Fuck Buttons performing at The Echo on November 12, 2009 with Growing opening. Fuck Buttons’ gear sits on an erected plastic picnic table which requires them to face each other as they bend over to work their knobs and switches. From time to time they look up at each other which is pretty much is the extend of what’s going on visually. However, sonically, there is infinitely more happening on stage.

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LIVE FROM NEW YORK + MP3

Blood On The Wall “Lightning Song”

And of course today is Valentine’s day. Despite all my knowledge to the contrary—it was invented by card companies and chocolatiers—it still makes the little girl inside of me feel sad. It’s not just the guy in the neon blue pea coat at my favorite bookstore I couldn’t bring myself to talk to. It’s more the fact that I live in a great big candy store but I can’t afford anything. A blizzard hit New York yesterday and since I had no cash, I walked the streets of Brooklyn smoking cigarettes, pulling my coat tighter around my shoulders and feeling light headed.

As a child one of the things my mother told me most was, “Shh, try to sleep.” Nothing could be worse—such pressure placed upon small children for something that should come naturally. So if you are like me today—worried, lonely and deflated—it’s okay because love should be something that you don’t have to work at. It should come naturally.

In the meantime, here is a list of some wonderful local Brooklyn bands that I tried my hardest to write about this year.

GROWING: Man, I used to really hate these guys—almost as much as I hate Valentine’s day, and kind of for the same reasons. I thought they were over-hyped and man-made—not that all music isn’t man made, but they were practically inorganic. It took me a while but —wait for it—they grew on me. Ever hear the name of another band and think, ‘That band has the wrong name—this other band needs that name?’ Growing should change their name to Throbbing Gristle because Lord knows Throbbing Gristle doesn’t need it anymore.

STAY HIGH: I’m not really sure whats up with me these days. I’ve been really into this whole electronic new wave/no wave stuff. I did not buy into it the first time it came back (Rapture, Moving Units, DFA) but something about this current crop of bands—or DJs?—has really got me hooked. These guys rule and not just because Sean is a super nice guy. They’re awesome.

BLOOD ON THE WALL: ‘Oh, man, shut up, we already know about Blood On The Wall!’

TELEPATHE: ‘Oh man, shut up, we already know about Telepathe.’ But no, you shut up because they don’t suck anymore. They got rid of that wonky singer and they’ve stripped down to two super melodic ladies and enlisted the help of Ryan Lucero, a pretty groovy guy on bass and guitar. They sound like ghosts singing at a funeral. I saw them on Halloween and they rocked.

OXFORD COLLAPSE: Vice gave these guys the worst review ever and I was like, what? Shut the eff up—ya’ll barf in jars and then have the audacity to try and school me on Iran. It’s time for them to step down cuz seriously, where would the world be without the Replacements? Or Dookie by Greenday? Or any good pop punk masterpiece of the last 20 years? Punk going suburban and rocking out in the cul-de-sac has been one of the greatest things to happen to rock-n-roll since Richard Hell put safety pins in his clothes. Don’t let a few bad apples in Vans and manic panic (okay, the entirety of Huntington Beach) ruin the magic that punk has to offer. When it’s done right, it’s done right. Like the crappy Chinese food that comes to your house at four in the morning.

And if indeed you are one of the lucky few that has something so seamless and easy to celebrate and you somehow managed to make it through the wretched holidays or have something brand new to sing about in spring, please, by all means, suck a dick.

Reporting Live From New York,
I’m Nikki Darling and You’re Not

Although we have been lying a bit low lately, we at L.A. RECORD would like to announce that we are alive, well, and working on new things!

First, we have our new website up now at www.larecord.com — those of you who have followed us since the .org days will appreciate how far we’ve come!

Second: we have been running (as you may have noticed) more content than we can fit on one page each week — extra interviews and lots of extra reviews and previews — and after much thought we have decided to let the paper grow. We are shifting L.A. RECORD to a print monthly without abandoning the poster or the re-enactments or any of the other things that make L.A. RECORD what it is. In fact, we plan to add a lot, like in-depth album, art, fashion and film coverage as well as a lot more interviews and even some essays and articles.

We are planning to release the new issue in early March for SXSW. We also do not want to lose the immediacy of the weekly format, however, so we will be shifting previews and reviews to the new website, which will feature constant content and more exclusive local coverage.

If you are already a writer, artist or contributor, we’ll be in touch very soon about work for the new issue. If you would like to contribute, please email us at fortherecord@larecord.com. Everyone is invited to help.

If you are interested in advertising with L.A. RECORD, please drop Charlie a line at charlie@larecord.com. We now offer web advertisement as well as print.

We would like to thank all of our readers, writers, fans and advertisers for letting us do what we love to do and helping us become a resource for the creative music community in Los Angeles. We look forward to providing you with more great content, covers and good times down the road.

Sincerely,

L.A. RECORD