Shannon and the Clams are NOT a girl group: they glean insights from Danzig as well as from Patsy Cline, and they sneak messages about loving dogs and blinding Prince Charming into songs inspired by the soundtrack to Indiana Jones. They speak to us now from the road as electronic children’s records about botanical delights blast from the van’s speakers, somewhere between god-knows-where and Vegas. This interview by Dan Collins.

Why even make music in an era when the American Dream has clearly turned into a joke and a lie?

Cody Blanchard (guitar, vocals): It’s kind of just an impulse. I can’t really help it.

Shannon Shaw (bass, vocals): I just can’t help myself. I’m not quite the ‘American Dream’ kinda girl, so that doesn’t matter to me. I write about stuff that’s affecting me, despite what’s going elsewhere. Is that selfish?

Cody Blanchard: It feels good to do something pure and inspired and fun and to try to make that your living, when so many other people’s livings are so empty and crummy.

You guys are not a band that is inspired by old rock ‘n’ roll—you ARE late fifties-early sixties rock ‘n’ roll. Like, especially with your first album, we could stick you in a movie set in 1961 and it would more or less feel normal. Do you disagree?

Shannon Shaw:I disagree a bit but appreciate the comment!

Cody Blanchard: I agree! I like to hope we are as weird and inspired as those original rock ‘n’ roll weirdos. Also I would love to be in a movie, just in the background or something. Although, I’m not crazy about that first album!

Shannon Shaw: That would be incredible to actually use that recording equipment … I feel like we have influences from across the weirdo board! I do acknowledge in full a heavy 50s and 60s flavor on our first album, but believe it or not, I’m not always trying to sounds that way. Oldies are definitely what I was raised on so they are pretty ingrained in me.

Yet even on the first album, there are moments, like the screaming in “Take It Back,” that feel like they’re overtaking the confines of the rock nostalgia you guys are playing with.

Cody Blanchard: We all like lots of wild scary psychedelic stuff and crumby 80s punk. Although I think you’d be surprised by what stuff did fly in the 50s and 60s. There’s tons of weird freaky off-the-radar stuff out there, and that old weird stuff is even WEIRDER than modern freaky stuff!

Shannon Shaw: I mean, a girl screaming and losing control and playing bass very shittily (first album) I’m sure would not have flown if you are placing us in the 50s or 60s.

The new album is a little more ragged and modern—like “Toxic Revenge” which is so punk, it’s almost hardcore. Was this a natural progression that you never talked about, or did you have a talk and were like, “Guys, we need a change and we need to GROW!”

Shannon Shaw: Our first album certainly has some punk elements so that’s not new to us, but I would say Sleep Talk has a little more finesse.

Cody Blanchard: It [Sleep Talk] doesn’t feel more modern to me. It feels free-er and wilder. It actually feels older to me, like Disney music and Ennio Morricone or something.

Shannon Shaw: We didn’t have any official discussion about growing, I think Cody and I just got a little more creative and odd.

Cody Blanchard: We never talked about it, but we often complained about our songs being too simple and straightforward and not weird and crazy enough. We hibernated for two weeks last January and wrote and recorded all that stuff. It was cool.

Shannon Shaw: I wouldn’t call the new album girl group, or strictly oldies, or strictly punk. I do think we grew a lot.

These seem to be songs are about real things, real moments that affected you! Do you get bummed when you’re belting out your heart on issues like loss and love that are personal to you, and people are just like “You guys are so cute!” Like, they can’t see past the packaging?

Shannon Shaw: Sometimes I do relive the moment I’m singing about. I have a little more control than I used to, ha ha. I just wrote a new song called Ozma about my dog that just died a super tragic death. The song isn’t about her tragic death, it’s about the stuff she liked to do, like sleep in my mom’s bed when she gone, sniffing flowers, laying in the sun … There’s a line where I mention her regrowing all her teeth (which she wore down to nubs from her love of chewing rocks) and that line always makes me and Cody really teary-eyed … I don’t know anyone that just focuses on our packaging and ‘cute’ image. If they do then they are bad at listening to bands and should stop. I write songs often to bond with people, not to present them with some novelty item. That makes me feel weird.

Cody Blanchard: My songs aren’t usually about real things, they are pure fantasy! I like the storytelling aspect of music more than the emotional aspect. I love when people are really curious about the made-up stories and ask me questions, like as if they want to read a whole book about those characters!

Is there one of your songs that is about something we wouldn’t expect? Like a happy song that’s about babies dying?  Maybe “Old Man Winter” is really about Hitler or something?

Shannon Shaw: Many of our songs are basically in secret code, where it might seem like a guy that broke my heart, but it’s really a close friendship dissipating or an allegory or metaphor for some of our secret stories. Me and Cody are sneaky!

