in Barbados. When actually we didn’t spend that much money. We were forced to do an album quickly because there hadn’t been an album out for a few years—an album we hadn’t finished writing. And then everyone thinks that because Factory went bankrupt, it was due to us. I think the film kind of portrayed that…
Giant booze and drug bills?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: I think we probably had a large bill, but I don’t think it was us at all. In fact, I think they probably owed us cash. It was just badly run financially. They were a great label—I would never have wanted another label. Tony Wilson was a great champion of us. One of my heroes—he was fantastic. At the time, a lot of major labels in the UK were interested in us, but they were trying to mold us into an image and have these haircuts and wear these silly clothes. And we went to Factory, and he said, ‘You’ve got no image—that’s your image!’ So we loved Factory, and were big fans. If we could go back to the beginning and knew what would happen, we would still go through them again because they were just fantastic. Financially, they just weren’t great. But that’s what was great about them! They just did things. A great idea—just go for it!
Tony Wilson actually introduced you at Coachella last year, right?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: That was the biggest disappointment—that that was the last time I saw him. He gave us this massive introduction, and we went on stage. And the guy who runs our computer with stuff on it, he hadn’t configured the power supply, and something didn’t happen, and a lot of stuff wasn’t working, and all the guys were playing different tempos. And the gig wasn’t very good. I thought we let Tony down. I was ashamed. It was beyond our power—the computer went just completely fucking barmy, but I just felt we let him down a little bit.
What’s the craziest time you’ve had in your most recent reformation?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: We’re all very boring these days. Seriously, we do the shows—and Bez is his own person—but as soon as we do the show, we’re back to the hotel, have a couple drinks, and that’s it. I never thought I’d say that, but we’re boring! I just can’t do it anymore. Shaun’s doing his own thing, I have this kind of electronic, guitar/hip hop band called the Hippie Mafia…
The ‘Hippie Mafia?’
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: It’s like Sweethearts of the Rodeo crossed with Public Enemy. I can’t party and be in two bands. I just can’t do it! How fucking sensible do I sound? That’s what happens when you grow up.
I’m in my early thirties. When can I expect that to kick in?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: When I had kids, it kicked in. The last two years. But I don’t like flying, so I always drink when I get on a plane.
Otherwise, you might threaten a flight attendant with a plastic fork! What are you guys doing next?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: We just got back from Australia. It was a long flight, so I had a lot of drinking to do.
Which airline has the best complimentary booze?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: We like Virgin! Virgin business class is the way to go.
Would you let them use one of your songs in a commercial?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: Anyone can use one of our songs in a commercial! Please do!
Where are you playing in L.A.?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: We’re playing Club Nokia in September, and in Anaheim at the House of Blues…
That’s next to Disneyland. Have you ever been?
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: I haven’t been. But we did our second or third album in the Capitol records studio where the Beach Boys did Pet Sounds, which we didn’t realize until later. Someone went to Disneyland—I can’t remember which one, but they called the studio and had got caught for pinching something from one of the shops and thrown out. So I think we’re banned from Disneyland! Is it good?
Space Mountain is pretty good.
Gary “Gaz” Whelan: I don’t like rides. I don’t like heights. I don’t even like being as tall as I am!

HAPPY MONDAYS WITH THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS ON FRI., SEPT. 18, AT CLUB NOKIA, 800 W. OLYMPIC BLVD., DOWNTOWN. 7 PM / $27.50-$35 / ALL AGES. CLUBNOKIA.COM. VISIT HAPPY MONDAYS AT HAPPYMONDAYSONLINE.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/HAPPYMONDAYSONLINE.

“Tail & Mane,” which is the first song on Cryptasize’s album Mythomania, rules because it has the upbeat, romantic, melody of Four Seasons and the soft haziness of Carpenters but translated through a survivor of ’90s girl fronted rock. Anything that has the Carpenters in it is ok! by me. Lots of Carpenters here. Cryptacize carpenterizes so good. Note: Crypt’s Nedelle and Chris are a couple rather than siblings, and there’s more people in the band…

As the songs progressed during the band’s set, thoughts transcend Beach Boys, and visit Beachhouse sans echo trails, stare at the sea with the Cure, climb through a popping bass strolling Superfly, and suddenly a cowboy appears, faintly. I can only hope that Cryptacize’s moving to L.A. this summer will entice that cowpoke apparition hiding behind the endless summer beach party to hang out for a clambake. This band will fit right in. The crowd packed belly to back at Echo Curio certainly gave the impression of an impending warm welcome.

—Daiana Feuer

—Gab Chabran

(from Dreamt On EP out now on Vosotros.)

I don’t know if Bobb Bruno realizes it, but he’s the Bizarro-World Kim Fowley—an unwitting svengali who’s produced girl bands and wrote or played songs on countless other bands’ albums, but whose utter lack of self-promotion almost hints that he secretly is horrified of his own project Making It Big. This EP, however, shows that he’s not horrified of taking what once was a rather incestuous set of sounds (all over the map sonically, but united by a drum-pad/sample technique that remained largely unchanged for years) and turning that circle into an arc. This multi-instrumentalist has always been comfortable being a bridge for other people’s talents, but Dreamt On shows Bobb finally crossing that bridge himself, moving his talents in a direction where the grass just may be greener. And that direction? We might call it “Bruno in Slumberland,” more dreamlike than ever before, trance-y and trip-hoppy in a way that we’ve kinda heard on albums by guys like Daedelus and Nobody. But there’s a demonic twist here, the best example being “Fairy Tale Ending,” a song more akin to Blue Beard than Sleeping Beauty. It starts off with vibes and synths and drum taps and stunningly beautiful (and, whoa, actually tasteful) Hawaiian guitar by Nels Cline. But then suddenly the tempo shifts, notes modulate strangely, and now we’re in a weird dirgy Coraline world where guitar notes gets scratched back and forth angrily, and then overblown vibrato noise and hard slow snare beats come in and announce that IN CASE YOU FORGOT, THIS IS A FUCKING BOBB BRUNO RECORD!!! By the end, it’s like the Beach Boys’ “Automatic” got pressed into Willy Wonka’s bubble machine, and when we finally get dumped into the next song, “14K,” a shockingly soft encroachment on D. Boone’s “History Lesson, Part 2” territory, we feel like we just went down the chute at Splash Mountain and need to go pick up our photo. Good stuff indeed, Brer Bunny! More of this, please.

—Dan Collins

Bobb Bruno Dreamt On EP out now on Vosotros.

HAL BLAINE WITH DON RANDI AND DENNY TEDESCO ON THU., FEB. 12, FOR A Q&A AND A SCREENING OF DENNY TEDESCO’S DOCUMENTARY THE WRECKING CREW AT THE GRAMMY MUSEUM, 800 W. OLYMPIC BLVD., DOWNTOWN. 7:30 PM / $10 / ALL AGES. GRAMMYMUSEUM.ORG. VISIT HAL BLAINE AT HALBLAINE.COM.