Tune Tag #18 with S.W. Lauden of "Remember the Lightning": Descendents, The Last, Lisa Hartman, Sparks, Hüsker Dü, Redd Kross
Two power pop slaves-to-the-chorus toss aside their SoCal Thomas Guides to take us on a jaunty, jangly tune-tour of L.A. and environs that would make Greg Shaw proud!
Tune Tag: Birds of a Feather Edition!
Hey, Steve!
Tune Tag welcomes
! “I’m a lifelong music fan and avid reader of fiction and nonfiction. Over the years I have see-sawed between playing drums with bands like Ridel High, Tsar and The Brothers Steve, and writing music-themed crime fiction including the Greg Salem Punk Rock PI series or my two Power Pop Heist novellas.
“I also co-edited the essay collections, Go All The Way: A Literary Appreciation of Power Pop, and the sequel Go Further, as well as the essay collection, Forbidden Beat: Perspectives on Punk Drumming.
“In January 2023, I launched
a free Substack newsletter, focused on three things I love: music, books, and music books. That has since evolved into an indie publishing project with the semi-annual Remember The Lightning: A Guitar Pop Journal. Volumes 1 and 2 are available in print and eBook formats.”
Steve’s Song #1 sent to Brad: Descendents, “Silly Girl,” 1985
Steve’s rationale: I thought I’d start with something foundational to my musical tastes: Descendents were a punk band from my hometown (Manhattan Beach🗺) in Southern California who my friends and I idolized as teens. “Silly Girl” is from their 1985 album, I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, and it really hits many of my musical sweet spots—a high energy broken-hearted love song with hooks for days.
Is it punk? Absolutely! Is it power pop? Probably! Is it pop punk? Proto!
Having grown up with their music, it was interesting to see how Descendents’ sound informed later punk subgenres (pop punk, skate punk, etc.). Their influence is probably most obvious on ‘90s hit-makers like Green Day and Blink-182.
So, it was great watching Descendents get to enjoy some mainstream recognition during pop punk’s heyday (their 1996 album, Everything Sucks, is a total classic, right up there, in my opinion, with 1982’s Milo Goes To College).
They’re still recording and touring today. I saw them in LA a few years ago, and they put on one hell of a live show. Not bad for a bunch of poppy South Bay punks who have been making music since the late-‘70s!
Brad’s Song #1 sent to Steve: The Last, “She Don’t Know Why I’m Here,” 1979
Steve’s response: Another amazing SoCal band (and our second lovesick song about a girl)! In this case, a huge step closer to pure power pop, especially since their first album was released on Greg Shaw’s legendary BOMP! Records [Greg, pictured below, passed away in 2004 at 55]. The Last really deserves a lot more luv from the pop punk and power pop communities.
Brad’s rationale: The Last brother, David Nolte, was an original member of The Descendents, who were from L.A. County’s Manhattan Beach🗺, while The Last were from next door to the south, Hermosa Beach🗺! We covered The Last (so in-depth, we actually have a street-view photo of their Hermosa Beach house!) in the summer of ‘22. The band has read the article, and they approve!
Steve’s Song #2: "Clorox Girls," Red Cross (aka Redd Kross), 1980
Brad’s response: The Last’s Joe Nolte produced 4 songs on the EP this appears on, including the “Clorox Girls” demo on the disc. But, this appears to be the studio track, produced by Roger Harris. A Nolte brother connection, nevertheless!
Steve’s rationale: More musical hometown heroes. Bassist Steve McDonald was about 13 on this recording, and Joe Nolte from The Last produced some of the original sessions.
Like Descendents, Redd Kross started out as snotty punks, but their transformation over the years was much more radical (although I think you can already hear their early pop leanings on this track).
Their second album, Born Innocent, was tonally similar to their debut EP, but they started to evolve with their covers collection, 1984’s Teen Babes from Monsanto, until a neo-psychedelic, alternative pop butterfly finally emerged with Neurotica (1987) and 1990’s Third Eye.
They’ve been wowing fans of hooky, high-energy rock ‘n’ roll and guitar wizardry ever since. Bonus points to brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald for always looking so cool (from cartoonish hippie garb to faux-KISS makeup and beyond). I also really love their last couple of albums, 2012’s Researching The Blues (“Stay Away from Downtown” is a mindblower) and Beyond the Door from 2019.
Brad’s song #2: Sparks, “(No More) Mr. Nice Guys,” 1971 as Halfnelson (1972 re-issue as Sparks)
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