Cody Blanchard:  “The Woodsman” sounds kind of sweet, but it’s about the Woodsman from Snow White who is hired to kill Snow White, but instead he confesses his love to her in the forest and she gets scared and runs off. While chasing her down he accidentally kills her and decides to cut out her heart and keep it for himself and hide in the woods forever. Forty years later, the queen comes through a time portal and cuts his eyes out!

I had no idea your plots were so deep! Any concept albums in the near future? Or have these already BEEN concept albums?

Cody Blanchard: I dislike concept albums.

Shannon Shaw: Wait Forty years and then wait for a proper answer.

Shannon, you also play for Hunx and his Punx. In a review for Hunx and his Punx, Pitchfork said that Shannon “operates as the band’s charismatic secret weapon, stealing the scene on a handful of songs.” Shannon, are the other Punx jealous of your skills?

Shannon Shaw: No way! Maybe Pitchfork was trying to start some drama! I am basically playing with my idols. Everyone who has ever gotten to be a Punx is or was in an amazing legendary band. Prettty sure we all love each other.

Then why form your own band? Were you not getting your needs met in the Punx? Or did you start this band first and the Punx co-opted you?

Shannon Shaw: Clams were around a tiny minute before Hunx. We were playing super fun and crubby house shows while Hunx was being born. He asked me to sing backups on a solo show he played at the Gilman, and eventually asked me to fill in playing bass for his old bassist, and eventually I just stuck. Now he will never be rid of me … never.

There seem to be a lot of “girl bands” nowadays, and the press has gone nuts for them, be they Dum Dum Girls or Best Coast or Tennis or Vivian Girls. Do you feel honored or upset to be referred to in the same category?

Shannon Shaw: We are not a ‘girl band.’ I think it’s stupid that people consider us a ‘girl band’ just because there happens to be a girl in the band. Cody and Ian are an integral part of the band, and I’m pretty sure they both have a set of twig and berries. I always wonder if the above bands like being called a ‘girl band’ (and p.s., there is a guy in Best Coast, duh). They are all so talented and creative and awesome, it seems to take away some of their power when people reduce them to a ‘girl band.’

Cody Blanchard: I think it’s totally offensive and counter-productive to womens’ social progress to lump these bands together and categorize them based on their gender rather than on their aesthetic and artistic merit. Seems like musical genres should have more to do with music and less to do with gender. Same with lumping together artists based on their sexuality, I think that’s totally backwards. Presenting a group of artists of the same gender or sexuality seems so demeaning to me.

Shannon Shaw: They earned their sucess through good song writing and hard work, not because of their boobs and gennies, methinks. However, I do love to see more ladies and gender benders and all varieties of people in the rock ‘n’ roll world. Like Uzi Rash says, “That’s what makes this gumbo so delicious.”

Cody Blanchard: And I’m so glad that they are out there doin’ it, but I don’t think we really sound anything like those bands.

How do you transcend those bands?

Cody Blanchard: Ummm, I dunno if we ‘transcend’ them. I think we’re just different. I think we’re sillier and more fun and wild and less reserved and self-conscious. It’s just a different aesthetic. I think our sound is probably broader, more wide-reaching.

“Surrounded by Ghosts” makes reference to the New York Dolls’ “Lonely Planet Boy.” Do you feel a kinship with bands like the Dolls or early Blondie that came out of New York with a mean Shadow Morton streak?

Shannon Shaw: Uf, good question! I think I feel a kinship. I also feel like every song and every band I have ever listened to has wiggled its way into my subconscious and affected certain songs. First song I ever wrote I eventually realized I accidentally ripped off of the scary Halloween song from Garfield’s Halloween special.

I feel like your vocals are more Chrissie Hynde than Bill Murray, but with a dry streak that recalls Wanda Jackson. Are there some vocalists who really inspire you?

Shannon Shaw: Wanda Jackson rules! Roy Orbison is my favorite of all time. I think I taught myself to sing just by singing his songs my whole life, and eventually singing them out loud. Also, Patsy Cline, Etta James, Gene Pitney, Timi Yuro, and especially Danzig. He is my dream duet partner. I hope he reads this and accepts my official invite to duet with me. I will write him the most beautiful song if he will sing with me.

Cody, what about you? They (the music press) keeps calling you “rockabilly,” but I hear a lot of Buddy Holly hiccups in your delivery. What’s going on?

Cody Blanchard: I kind of hate rockabilly, but only because it’s been spoiled in the last 20 years or so. The really early country/rockabilly stuff it great! I love Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers and Lou Christie and Marc Bolan and Frankie Valli. I like that weird squeaky raspy uncontrolled thing, that wild un-self-conscious thing. I like to sound like the syllables and melody are all uncontrolled, like a sudden impulse or something.

