For those of you who aren't from L.A., you might not know that the biggest thing out here right now is She Wants Revenge. Although the album has been on the Billboard charts for a while, I'm not quite sure that the band's popularity in the rest of the U.S. rivals anything like Los Angeles. SWR is big enough right now to book two gigs at the Wiltern, which isn't as huge as say, The Rose Bowl, but it's bigger than the places that most locals headline. At this point, it's pretty much required that DJs drop "Tear You Apart" at some point during the club set and you can't listen to KROQ during the afternoon drive time without hearing at least one song from the band. That sort of rotation is generally reserved for Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins (or the new Blue October song, "Hate Me," which I would love if it weren't for the emo-screams in the chorus, but it's growing on me and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," which I have to turn up way-too-loud every time I hear it).
Anyhow, She Wants Revenge was on KROQ this afternoon for an interview and live set, given that the band is playing the Weenie Roast tomorrow, and the guys were going on about how influential KROQ was to them when they were younger and you know, in this case, it was the most genuine thing you could hear a band like this say. These guys are Vals, like me, and, if there is one thing to say about the Valley, it's that there is nothing to do. If there is a second thing to say about the Valley, it's that it is ridiculously hot and disgusting from May through October. That said, when you are from the Valley, you end up listening to a lot of radio, be it in air conditioned homes or air conditioned cars. Plus, I think the guys are in their early-30s, so chances are, they were getting ready to graduate high school somewhere between 1989 and 1992, which means that they were listening to the station when "Love Will Tear Us Apart" was still in regular rotation (albeit as a flashback), when the Cure's "Fascination Street" was a brand new single and when the station played "Bela Lugosi's Dead" ever freakin' Halloween in between remote broadcasts from the annual Oingo Boingo show. All of those radio moments are on the album.
I know there are a lot of people who will argue that She Wants Revenge is more derivative 1980s retro stuff, but, to me, its the sound of growing up in the suburbs, listening to the radio and wishing you were somewhere else. It's like the imaginary band formed over a shared basket of mozzarella sticks at the old Denny's on Ventura and Sepulveda at half past midnight by a bunch of kids who can't get through a sentence without saying "like, y'know." It's an 818 sort of record, which I think is what I like best about it.

Lest you forget, tomorrow is the big ol' fundraiser at La Mano Press. Now that you have marked this down on your calendar, I shall tell you that my set is at 12:30 and when I tell you that you will be partying for a cause, I mean par-tay. I'm bringing an arse-load of club classics. There will also be some newish stuff on the decks, but I fully intend to make you shout into your dance buddy's ear, "Dude, I totally haven't danced to this song since that night when..."
"What?"
"You know what I'm talking about."
"What?!"
It will be something like that.

• Ruined Music is now online. Read it. Send in your submissions.
• The Rockit News has a new issue out now. My stories are as follows: Andrew W.K.; Action Action; Stavesacre; Riverboat Gamblers; Gram Rabbit. Gram Rabbit's photo is courtesy of our favorite water moccasin, Megan.

Do you remember those jeans, I think Guess made them, that were really popular around the same time that Guns'n'Roses was, like, totally awesome? They were dark denim, but bleached out completely in certain sections so that the fabric became this oversized blue and white marble design. He was wearing those last night with an orange plaid short-sleeved shirt, a messenger bag and those shoes that his countrymen refer to as trainers. We should probably call them trainers too, because, really, how often do we actually play tennis in tennis shoes or sneak about in sneakers? The messenger bag made Carlos and I chuckle because, only a few hours earlier, we were having this discussion about the popularity of messenger bags amongst guys who aren't American. For example, on a college campus, the guy with messenger back is, nine times out of ten, an international student. American dudes still Jansport it, usually with band patches or some sort of skaterboy mark accessorizing the knapsack.
I saw him as we stood on opposite sides of the doorway. A girl with so much dark, curly hair that it almost obscured her face was motioning for his attention. He would walk towards her and throw an arm around her waist, but for a five-second interim, I stood face-to-face with Andy Bell. Andy Bell, whose baby-face and wavy blonde hair make him appear much younger than anyone who has been in a legendary synthpop band since Carlos and I were of the age where our greatest concern was getting home from school in time to watch You Can't Do That on Television. Andy Bell, whose choirboy voice made Wonderland a heartbreaking work. Andy Bell, who made me like ABBA when I thought I was too cool for 1970s pop.
Now, if only we could see Vince Clarke.
We walked around Citizen Smith, a posh bistro down the street from the Beauty Bar on Cahuenga, that is part upscale dinner and drinks, part hipster. Minnie, who I met years ago when she was a regular at Transmission, helped put together an Erasure afterparty with what I think is the restaurant/club's regular Wednesday night promotion. We ran into her as we walked around. Minnie told us how well all the songs translated into an acoustic set at John Anson Ford. I could only think of "Oh, L'amour." Then she introduced to Ben, who is drumming for Erasure. We had a nice chat, much of which was concerning the amount of birthday parties that were going on inside this establishment. Every five minutes, some group of people in office casual would burst into song and the waiters would arrive with trays of cake. Dark chocolate cake with thick white frosting, the kind that makes you think you might turn into Cornholio after two bites.
We left not too long after that, taking one more walk through the crowds. We never saw Vince Clarke, but we had a great night nonetheless.

