I was going to write a detailed post regarding Club NME last night. Then I had one of those days. Damn work. Damn school. Damn allergies. Damn lack of sleep.

So, let's just get this out of the way quickly. Devastations rocked a few of us rather hard last night (some others were non-plused, however). In order to better describe the music, I offer this conversation that transpired between Estelle and myself.

Estelle: Did you see The Proposition?

Liz: Not yet. I haven't been watching movies lately.

Estelle: Oh, you should rent it. It's so good.

Liz: Funny you say that, though, because I was just thinking of Nick Cave.

Seriously, just look at these guys. Then listen to them. Estelle picked up copies of the band's single, "Sex and Mayhem," for us. I was listening to mine while stuck in traffic this morning.

Interestingly, my friend, who just moved out here from Berlin, had mentioned that she knew the band and that they are actually Aussies. I'm starting to think that every musician in Berlin knows each other and that they are all from some English-speaking country.

Also of note, the singer/guitarist for The Drones has an Einsturzende Neubauten tattoo on his arm. I flirted with the idea of one of those back when I thought tattoos were kind of cool (must say, I'm glad I don't have one now), then I realized that a Neubauten tattoo is just way too Henry Rollins to ever be truly awesome.

Oh, and did anyone notice the cops out it full force last night? I drove into Hollywood to drop off Ms. Penny Pop and we were going to stopy by Wednesdays, except that some people were getting arrested and it took four cars, all of which blocked the entrance to drive-thru. Then we went over to Del Taco and there was a cab blocking the driveway and, again, cops all over the place. It's like someone was on a 24-hour drive-up fast food robbing spree or something. Weird.

Last night, I finally broke down and went to Monday Social. The club has been around for ten years and, over those ten years, has brought in one fucking awesome DJ after the next and still, I have never gone. I have missed UNKLE, Danny Howells, Lee Coombs and a host of other DJs I really dig all because I have become the sort of sad sack who doesn't go out on Monday nights.

Yesterday, I just bit the bullet and figured, why the hell not? It's Rabbit in the Moon and I have been digging on their remixes since late high school or early college. Should I pass that up so that I can be a responsible adult who goes to work all bright-eyed and functional? No, that's not living, that's just drudgery.

So I went to Monday Social, met up with the Usual Suspects, sipped two vodka tonics, danced to David Christophere's set, which was along the dark house lines of Green Velvet, danced more to the first fifteen or so minutes of Bunny's techno-heavy mix and then decided that I should be a grown-up. It was 12:45, I had work in the morning and I should be responsible and just go home and get some sleep.

I drove home blaring Laurent Garnier's "Man with the Red Face," because it kept me alert, walked into the house and received a text message from Carlos.

"Bunny just plaed a sick psb mix."

For the civilians, PSB means Pet Shop Boys.

"NO!" I texted back.

I left early to get some sleep, still drove home tired and still dragged myself through the day like death was upon me. Had I stayed until 1:30, I would have felt the same, but I would have heard Bunny freak out "West End Girls," or what Carlos thinks might have been that classic Francois Kevorkian mix of the same. I would have been a happier person for it. Let this be a lesson to all: Never be a party pooper.

P.S. On a totally unrelated note (I didn't want to bother with another post), the teens on One Life to Live are partying to Kill Hannah's "Lips Like Morphine." That amused me.

Tomorrow night at Spaceland, it's Club NME.

Playing live:

The Drones

Devastations
(I'm excited about this one)

The Airborne Toxic Event

DJ Dia will be on the decks.

If you would like to get on the guestlist, email me (Liz O.) at lizziegolightly@gmail.com

(Time's up, list is closed.)

Otherwise it's $10 before midnight and $3 after.

Yes, it's time to rush over to your local record store, coffee house or nightclub and pick up the latest edition of The Rockit. If you aren't in L.A., read it online.

We have all sorts of goodies in this issue, starting with the cover. Yes, we actually were able to get an interview with a Killer. Check out The Killers feature here.

On the bottom half of our cover, we feature The Grates, as interviewed by yours truly.

Then, for those of you who like to rawk, check out this piece on Celtic Frost. Ooh, scary.

If you like reggae more than metal, may we suggest some Pepper?

For those of you with goth and synthpop leanings, we think New Skin might be up your alley.

Local mainstays Run Run Run make an appearance here.

The Gray Kid dishes on "PaxilBack."

Anavan tries to confuse our writer Jerry Curl with stories of Alaska and igloos.

Mr. Robert Tapia, who you might recognize from his posts here, chats up Dani Siciliano.

Meet 2Cents, they play prisons.

Duff Goldman isn't just a cakebacker, he's also a musician. And he likes Cocteau Twins.

Every month, Melissa Madore, who also posts here, combs MySpace for bands you should know. This time, she braves the aural assault that is Crom.

Every month, Robert Tapia finds some new music-oriented program that keeps him occupied for hours on end. This time, he gets caught up in U-MYX.