When you guys are in the car, do you listen to music that’s totally anathema to your whole sound? Like, I envision you guys jamming out to Kraftwerk in the van a lot.  Running down the road with “Autobahn” blaring from the speakers, and an icy Germanic sheen permeating the air.

Cody Blanchard: Fuck yes. We just bought a Kraftwerk CD in Alabama and listened to it last week! We love to listen to Mort Garson and Bruce Haack and weird old synthesizer stuff. It’s gets exhausting listening to rock ‘n’ rollall the time. Plantasia is a favorite. Also CCR. Also Patton Oswalt standup.

Shannon Shaw: You must not know that we Clams are mega-dorks and play things like the Indiana Jones soundtrack more than you would expect. It’s very inspirational, you know.

What inspires your outfits? Cody, you look like you could be as home at a carnival as you would be at a Question Mark & the Mysterians show as at some kind of anarchist bike co-op. How did you create such a seemingly effortless look?

Cody Blanchard: Thanks! I like to dress up! I like costumes and disguises. If you’re performing for people it’s a rare excuse to wear a costume and really present yourself. Also then you can feel like you’re playing a character or something and act not like yourself. I love the 80s hesher look, I love a 70s Country & Western look, I love a classic 50s American boy look, I love the costumes of the performers on things like the Laurence Welk show. I love 40s cartoon villains and weird 40s and 50s TV show musician costumes. I think I just love too many things and don’t want to pick one so I do them all in rotation.

Want to give me a makeover?

Cody Blanchard: Oh boy, I think I’m terrible at dressing other people up. I’ve tried it a few times. I think I just can’t make myself care enough about how anybody else looks to really invest the proper amount of energy and time into someone else’s look. I’m a mean jerk.

Or how about the Flamin’ Groovies? Are you excited to be in the same festival as them for the Las Vegas Shakedown? Does their approach to taking classic rock ‘n’ roll and making it even more raw kind of inspire you?

Cody Blanchard: YES! WOW! I love raw and simple stuff the most. I love being able to hear the evidence of the human hand in music. I like when it’s stripped down and imperfect. That is greatly inspiring to me.

Cyril Jordan of the Groovies just told us that he’d smoked weed with Bobby Kennedy right before his assassination. Have you had an occasion to get into hijinks with anyone famous through this band?

Shannon Shaw: WOAH!!!!

Cody Blanchard: We got high several times in San Diego this summer with the Reigning Sound!

Shannon Shaw: I tried to smoke weed with Drew Barrymore, but I’m bad at weed because I have bad asthma so I just stood nearby. She was very nice and put up with my boozed buns trying to talk to her about E.T.

What is the worst band that you’ve been billed with? Name NAMES!

Cody Blanchard: There’s too many to name. Lots of awful bands at Oakland house parties in 2007 and 2008 that I can’t remember and wouldn’t be worth mentioning because no ones ever heard of them. Weird nu metal stuff and stoney reggae jam bands. Pee eww.

What’s a band you really love and try to emulate that no one ever talks about?

Cody Blanchard: Walt Disney?

Shannon Shaw: Dr. Teeth and the Muppet band, they don’t get much attention these days.

Who else is playing with you right now?

Cody Blanchard: No one has ever played on any of the albums except for us three, Ian, Shannon, Cody! Sometime I play drums if we’re in a hurry and Ian’s not around.

Shannon Shaw: For this tour our friend Mick Crosby is drumming. He’s from a band called Prison Library, and Uzi Rash, and Knifey Spooney. Last sub drummer we had was the incredible Daniel Pitout from Hunx and his Punx and Nu Sensae. We love both these boys!

I saw you at one of your shows at SXSW this year. What was it like to play on the same stage as the little kid who got a tattoo in Santa Sangre?

Cody Blanchard: WHAT?? What band is that kid in??! I LOVE that movie!!

He’s Jodorowsky’s son. His name is Adan Jodorowsky and he’s in a band called Adanowsky. They opened for you.

WHAAAA? Which show was this? I didn’t know he was there!

They opened for you at a furniture store! I had no idea who he was until later. Do you have any surprises like that planned for Vegas?

Cody Blanchard: We’re gonna bet double or nothing all of our internal organs on a single hand of blackjack, and win it all back, because we’ve seen the future in a crystal ball. Then we’ll all have double organs, twice as strong!

If you guys had to describe yourselves in terms of a legal or illegal drug, what would be that be? My guess would be “pepper-flavored Robitussin” or “heroin-flaked ecstasy.”

Cody Blanchard: Psilocybin mushroom chocolate fondue!

Shannon Shaw: Goldschläger dipped mushrooms. Ew, I just gagged.

