Bands, Underground Pop Get a Life at Record Store

When Chuck Arnold and David Sanford founded a record store and performance space in Hollywood, they named it No Life in tribute to, Arnold says, “people who get out of college, are over-educated and incapable of doing anything.”

Ironically, this room, which is next door to the ultra-hot bar and restaurant Jones, has given folks in the neighborhood a life, or at least something to do every week. Not only is it an ambitious store with a wide array of underground pop from around the country, but it’s also a showcase for up-and-coming bands.

It’s uncanny how many good groups come through this little record store. Last weekend, fans of underground rock and pop could catch the likes of Sleater-Kinney--a three-woman rock band from Washington--and local groups Wax and Lutefisk.

While competing record stores also feature periodic live performances, No Life has a couple of legs up on the competition. For one thing, the sound is terrific, the result of a chance fusion of Pegboard and CD wall coverings. The bands are consistently good, the shows are open to all ages, and the store offers purchase discounts during performances.

Upcoming acts include tonight’s Cannanes and Old Hickory lineup, Visalia’s Butterglory on April 11, and the Texas-based Furry Things on April 25.

For its one-year anniversary party April 6, No Life has invited two L.A. groups, Rock Band No. 47 and Strictly Ballroom, and Denver’s Apples in Stereo. Did we mention that the shows are always free? A must for those who have no life.

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* No Life, 7209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. All ages, no cover. (213) 845-1200.

The Buzz: Pencil in Sunday for the opening of Kink-A-Rama, a new club by the folks who brought the town Sin-A-Matic, possibly the longest-lasting fetish club in L.A. Kink-A-Rama, scheduled to take place on Sundays at Martini in Hollywood, will offer a mix of new wave, alternative, punk, trance and industrial music. . . . Ubiquity, a popular Tuesday night dance club at the Garage in Silver Lake, has been replaced with a new promotion: “Table Talk Tuesday,” a techno and house music club that promises a rotating roster of deejays.

* Kink-A-Rama, (213) 467-4068. Garage, (213) 683-3447.