Sunny Southern California. We've been itemized by the likes of Best Coast and Wavves, as weed smoking, shorts wearing, taco eating, beach bumming peoples. On one hand, these generalizations are often true, but to make it a stylistic trend that even landlocked people and east coasters start sporting, well there's something utterly strange and lame about it. The point I'm trying to make is what SoCal is now being sold as has been around forever, just not so superficially accessorized. I'm going to use this totally radical Long Beach punk band from 1982 to drive the point home.
The Falling Idols are pretty much a no name outside of very small punk circles in Socal. I only know about them because Sublime popularized their very awesome surferelic instrumental titled "Falling Idols":
In 1982, they recorded a 5 song 12'', hand painted the covers, made 500 copies, and got it out as far as they could (which probably didn't extend far past LA and SD). This is their only real release, although there is a compilation later put together after the band's breakup. These songs find you in a dingy garage in Long Beach, beer cans lying around, garage door open halfway letting the sun peer in to keep reminding you you've been day drinking again...
These are just kids, probably towards the end of their teens, absorbing all the punk rock that's been going on in the world, riding out the wave of the local hardcore scenes, and sticking to their roots of the sand and sea. Guitar, bass, drums, and all the lazy suburban angst your little bored heart can handle.
love, Amir
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