Who else are you excited to see at the Shakedown?

Shannon Shaw: The Flamin’ Groovies!

Some of the other bands playing the Shakedown aren’t quite as classic as that, but they’ve been around for a few decades. Are you familiar with all the bands who loved old rock ‘n’ rollthat played in the eighties and nineties? I feel like a lot of them were from San Fran and Oakland, yet there’s a disconnect between, say, the Trashwomen and Best Coast.

Shannon Shaw: HUGE disconnect. Trashwomen are punks and Best Coast are beautiful songwriters.

Cody Blanchard: We know a lot of those people because they all still live in Oakland and San Francisco! When you start playing oldies-inspired stuff and you do a good job, you start to meet all those amazing people that did it back in the 80s and 90s. They just wanna talk to you because they are awesome and excited about old music. A lot of the more popular oldies-inspired stuff like Best Coast that I hear sounds more like a mix of oldies and 80s pop or oldies and 90s pop. It’s a lot more serious and gloomy.

When I interviewed Bethany and Bobb from Best Coast, they complained about people always bringing up cats in interviews, but then they proceeded to talk all about cats! Do you have an animal you’d like to go apeshit about in print?

Cody Blanchard: Yes. We all love animals deeply, creepily, especially Shannon.

Shannon Shaw: Ozma my American Bulldog was very hilarious and classy. She looked a bit like unicorn too. I also have an affinity for squirrels. My nickname my dad has always called me is Squirreletta.

Cody Blanchard: I love weird big shaggy fantasy animals, like Bluto from Labrynth. And sloths and alpacas. Hairy prize roosters and hares. Bunnies and squirrels! Apes!

What is something you really wanted to play in the band, but that you had to give up because it was impossible to tour with or it kept breaking down?

Cody Blanchard: Never had that problem! We’re too simple. We never even think about doing that. It’d be cool to have two guitars and an organ and an electric piano and two more female singers.

What do you think of the people occupying the streets in New York? Would you be willing to make a song about how much Wall Street sucks and play it off the back of a truck for the protesters? It could be in Oakland.

Cody Blanchard: I would do that. I wouldn’t let myself make the song too serious though.

Shannon Shaw: I don’t think I have a very good brain for processing and acting accordingly to most politics. If I wrote a song for them, I’m sure it would make no sense and everyone would get mad at me and occupy the truck I’m singing in until I stop.

Cody Blanchard: It’s interesting to me that the story has become more about the media’s willful ignorance/non-coverage of the event and less about the purpose of the protest.

I’m sure living near San Francisco, you see protests all the time. What is life like in Oakland? Why is it superior to San Francisco?

Cody Blanchard: It’s simpler and quieter! There’s slightly less stuff going on. It’s easier to park and there are public restrooms! The parks are weirder and cooler. Stuff is a little more rundown and weirder. I like it.

Shannon Shaw: I’m a country bumpkin hillbilly and Oakland is as city as I can get. SF is amazing but too expensive and crowded and flooded with cool people and cool stuff. Oakland is a little wild and creepy and limited entertainment wise. The limits make me more creative with my time. I love both though.

These are kind of stupid questions. Is there anything I did NOT cover that I should have?

Shannon Shaw: These are great questions. I can’t believe you asked me to give one word answers. You are crazy.

TIGERMASK EVENTS PRESENTS THE LAS VEGAS SHAKEDOWN FEATURING PERFORMANCES BY SHANNON AND THE CLAMS, PAT TODD AND THE RANKOUTSIDERS, THE HOOKERS, THE WOOLLY BANDITS, THE CRAZY SQUEEZE, BARRIO TIGER, PLAINFIELD BUTCHERS, THE LUCKY CHEATS, AND MORE! IT’S A 3-DAY FESTIVAL AT MULTIPLE VENUES IN AND AROUND DOWNTOWN VEGAS—SEE SHANNON AND THE CLAMS HEADLINE ON SAT., OCTOBER 15, AT THE BEAUTY BAR, 517 FREMONT STREET, LAS VEGAS, NV 89101. 5PM/$13 PER INDIVIDUAL SHOW TICKETS/21+, OR BE SMART ABOUT IT AND ATTEND THE WHOLE FESTIVAL, WHICH INCLUDES THE FLAMIN’ GROOVIES, THE UNTAMED YOUTH, LUIS & THE WILDFIRES AND TONS OF OTHER GREAT BANDS ALL FOR ONE PRICE: VISIT WWW.LASVEGASSHAKEDOWN.COM FOR MORE DETAILS.

Debi Del Grande traveled across this great land to Tennessee, braving the heat and hippies to capture Bonnaroo for L.A. Record. Her sum up of Day One includes Kopecky Family Band, Best Coast, River City Extension, Dam Funk, Drums, Childish Gambino, The Knux, Reverend Payton, Twin Shadow, Wavves, and Karen Elson.

