Worthitpurchase- Sideways
This song is from LA band Worthitpurchase‘s upcoming self-titled album, releasing 10/3/25. To celebrate the release of the new album, the band is playing at Non Plus Ultra in Los Angeles on Thursday 10/2, with Le Pain and Quad Super Six.
Alice Bag performing with the Bags for “The Decline of Civilization I”
Ozzy Osbourne from “The Decline of Civilization II: The Metal Years”
Street kids from “The Decline of Civilization III”
From 1979-1998 director Penelope Spheeris made three films documenting the music scene in Los Angeles for the trilogy, The Decline of Western Civilization. All three combine interviews with musicians and their fans with live footage from the shows. Spheeris is able to capture the unique energy of the different scenes and present the participants she interviews without judgment.
The first, released in 1981, and probably the strongest, features concert footage of X, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Bags, and the Germs, among others. Many of these artists continue to perform to this day, like Pat Smear of the Germs who would go on to play with several bands- including Nirvana and Foo Fighters.
It’s also fun to see a young Phranc (pictured below) playing in Catholic Discipline. She would later switch to folk music and creating fun cardboard sculptures. At the same time it’s sad seeing Darby Crash behind the scenes knowing he would die by suicide in 1980 before the film was released.
X (Exene Cervenka and John Doe)
Phranc
Darby Crash
Pat Smear
The second installment, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, changes tone quite a bit as Spheeris covers the heavy metal scene in the late 1980s. Big hair, big hopes, and lots of makeup mark a big change from the previous punk era, both in attitudes and musical style. Several big names show up along with the lesser known bands including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy from Motörhead, Poison, Aerosmith, and Alice Cooper. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from KISS also make appearances, the latter filmed on a bed surrounded by women.
Two members of Poison
The third installment, released in 1998, returns to punk music twenty years later. It also returns to the style of the first installment, but this time focuses more on the “gutter punks”- homeless kids living on the streets of Hollywood. There are several scenes of them panhandling, partying, and talking about their rough upbringing. These scenes are mixed with band footage and interviews with some of the musicians from the previous punk scene, like Flea and Rick Wilder (of The Mau Maus), who provide their perspective on the changes. Spheeris was so moved by the stories these kids told, she went on to be a foster parent after making the film.
Rick Wilder of the Mau Maus
All of these films were released in a box set with the help of Spheeris’s daughter Anna. They are also available on several streaming sites.
Truman Sinclair- Bloodline
This song by LA musician Truman Sinclair is from his 2025 debut album, American Recordings.
He is opening for Runnner at Lodge Room in Los Angeles on Thursday 9/25/25.
MIEN- Empty Sun
This song is from MIEN‘s recently released album MIIEN. The video was created by band member John Mark Lapham.
The band is playing at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles on Thursday, 9/18/25, with Monde UFO and Al Lover.
Small Forward- I Only Feel Love When It’s Missing
This song is from Small Forward‘s 2025 album, Crush.
They are playing at Zebulon in Los Angeles on Wednesday, 9/10/25, with Sharon Silva and Finnish Postcard.
Fat Dog- Peace Song
This song by London band Fat Dog was released as a single in November of last year.
They are playing at Lodge Room in Los Angeles on Thursday, 9/4/25, with Acid Tongue and Godly The Ruler.
Trestles- The Beach Betrayed Me
Every month I listen to the majority of bands and musicians who are playing in Los Angeles and select some for a monthly playlist. It includes a variety of genres and usually newer work by the artist.
This month includes the song above by Santa Cruz band, Trestles, from 2025’s Postcard EP.
Below are July’s selections-
Max Cooper and Aho Ssan- When I Sit Alone. In My Thoughts. I Am Crushed.
This song is from Max Cooper‘s latest album, On Being, released in February of this year. He has released several videos for the songs on the album, each directed by a different artist and based on a quote from a prompt on his website.
This video above was created by Simon Kounovsky aka axonbody.
More information on the album and song from Cooper in the Youtube video description–
The quote arrived on my album website after I asked “What do you want to express, which you feel you can’t in everyday life?”. Using thousands of anonymous quotes, my On Being album attempts to capture the experience of being human, now.
This was one of the first quotes from the database that reached out and grabbed my guts and squashed them. I had to tackle it, and I immediately contacted Aho Ssan with the idea, because his approach to music contained some of the intensity and noise elements that I felt were needed to deliver the quote.
It was submitted anonymously, so over the past few years I had a story in my mind about who submitted it and why. But then ahead of the Bristol show I heard from Robbie Evans, the writer of the words, who I met at the show. If any of you submitted any of the words in the project I’d love to hear from you so I can put a face to the name of the words I’ve spent my last 3 years with.
The writing process began with a live improvisation on Void and Vista Folds, which formed the structure of the 7 minute sequence. I then jammed with my hardware synths and pedals to introduce the aggression, and sent everything to Aho Ssan, who mangled and layered on his special blend.
The final touches came from a visit to Taichung, where recordings of the night market feature in the track, and finally, over compression to pump a sub bass into obliterating everything else to reach for some new chaos, for any you who have the full frequency response available. It was pure catharsis, and maybe not something many people will enjoy listening to, but that’s where the quote sent me, and hopefully it will be worthwhile for some of you.
3D/AV, Max Cooper’s live immersive audio-visual experience, is currently on tour and will be at The Belasco in Los Angeles on Saturday, 8/30/25.
Buckets- Slipping
Los Angeles based band Buckets released this single in June of this year.
They are playing on Sunday, 8/24/25, at The Bamboo Club in Long Beach- part of the free two day music festival Happy Sundays. (RSVP here).
Host Family- Rodeo
This song was recently released on Host Family‘s 2025 EP, Extended Play.
They are playing at Dada Echo Park this Saturday, 8/16/25, as part of the annual FREE festival Echo Park Rising. The festival includes numerous venues and a TON of bands.