Take away this anchor chain

Dispatch from Little Steven's Underground Garage Cruise

Somewhere in the Caribbean

With a familiar feeling of excitement and trepidation, I boarded the Norwegian Gem last Friday for another musical odyssey at sea.

I went to cover Little Steven’s Underground Garage Cruise for the Los Angeles Times. I also wanted to enjoy myself, but part of me wondered if I would.

I’d spent the previous weekend going to Unfair Oaks, A DIY punk space in LA so underground you have to ask a punk to find it. Luckily, I know a few. (Hi Daryl! Hi Jen!) I was there to see Phane, a charged hardcore band from Vancouver. I’ve made my peace with the fact that I like this band more than anyone in my age bracket and area code and that’s OK.

Phane was epic. So epic I went to see them the next night in Long Beach (Hi Nolan!) and if I hadn’t promised to help a friend move I would have followed their van to Bakersfield and then who knows what would have happened? I could turn into a leather and spikes guy who sews patches for bands like Corpse Gas onto my battle vest. It could happen.

Phane from Vancouver

I wasn’t the oldest person at these shows but if they were handing out second and third place trophies I would have gone home with some hardware.

So it was a little weird that less than a week later I found myself on the pool deck watching X sweat through their set under the big bright Caribbean sun as the ship pulled away from the pier surrounded by people who were older, and in some cases, much, much older than me.

This didn’t exactly feel “underground.” The whole concept of underground at sea seems a little suspect, to be honest, but what do I know? If it was up to me I’d get Phane, English Dogs, Varukers, and Sick on the Bus, and have the Unseen play “Goodbye America!” for the sail away show. There’d be workshops on hair styling and crafting battle vests. I’d call it Fucking Phanefest Fuck Yeah! I can see the corporate sponsors rolling in…

How did I get here?

I’ll tell you. Last year I interviewed Donita Sparts of L7 for the Fast and Furious Takeover at the Belasco and she told me they’d signed on to play the Underground Garage Cruise. “You were in the Navy, Jim. You should write about it!”

When Donita Sparks tells you to do something, you do it.

That led to me embarking on the Outlaw Country Cruise in February and the Underground Garage Cruise last weekend. I’m glad I followed Donita’s advice because I had some very special experiences and, yes, a hell of a lot of fun. Some highlights…

Rocket From The Crypt from San Diego, California

Rocket From the Crypt

It probably comes as no surprise that I’m a big fan of Rocket From The Crypt since I’ve lived in San Diego for nearly 20 years. I first listened to them when I was roommates with Todd Taylor in 1994 and his copy of Circa Now found its way onto my tape deck and stayed there for a while.

I don’t know if I ever saw the cassette cover or learned any of the names of the songs, but something about the way the songs cohered out of/fragmented into repetitive riffs captured my imagination. I saw them as the younger siblings of Crash Worship, a band that scared the hell out of me when I saw them when I was in the Navy. (A band that plays with fire is not playing for applause.)

Keeping up with John Reis’s projects is a job unto itself. He has had a hand in so many great projects and performances: Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Water Music, Night Marchers, Plovsives, Swami and the Bed Nails. He’s a radio host, a DJ, runs a record label and for a while he owned a bar called The Pink Elephant where I saw one of the best shows I’ve seen in this city: Jay Reatard during the Blood Visions tour in 2007. A show that still makes me emotional when I think of it because of all the people in the room that night who are no longer with us.

This is a very long preamble to say I was taken aback by the greatness of The Rocket From the Crypt. The crushing guitars, the jaunty horn section, Mario Rubalcaba’s punishing drums, and John Reis’s delightfully absurd stage banter.

I saw all three of their shows on the boat and each time I came away with the coveted That was fucking great feeling, the buzz of seeing something truly special.

Social Distortion with and without accordion

Social Distortion

Like every punk I’ve listened to Social Distortion’s Mommy’s Little Monster a million times and I think it’s one of the top five punk records to come out of Southern California. In typical Gen X fashion, I then intentionally and emotionally divorced myself from Social D when “Ball and Chain” and “Story of My Life” became synonymous with a type of wifebeater-wearing wannabe-rockabilly goon.