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Now, among discerning music fans, a band like The National is far from obscure. They’ve garnered widespread critical praise over five albums, played on national TV and multiple international festivals, and are even headlining the Hollywood Bowl later this year. But ask your mom, your older sister, the guy who sits next to you at work or the dude from high school you still keep up with, and they probably won’t have a clue who you’re talking about, let alone be able to name a song or recognize Matt Berninger’s trademark baritone.

Yet on the third day at Coachella, playing the second stage right around sundown with the gathered devotees singing along to the soaring “‘Cuz IIIIIIII’m evil” of “Conversation 16,” there was no reason to think they were anything other than the biggest band in the world. Berninger, as unlikely a rock star as any, equipped himself thusly, even entering the crowd during the perennially timely “Mr. November.”

The National were joined on guitar for “Terrible Love” by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, but that was only his first stop for the night. Vernon also had the distinction of being one of only two (along with “Runaway” featured rapper Pusha T) guest sports during Kanye West‘s headlining set. If Vernon seemed like an odd choice to work west Yeezy back when their My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy collaboration was announced last year, seeing it in person was another thing entirely. Though undeniably invaluable exposure for Vernon, at no point in the set did West introduce him, or really do anything that would clue in the average Coachellagoer that he was anything other than just an anonymous backup singer (rather than the driving force between an acclaimed act in his own right).

But that’s just Kanye being Kanye, and really, anything else would be kind of disappointing. The lack of surprise guests — rumors ranged from Jay-Z to Nicki Minaj to Rihanna to Katy Perry, and the latter two were both spotted elsewhere at the fest — could be seen as a tribute to West’s ego, but also could be seen as a way to put a greater emphasis on the guys he did get to assist him, rather than the two of them getting lost in a sea of superstars.

Which is not to say that there was anything restrained about his performance. Kanye West in the year 2011 headlining the last day of Coachella demand to be a spectacle, and that’s absolutely what it was, starting with an over-the-top entrance; literally descending from the heavens onto the stage via a crane while performing “Dark Fantasy” (the fact that the one of the most compelling visuals in Coachella history contained lyrics referencing Family Matters will never stop being awesome).

The set broke down into three “Acts,” with Kanye delivering several songs from his latest, and snippets of all of his greatest hits (really, all of them). A string of 808s & Heartbreak songs came along with West defending their existence, saying that even though he realized he wasn’t the greatest singer, he felt strongly enough about the material that he had to get it out there. The set also contained songs which feature both Katy Perry and Rihanna on the recorded versions, as if he were deliberately tinkering with people’s expectations.

The day’s co-headliner were The Strokes, playing the west coast for the first time in years. The set was exactly what you’d predict — lots of stuff from new album Angels, plus all the crowd-pleasing faves from their first three records. The true highlight was the sardonically hilarious onstage banter from Julian Casablancas, who has showed off his sense of humor in the last couple of years in collaborations with Jimmy Fallon and The Lonely Island.

I’m paraphrasing here, but after asking some version of festival cliché “Is it hot enough for you out there?,” he responded, “Cool. On my own dime, I flew out on a private jet, so I don’t really know what goes on out here,” which he followed by clarifying, “Just jesting.” Periodically, he’d also mock generic idiot lead singers by sarcastically (yet enthusiastically) uttering drivel like, “Do you believe in love?”

In proof that reunion shows are getting more and more current, the reconstituted Death From Above 1979 played earlier in the day, grinding through nearly every track of their 2004 modern indie classic You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine. They ended their set by telling the crowd to “stick around for Duran Duran,” which sounds absurd but, yes, Death From Above 1979 were indeed playing the main stage directly before Simon Le Bon and crew. The world is pretty weird(ly great) sometimes.

Other things I saw: LA-bred acts Best Coast and Foster the People play to large audiences (the latter attracted a massive spillover crowd in the Gobi Tent), PJ Harvey gamely tackling the unenviable Strokes/Kanye overlap slot, genial New York City popsters Fun debuting new songs and covering Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga.”

—Albert Ching

I was sipping a Scotch and cooling my heels in a corner with Bethany and Bobb when suddenly the records stopped spinning, the music went silent, and everything went dark. Now the only lights in the Black Boar were from flickering candles, and—aside from the giggles of a few drinkers at the bar—all we could hear was the maniacal mechanized laughter from a few battery-powered skulls bouncing up and down on strings hung above the tables. This was bad news—not only was Best Coast’s pre-Halloween DJ set going to be ruined, but the bartenders wouldn’t be able to keep the cash registers going, which meant we couldn’t even drown our silent sorrows in more top-shelf booze. Still, opportunities like this come but once: Best Coast was between tours and between albums, L.A. RECORD was between issues, and I’d be damned if I was going to let a little thing like a power outage or a lightning storm prevent me from leaving without asking a few questions of singer/songwriter Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno, Eagle Rock’s most famous long-haired musical recluse. This interview by Dan Collins.