Then there are the live shows.

And the record reviews.

And the news briefs.

And the spotlights.

Let's not forget the continuing adventures of Animal Sounds.

Finally, if you hate to read, take a look at Ivan's photos from Detour Fest.

I get so many band requests on MySpace that I really don't look through them anymore. I try, but I just can't keep up with the slew of auto adds. So, it was really odd that I happened to check out one profile today. What's more bizarre is that this might become my new favorite band. Totally not an overstatement.

Les Vagabonds are from L.A. but are dedicated to preserving the sounds of French music. Now, those of you who have seen me DJ over the years and remember that I closed every single night at Transmission with Edith Piaf's "Les Amants d'un Jour," know full well how much j'adore French music, even though I can't speak a lick of the language. So it's no surprise that I'm enamoured by the songs on this page.

Funny thing is that all of the members of the group are Armenian. It makes sense. If anyone in L.A. was going to preserve French music, it would be Armenians. Not to generalize or anything, but we do have a thing for French anything (pastry, perfume, things that look like they might have been worn by Mme. Chanel). My mom says it's because the French inhabited much of historic Armenia ages ago and we all ended up tres chic as a result. Well, that and Charles Aznavour and Sylvie Vartan.

Last night I judged the U.S. Finals of the Global Battle of the Bands. I sat at a table with my clipboard and ballot, scribbled notes in my microscopic script and gave each two-song performance a score somewhere between 0-20. Every band received something over 10 points from me. After sitting through Whitestarr the night before, I figured that even if the music wasn't in line with my tastes, the performances were better than average.

Sometime during the competition, the judge next to me said that, in his opinion, the best L.A. band is The Autumns. Carlos, who was sitting with us, chuckled because I have been talking up this band since 1996 or 1997. In fact, when Carlos and I were still "just friends," which was roughly eight years ago, I would chat off his ear about the band. "Oh my God, have you seen The Autumns? They're so awesome. I think I saw them four times last month and, guess what, I just got them to come up and play a live set at the station next week. You should engineer it."
The judge and I continued to talk about The Autumns and then he mentioned Lift to Experience and I almost jumped out of my seat.

"One of the best shows I ever saw was The Autumns with Lift to Experience at the Martini Lounge," I said. I then mentioned a Coven 13 show (back when I was DJing there and telling everyone that they "totally have to get The Autumns" to play), which I think was with Mors Syphilitica and which I am almost positive was the first time I heard them play the cover of "Garlands" (orig. Cocteau Twins) that became a live favorite for years.

Truthfully, I haven't seen the band play in a few years, mostly because their shows are now sporadic and seem to end up on dates that I cannot attend. However, I think this might change on 11/25 when they play Spaceland. Even though I will probably be up all night that Friday (Jeff Mills and Richie Hawtin, dudes), I have to attend this show. BTW, here's an interview with The Autumns that I did for this website before we decided that blogging was easier.

So, yeah, we talked about The Autumns a lot during the competition, as well as death metal, The Knife and whether or not the contestants from Iceland will sound like Sigur Ros.

But back to the story, where my top 3 picks also happened to win the top three slots in the competition.

On my ballot, I had Heavy Mojo and The Hero Factor tied for the most points. Heavy Mojo won first place and a spot in the grand finals. To be honest, I'm not really sure if Heavy Mojo is something I would listen to on my own time. There were points where the music was a little too close to rap-rock for my liking. However, I gave them a high score mostly because they were top notch performers and, really, that is the most important factor in a live setting. The Hero Factor, from Tulsa, came in second. Musically, I preferred The Hero Factor to Heavy Mojo. The basslines are so Simon Gallup that they make me giddy and the guitarwork is subtle and melancholic. Today, I listened to the band's selections on MySpace and decided that the recordings do not do the band justice at all. The production sounds like there are dreams of MOR radio hits in the band's mind. Live, The Hero Factor is much more appealing the Muse/Radiohead/Sigur Ros/The Autumns set.

Coming in third place was The Queen Killing Kings, who were also third in my own ranking. In order to describe the band, I offer this rough transcription of an exchange between the other judge and myself.

Me: This has serious hipster blog potential, like Cold War Kids.

Other Judge: Wow, I was just going to mention them.

Me: Yeah, these guys have it all over Cold War Kids.

Then we started talking about a recent show at Spaceland.

I think the only reason why The Queen Killing Kings were a point behind the other two was because I was thinking in terms of how the performance would translate in a larger venue. I pictured this duo as excelling in places like the El Rey and The Wiltern (do I have to add that stupid LG tag?), where the others I could see as having command over an arena stage.

The Queen Killing Kings were also the only musicians I met after the show. We opted out of the post-gig party because we were tired and going to the Viper Room is akin to being trapped in an elevator. Carlos was walking me to my car and I recognized the singer's white jacket, so I went up and told them how much I enjoyed the show and asked them to contact me. Hopefully, I will have the chance to see them perform or something when next time I'm on the East Coast.