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Notes From the Underground
By Arwen Curry

Back in the Garage: Santa Cruz welcomes a not-so-new revival THE RETURN OF THE GREAT GARAGE band is far from new, but for SC, with all its nuances and subtle fashions leaking in from surrounding big cities, the allure of fairly straightforward rock & roll hasn't exactly gotten its due. I heard so many ecstatic comments about such a band, the Donnas, that I had to check out Saturday's Vets Hall local premiere and sure enough, I was blown away. I'll start with the opening band. The Hostili-teens is a new band--this was its first show, to my knowledge--and despite debutante jitters, it managed to capture some of the energetic brilliance of Get Action-era Teengenerate, a thoroughly under-appreciated garage-punk album imported from Japan in recent years. The Donnas, an all-longhaired girl outfit from the Bay Area, was certainly no letdown. A gig at downtown's Drop-in Center stole half the show (or maybe people just aren't into it), but the crowd that showed sure appreciated every millisecond of fuzz. The Dukes of Hamburg, from SF, rocked even harder--covers of a lot of old classics won't do you any harm. The evening brought nothing but the fondest memories of the shitty acoustics of a worn-down garage. Arwen Curry This Sux! Don't be fooled by issue No. 1 of F*cking Sux because it does not suck. This zine would make the perfect stocking stuffer alongside that Hickory Farms Yuletide Fantasy Kit you ordered. It has some neat interviews (the Peechees and Angora), in-your-face poetry, another "What Is Punk?" rant and tons of laughs. I enjoyed the story of how Heather from Angora gets revenge on an unruly lad at her last Vets Hall show. That's why I haven't taken off my cup since the fourth-grade dodgeball riot. There's a funny piece on Santa Cruz diction footnoted with Mr. T. Experience lyrics (which is A-OK!), scary hippie wear and D.Y.I. schizoid Wesley Willis tunes. There are also some startling vegan facts that made me spit out my Thanksgiving Day "Moon Over My Hammys" at Denny's. The back-cover photo from an '86 prom sent chills up the feathered hair along my spine. Very Night Ranger. This is a fun read that mixes the Vets Hall with Anthony Michael Hall (pre-steroids, of course). Issue No. 2 is in the works. F*cking Sux publishers Bridie, Natalia and Kate know how to put together a terrific zine, so stop watching your taped version of Fiona Apple's "Criminal" video in slow-mo and pick up this gem at Streetlight. Contact the zine at Stevenson College, 101 McLaughlin Drive. #468, Santa Cruz, 95064. Matt Koumaras Upcoming Have a TV party with The Odd Numbers on Channel 71 at 8pm this Thursday. Kinser Youth and Corn & Eggs play on Sunday around town. Look for fliers. On Sunday, Dec. 21, AFI, the Criminals and the Force storm Gilman. [ Metro Santa Cruz | MetroActive Central | Archives ]