People always say Bobb was your babysitter.
Bobb Bruno (lead guitar): It’s a lie!
Bethany Cosentino (lead singer, rhythm guitar): It’s creepy that people still think it’s true. His mom thought it was true. We were just joking in front of a camera, doing an interview, and they made it seem serious in the edit. So suddenly Bobb was my babysitter.
How did you guys really meet?
BC: Just through Mika Miko, and the L.A. music scene.
Bobb, you’ve done so many projects and bands, and produced so many albums. How did Best Coast wind up being your biggest project?
BB: I don’t know.
BC: Me! I did it all—ha ha!
What do you bring to the table that Bobb’s other bands didn’t bring?
BC: I’ve seen a bunch of Bobb’s other bands, and I knew he liked pop music, but I’d never really seen him play straightforward pop music. And I write very simple songs, and I think Bobb really understands me and really understands the vibe I’m going for and does it very well, even though it wouldn’t appear that he would do it very well. But he does.
What is your vibe?
BC: Just very simple, straightforward, fun, catchy pop. California inspired music! The Beach Boys, the Beatles, Phil Spector, girl groups, Joe Meek projects, Fleetwood Mac— stuff I listened to growing up.
What’s your favorite Joe Meek project?
BC: This band the Charades. They were this girl group that covered a really good song by this woman named Ginny Arnell called ‘Dumb Head’ and made it really dark and weird. There are so many bands on those comps that did, like, one song. I think Joe Meek was a really good producer. And I found out recently that he killed someone!
On the anniversary of Buddy Holly’s death!
BC: Both my favorite producers are just murdering crazy people!
Bobb, I assume you’re a Jack Nitzsche fan. B
B: With him, I think it’s just something I aspire to be like one day. His music and instrumentation choices are super interesting to me. It’s amazing how many people he’s done arrangements for. I really like his solo stuff. He has a song called ‘Lower California’ that goes through all these genre changes in like three minutes.
You aspire to be pop, yet there’s something about the production—especially the way that you treat the vocals—that sounds rough. Is it your intention to mix against the grain?
BC: I just have a voice that’s not that pop. I don’t sing as innocent as Lesley Gore or Connie Francis. But I would prefer for things to not sound against the grain—ha ha! I want them to be, ‘Here’s the grain! Here’s the pop!’
BB: We’re trying to get in the grain.
Do you have a song that’s like your ‘You Don’t Own Me’-type song?
BC: No, but I’ve been writing a lot of stuff that’s different sounding from the record. As a songwriter, I’m growing, and as this band has been around longer, I’m trying to expand the topics that I’m writing about—change a little bit.
Our reviewer Drew Denny described Crazy for You as sounding like ‘boys and heartbreak and cats and drugs.’ Will you continue to write songs about boys? Cats? Weed?
BC: I think love is something I’ll always unintentionally write about, but it won’t be so much the ‘Oh, I want you so bad’ kind of stuff. Weed is something I don’t really feel like I even write songs about. And cats are something that I’ll always like, but I’m kind of sick of talking about them. In fact, I want to move on to something new.
Bobb, are you going to be disappointed to stop talking about cats?
BB: No. We talk about cats to each other all the time.
BC: I’ll still talk about cats! Other people won’t hear it. He’ll still hear it.
What’s the best breed of cat?
BC: Maine Coon. Anything fat and fluffy!
BB: I like fat short-haired cats. Anything fat!
The guitar tone on Crazy for You has kind of a fat sound: I almost hear the tone Robert Fripp achieved on those old Brian Eno albums. Are you conscious of that?
BB: No—I’m trying to play the most normal guitar I’ve ever played in my life, actually! For this record, I exclusively just ripped off Lindsey Buckingham, George Harrison and, like, surf guitar: Terry & the Bunnys, my favorite surf band.
I used to be a surf DJ, and I have no idea who Terry & the Bunnys are.
BB: I gave you some of their stuff! The Japanese surf band.
What was the inspiration for ‘Honey’?
BC: I was thinking that I wanted to write a song that was more of a dark love song. I was even thinking of bands like Bauhaus—goth bands. Like, even Joy Division, how they do a really good job of dark love songs. Bobb’s guitar is really what makes that song darkish, but as far as the content goes, it’s about finally being with the person that you wanted, and finally being able to tell them, ‘This is how I feel.’
Why is that so dark?
BC: That’s not dark! But the sound is a little bit darker than most of the songs. We think it could be on a Twilight soundtrack, because it’s got a weird vampire vibe.
What’s your favorite vampire movie?
BC: The Lost Boys.
BB: Let the Right One In. Daughters of Darkness is good too.
BC: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
BB: Ha ha—the movie?
BC: The movie.
Bethany, you’ve been recording with Rivers Cuomo! How did that happen?
BC: Rivers tweeted at me, and we had like a friendship on Twitter. And then I found out that he is really into co-writing now, so he asked me to come co-write with him. It was really fun working with him, and it really sparked my desire to start writing songs for other people, and not just for Best Coast.
‘Bethany Cuomo’ has a good ring to it.
BC: It was really surreal. He’s kind of like Bobb! He seems kind of shy, but he’s a genius. Honestly, walking in the door and shaking his hand, I was like, ‘Holy shit, you’re Rivers Cuomo,’ but like five minutes after that, he was just some guy I was writing a song with.
Bobb, are you going to one-up her and do a song with somebody even more famous?
BB: I don’t know. Probably not. I don’t know if I could top that.
Would you ever do a recording with Roky Erickson?
BB: No. He’s nuts. I’d be afraid of him yelling at me.
Or he’d come out with a song called ‘Bobb, the Demon With the Head Butted In!’
BB: That’d be cool. It would be worth doing if he wrote a song about me.
If there was a dream project—like you guys were KISS and you each released a co-writing album at the same time—who would you collaborate with to come out at the same time as Bethany and Rivers?
BB: Fiona Apple.
You already DID do that! You’ve been on stage with her!
BB: We haven’t done music together. We’ve talked about it, but it just never has happened.
I’m sure she’s an avid reader of L.A. RECORD. Fiona, let’s make this happen!
BB: We’re both super busy.
It’s funny—you worked at Largo years ago, and you’re kind of buddies with lots of people like Jon Brion and Fiona Apple. But some of the old Largo crowd don’t know about your current career. At FYF, I interviewed the comedian David Koechner and he wasn’t aware that you were in a band at the festival! He remembered you as the busboy from Largo.
BB: I wasn’t the busboy! I worked in the office!
He said busboy! Did you ever fetch him a drink?
BB: Uh—I may have given him a drink.
Is there a comedian you guys would like to work with?
BC: Katt Williams!
BB: Louis C.K. Or Martin Lawrence.
Would you ever write a comedy song, like the Dead Milkmen?
BC: I write comedy songs all the time, on tour, every day!
Would you make a comedy record for L.A. RECORD? Maybe as a split 7” B-side?
BC: Sure! ‘Blow Me.’ And it’ll just be about blow jobs and Blow Pops.

