Thelonious Monster Gets to Core of ‘Strip!’

Pull your plugs, disrobe your ornery guitars or just strip down to something bare and maybe uncomfortably new. That was the idea behind “Strip!,” a two-night event as conjured by Possum Dixon singer Rob Zabrecky and promoter Tony Harris. At Saturday’s opener, 375 people crammed into Silver Lake’s Glaxa Studios to see Possum Dixon, Thelonious Monster and other acts from L.A.’s independent rock community get unhinged and personal.

Some faltered in the setting. Country-tinged Whisky Biscuit trudged through a quiet set that never acquired energy. Mike Coulter, whose songs with his band Lifter usually shine with sludge and high voltage, strummed softly and sang nervously, barely perceptible above the yammering crowd.

But a few acts were simply impossible to ignore. Claw Hammer came on revved-up and plugged way in, working through a terrific, loud, heavily instrumental set that dipped into Latin-Caribbean rhythms and “Shaft”-style soul. PopDefect, garbed in beatnik attire, reveled in quiet acoustic guitars and sturdy songwriting.

The rawest, most inspiring act, however, was Thelonious Monster, a troubled band that recently reconvened after singer Bob Forrest dropped out to get clean. “I’m a dishwasher now, so don’t expect very much,” Forrest said, referring to his day job at a nearby restaurant.

His comment came between a heart-rending version of Tracy Chapman’s “For My Lover” and his own, pathos-filled “So What If I Did.” Plagued by technical difficulties, the three musicians representing the band sometimes forgot lyrics and guitar parts, but they offered an intimate, touching set of old songs that, stripped all the way down to their emotional core, fully captured the promise of the night.