The Weirdos

Unlike the late-'70s punk explosions in New York City or London, the fertile scene in Los Angeles bungled its recorded output. Sure, bands like X, Dead Kennedys, and Black Flag spring to mind, but those combos didn't really get going until the door-knock of the Dynasty decade. The original sparks of that scene -- innovative fuck-ups like the Germs and the Screamers -- never released enough whole LPs to gauge them by.

The Weirdos are in that camp. They were on the cutting edge of cutting up tacky thrift-store clothes and making your hair look like a smashed Crayola 64-pack. More important, they released one of the best singles of that era: "We Got the Neutron Bomb." A couple more tasty, small-run singles and misfired new-wave EPs came and went, and it's been sporadic reunion tours since. But their backfiring laser-gun punk sound and legendary live shows still hold influence in the punk world. They're back for another reunion swing, replacing only the bass player -- with Circle Jerk/Thelonious Monster Zander Schloss. No word on any new material, but they'll be hawking a new compilation of unreleased live and studio stuff from 1977-'89.