BEST COAST WITH WAVVES ON THUR., FEB. 24, AT THE MUSIC BOX, 6126 HOLLYWOOD BLVD., HOLLYWOOD. 8 PM / $20 / ALL AGES. GOLDENVOICE.COM. BEST COAST’S CRAZY FOR YOU IS OUT NOW ON MEXICAN SUMMER. VISIT BEST COAST AT BESTYCOASTY.BLOGSPOT.COM.

DISTRO HAS BEGUN!

SIDE A

LACO$TE by Daiana Feuer
HANNI EL KHATIB by Lainna Fader
DEATH by Kristina Benson
GANG OF FOUR by Lainna Fader
TEEBS by Kristina Benson
OFF! by Chris Ziegler
TOM TOM CLUB by Daiana Feuer
FORT KING by Dan Collins
LUIS & THE WILDFIRES by Lainna Fader
MY DRY WET MESS by Lainna Fader
BEST COAST by Dan Collins
WANDA JACKSON by Daiana Feuer
WHITE FENCE by Daniel Clodfelter
THE MELVINS by Chris Ziegler
WINO by Chris Ziegler
NOBUNNY by Drew Denny
HANDSOME FAMILY by Daiana Feuer
THE TRASHMEN by Dan Collins

SIDE B

ALBUM REVIEWS  edited by Dan Collins
THE INTERPRETER: CHAD BROWN by Lainna Fader
THE INTERPRETER: JULIA HOLTER by Drew Denny

COMICS edited by Tom Child

ART edited by Drew Denny
ALL THIS AND NOTHING by Drew Denny

BOOKS edited by Nikki Bazar
JON SAVAGE by Ron Garmon
BOOK AND ZINE REVIEWS

FILM edited by Lainna Fader
THE INTERPRETER: STRANGELOOP by Lainna Fader
ALLISON ANDERS + KURT VOSS by Lainna Fader

L.A. WISDOM w/ Kim Fowley and Ruthann Friedman edited by Daiana Feuer

POSTER:
Photography by Ramon Felix
Design by Jun Ohnuki
Letting by Champoyhate

SPECIAL THANKS to Annette Badalian and Shane Carpenter for helping us so much!