I received the coolest invite in the mail (yes, snail mail) today from Gabby. It's all rough-edged and red-inked. If I had hooked up my scanner, I would scan it, but, even then, you wouldn't be able to see how awesome it is.
In the meantime, though, you can check out La Mano Press' My Space page for all the details on this Saturday's party with a mission. I'll be spinning tunes and you can dance AND raise money for children in Chiapas.

We can finally blog again! You don't know how excited this makes me. In the meantime, this is a post from the weekend that I put up on My Space because Blogger was spazzing. Enjoy.
"Just like college," Estelle said to me on the phone as we made our plans to go out Saturday night. She was right. Back then, just as on Saturday, she would call me as soon as she finished her science experiment. I would be working on a paper and dyeing my hair a suitable shade of black while waiting for the call. She would come over to my place and I would drive to the club. The only difference is, now, coming to my place requires a twenty minute drive across two freeways connecting the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys. Before, coming to my place required Estelle to walk up two flights of stairs.
We were going to Bang! on account of the fact that I had to touch base with a certain person about a certain news development that has nothing to do with Bang! but something to do with another club at the same venue (and if you want to know what that is, scroll down to the bottom of this post). Plus, neither one of us had been to the club since I stopped playing there three years prior and we were curious to see how much the club had changed.
A lot has changed in three years. The only people I knew were the promoters and DJs, the photographer, the bathroom attendent, one bartender, one old club buddy and one security guard. The front room, which used to be the mod hallway, is now new wave. The back room, formerly home to techno and house stuff, is pop-centric. The format in the main room is roughly similar, indie/alternative/whatever, but most of the bands we heard probably didn't even exist as anything more than a record label's new signing three years ago. Right before I left the club, the big song was "PDA" by Interpol, odd considering that when I played it a year before, it cleared the floor (seriously, it was some random promo I received with a Belle and Sebastian giveaway that I had set up at the club). Three years ago, 95% percent of the requests were for "something electroclash like Fischerspooner or Miss Kittin." The other 5% of the requests were for various Pulp songs. I didn't hear any Pulp last night. We did, however, hear a lot of Franz Ferdinand, which is fine with us since we heart Alex Kapranos and his Dior Homme suits. We got down to "Take Me Out" like it was the first time we ever heard the song as some Moz-alike holding hands with a female Moz-alike squeezed passed us.
Sometime after that, Matt in the Hat took our pictures for the club's website and we headed over to the new wave room where Frankie, my old DJ buddy, almost killed us with his set. We were going to ask for "New Order or Kon Kan," but he had Joy Division cued, which was just as good. So, we started dancing to "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and I immediately thought of another college friend of ours, another one-time roomate who would sit on the bunk with me and listen to Joy Divsion for hours while talking about how "beautiful" Ian must have been. Ah, to be young and obsessed with people who died when we were three. After that, Frankie played "Valerie Loves Me" by Material Issue (insteresting, yet morbid connection), which he followed with Real Life's one U.S. hit "Send Me an Angel." As if Frankie's set couldn't get any better, he then busted out my request for Kon Kan's "I Beg Your Pardon (I Never Promised You a Rose Garden)." I have a story that is 1/3 about that song. If I write it down, you might get to read it soon. If you have never heard this song before, you are missing out on a HiNRG dance classic, filled with samples and one of the best breakdowns ever heard on an 80s-centered dance floor.
Eventually, we needed a break and, somewhere along the line, we ended up in the pop room. We thought we would just peek inside, but then we heard Cybotron as sampled by Missy Elliot and had to stay. When the song ended, we prepared to leave, but Madonna beckoned with "Sorry" and since that was followed by Rhianna's #1 hit, "S.O.S." we just kept dancing.
We ended up leaving a little after one, which might seem kind of early were it not for the knowledge that we were only planning on staying an hour. Instead, we were there for roughly three hours, which I suppose is the best indication that we had a really good time.
Now for the news.
I'm going back to Beat It as a guest DJ for the club's Memorial Day Weekend bash. Those of you who remember the Beat It days of yore know that I used to be the resident in the 1980s room. You probably danced to Kon Kan a lot back then. This time, though, I'm going to be playing in the indie/electro room, so the set will probably be most similar to the one I played at Till Tuesdays last month. Here are the details.
Where: Beat It @ The Ruby (7070 Hollywood Blvd.)
When: May 28, 2006
Time: 9p.m. - 2 a.m.
Age: 18+
Cover: $15

I urge everyone to come out that night, as it should be a really fun party. Just, take my advice and arrive early and dress for a night of hot, sticky dancing.

Test?

Test?

Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens, one of those bands you really should hear, passed away in his sleep last night. He, and his music, will be missed.