Rocking on

Even mag deadlines can't stop the rock... Today, I got a phone call from Tsuzumi from The Binges. It turns out she was on Sawtelle, so I busted out from the office for a caffeinated beverage and some conversation. Usually, I see the hard-rocking bassist in loud, dark clubs, so it was cool to catch up with her and get the latest on her straight-up, ass-kicking, non-ironic rock band. She's going nuts because their next show isn't until next month at the San Pedro Lobster Fest in Pedro. There's got to be some band that's bold enough to take The Binges on tour with them. C'mon, you bands and labels that purport to rock: do it now!


You'd think reading is the last thing I'd want to do after editing words, fitting them into layouts, and entering corrections (thanks, readers) all day. But Nina Antonia's biography of the legendary guitarist and junkie, Johnny Thunders, is a real page turner. I saw him play the Roxy back in '87, and I believe his band included Killer Kane, Barry Jones, and Jerry Nolan. On that night, he was sober and awesome, mixing up Dolls and Heartbreakers classics with an acoustic interlude that didn't suck. I wish I had a decent camera back then and I wish I still had the concert T-shirt, which I gave to an old girlfriend's best friend. Crap! At least there's a bootleg of that night floating around somewhere...