1. Kyle Ranson – Warm Slime (Thee Oh Sees)
Walt Gorecki: Kyle Ranson’s work is extremely visceral making him a perfect fit for Thee Oh Sees, whose live performances of hard hitting garage rock at it’s best are not to be missed. It probably doesn’t hurt that he used to live with frontman John Dwyer, along with noted artist Maya Hayuk. This piece slimes it’s way to the top of my picks with ease.

2. George Condo – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Kanye West)
Well Kanye is obviously no stranger to controversy, which is probably why it was hardly even noticed that his most recent release faced heavy censorship issues for the cover art. With album art by world class fine art painter George Condo, the fans win out in the end with a beautiful series of alternate covers by the artist.

3. owleyes – Repetition: A Tribute to David Bowie (Manimal Vinyl)
L.A. Based artist owleyes, aka James Weigel, captures the character of Bowie in a way we haven’t seen before, while also hinting at the eclectic nature of the album within, an instant eyecatcher. The sillhouette of Bowie is immediately recognizable yet bends your perception of spatial physics in this charity benefit release by Manimal Vinyl.

4. Tony Millionaire – National Ransom (Elvis Costello)
Comics artist Tony Millionaire, perhaps most well known for his Drinky Crow series, which was later animated in a hilarious, yet short-lived, Adult Swim show, does a great turn on Elvis Costello’s latest release, bringing to mind the old timey oil barons, which are unfortunately all too current of a concern.

5. Caroline Roberts – The Suburbs (Arcade Fire)
This beautiful photo-manipulation by Montreal based Illustrator / Graphic Designer Caroline Roberts sets an early 70s Southern California tone employing vernacular photography popularized by such greats as Larry Sultan and William Eggleston.

6. Leigh McClosky / Aaron Meyers – Cosmogramma (Flying Lotus)
Two artists? Well yes, Leigh McClosky did the album art, which is excellent as a minimal meditative piece that incorporates the mandala structures which are much of the artist’s focus. What puts this in the top 10 category is the online interactive version engineered by Aaron Meyers. Feel free to give this “augmented reality app” a try – http://flying-lotus.com/fieldlines

7. Becca Mann – Have One On Me (Joanna Newsom)
Painted in a realistic style, Becca’s paintings often work from found photographs. She really captures the serene chaos evoked by Newsom’s music in this elaborately staged composition.

8. Kristina Collantes – The Inanimate Sermon (Mothers of Gut)
Collantes, a self taught illustrator who’s work is unmistakable, captures the psych-influenced rock of Mothers of Gut in this classy combination of art nouveau aesthetics and 1970s new age elegance.

9. Kymia Nawabi – In Evening Air (Future Islands)
Kymia Nawabi’s work is perfectly befitting, capturing the dreamy quality of Baltimore post-punk trio Future Islands. Her “psychic doppelghangers” populate a fantasy world of endless oceans borne out out of the human form.

10. Jessalyn Aaland, Invocation (KIT)
San Francisco based artist Jessalyn Aaland’s collage work, a composition of the clutter of everyday suburbia, supplies the viewer with a very calm sort of apocalypse to ponder while listening to this genre-bending punk based West Coast quartet.

Bonus Section:
Walt’s top 3 cat album covers of 2010

1. Themselves, Crowns Down and Company

2. Best Coast, Crazy For You

3. Klaxons, Surfing the Void

1. Flying Lotus—Cosmogramma—Warp Records

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTXFZU-jx_0

Cosmogramma borrows from a variety of influences: jazz, indie-rock, hip-hop, downtempo and electronica. This record’s arrangements, however, are far more sophisticated, occupying every available octave of the aural space and seeming at times to slide a percussive element into every potential slot. With this record, Flying Lotus has blended the best of these genres and elevated them to the next level.

2. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti—Before Today—4AD

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJpaFlrE3oQ

3. Glasser—Ring—True Panther

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQJHNrsMoFU

4. Gonjasufi—A Sufi and a Killer—Warp Records

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnnX0-Egck0

5. Teebs—Ardour—Brainfeeder

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Fv23kWr78

6. Best Coast—Crazy For You—Mexican Summer

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdgJOO1RCjw

7. Free the Robots—Cntrl Alt Delete—Alphapup Records

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx0JQUodDas

8. John Carpenter—Fairytales Forgotten—Lost Industry

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHEesbwOVPs

9. Chicano Batman—Chicano Batman—Unicornio Records

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9kp0RwR_mI

10. M.I.A.—Maya—Interscope

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeTkxy-sid8