The Vacation/S'coolgirls/Gunshy
King King, Hollywood

The Set Up

A few weeks ago, I suddenly realized that all the bands I've written about the past few months are pushing/over 40, defunct, or dead. What, I thought, there are no good young bands? Well, yeah, there are plenty of young bands who can play and sing and write good songs. But what I hadn't seen in a long time was a young band who put on a great rock and roll show. You know, stage presence and all that.

Over the years, I've given new bands good reviews, then filed away the CD, never to listen it again. Not a big vote of confidence. Sure, I liked the Strokes and the Vines, but never bothered to see them live or play their albums after I'd reviewed them. Hey, if I heard one of their songs on the radio, I wouldn't change the station. Seemed reasonable enough.

After 40 minutes of long-distance prodding from my best friend in NY, I relented and went out to the King King last week to see three bands-Gun Shy, S'coolgirls and The Vacation. With info culled from MySpace and Indie1031, I set out to a club a few paces from my first abdode in L.A.(the dreaded Howie's Weekly Apartments,now the home of a Motel 6.)

The Show

I stood there, rum and Coke in hand, pondering the question "Why aren't bands like this more popular?" The first band Gun Shy, played good straight-ahead rock n roll, you know like the kind they made in the '70s. And they weren't wearing suits or cardigans! Neither were the members of the second band, S'coolgirls, the only young band I know of that claims '70s glitter rock as a major influence. And they know how to dress the part. Hey, it's about time guys in bands look *pounceable again. I mean, if all 20 something girls have to choose from are your Blink 182s,Backstreet Boys and leftover rap-rockers, no wonder they try faux lesbianism. And lusting after the 40ish Duran Duran.

Random thoughts-liked the singer's stage presence, guitarist had a good haircut,a little bit like Punky Meadows, good cover of "Rebels Rule." They played "Rock N Roll Discotek" and other songs from their self-titled EP.Just like 1973 all over again. Minus the drugs.

Headliners The Vacation have received a lot of hype around town.(Their first full length CD "The Band From World War Zero" was released last September.) Hey, they get a lot of stellar listener reviews, except for the usual bitter guy who says "Oh they're poseurs, just like the Strokes, etc." The songs have a harder edge live, and hey, don't criticize singer Ben Tegel for copping a Mick Jagger/Steve Tyler vibe.(See paragraph 1 in this section.) When the curtains parted, the first thing I thought was, "Ya know, he really needs to take that T-shirt off. It doesn't work." Next thing you, the T-shirt was gone. (I'm psychic.) This however, was not a repeat of the "It's a good thing you didn't point at his crotch" incident from the Camp Freddy show at the Avalon last April. The show ended with all three bands and dancing glitter rock girls doing "Come On Feel The Noize" Yes, rock 'n' roll is alive and well in Hollywood-and playing to an audience of what, 200 people?? Really. We need more bands like this and more people to listen to them. You know, Duran Duran and the Stones and the(Screen)Doors aren't getting any younger. Soon, they won't be around anymore, and we'll be stuck with the third final farewell tour for Good Charlotte. C'mon, folks, is that really what you want to be pontificating about on "The Velvet Rope" 20 years from now?

*pounceable-attractive, hot, desirable, et al