You can tell me I’m wrong, and I’ll publicly agree with you, but I’ll also privately judge you. I’m sorry society made me this way, but that’s the way it is.

But then a funny thing happened. I went to see Mike Ness get interviewed by one of the DJs at Sirius XM, I won’t mention his name because he sucked. Ness would reveal something interesting about himself, and then the interviewer would move on to the next dumb question on his list, missing an opportunity to take the conversation to a place that was rewarding for everyone. But no.

After the interview, Ness played a short acoustic set with the band and the keyboard player, Ben Alleman, played the accordion. Social Distortion accompanied by an accordion? Hell-fucking-yes.

I’m of the opinion there are two kinds of people: those who think any song can be improved by an accordion and those who are wrong. Who wants to start a band that plays traditional Irish, mariachi, and polka covers of Social D songs called Social Accordion?

I also want to add that I spent some time on the boat with guitarist Jonny Two Bags, one of the most down-to-earth musicians I’ve ever met.

Who knows, maybe I’m entering my Social Distortion era?

Donita Sparks of L7 with Kelly Ogden of the Dollyrots

L7

My admiration for L7 grows and grows. They were the heaviest band on the boat by a large margin and ripped it up every time they hit the stage.

I also enjoyed watching Donita Sparks get interviewed by Kelly Ogden of the Dollyrots and share stories from behind the scenes. Ogden is a great interviewer and I was shocked when she announced at the end that she’d never interviewed anyone before.

I think most of the bands struggled playing on the main stage pool deck because of the heat. The daytime shows were brutal. When I saw John Doe after his set he looked like he’d stepped out of a sauna. But L7’s big rowdy sound belongs on a big stage and it was my favorite of their three performances.

Some of the bands I enjoyed watching these last two weeks I’ll never see again. We’re always doing things for the last time, we just don’t know it when it happens. Spending time with so many elder punks and their fans brought home how fleeting this all is and what an enormous privilege it is to see not just these bands, but any band, especially when you and/or the band have traveled great distances. Whether it’s Phase playing for two dozen people in tiny room in LA or Social D in front of 1,500 on a cruise ship, every show is special, a unique triangulation of time and space that will never be repeated. What an awesome thing to be a part of.

Miscellaneous Mayhem

Did you enjoy last week’s interview with Margie Sarsfield? I’ve got another one in the works with a punk rock veteran with a new book. More details soon.

If you’re in the Long Beach area, I’ll be coming to Fingerprints next Wednesday 5/21 for a conversation with Nate Jackson and Daniel Kohn about their new book Tearing the Orange Curtain: How Punk Rock Brought Orange County To The World, which you can preorder at Bookshop.org right now. Two things to note: Craig Ibara will also be there with a new hardcover edition of his book Wailing of a Town. Lastly, this is a 5:30 show so plan accordingly.

I’ll also be doing some events with national treasure Keith Morris at the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas from June 20-22. He’ll be leading some tours and in between we’ll be in conversation about everything and anything from “an army of Luigis” to singing “Live Fast Die Young” as a 69 year old. More details to come but here’s the link to book a tour with Keith.

North Figueroa Bookshop has launched a fundraising initiative called Reading Is A Human Right. It involves expanding the footprint of their store to include an art gallery and performance space to help make the bookstore more community focused. They're partnering with Altadena Musicians, the charity that provides musicians who lost their home in the Eaton fire with instruments. Want to be a part of the story—and get a cool tote? Here’s a link to their expansion drive.

Lastly, my sister has launched a Substack! It’s called What do we do next? Molly owns a thriving media company called Heartcast Media and is based in Costa Rica. I hope you’ll check it out!

If you liked this newsletter you might also like my latest novel about healthcare vigilantes Make It Stop, or the paperback edition of Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall of SST Records, or my book with Bad Religion, or my book with Keith Morris. I have more books and zines for sale here. And if you’ve read all of those, consider checking out my latest collaboration The Witch’s Door and the anthology Eight Very Bad Nights.

Message from the Underworld comes out every Wednesday and is always available for free, but paid subscribers also get my deepest gratitude and Orca Alert! on most Sundays. It’s a weekly round-up of links about art, culture, crime, and killer whales.