L.A.’s Rock Garden

One of the coolest things about rock ‘n’ roll is that it allows skinny boys from nowhere to reinvent themselves as stars. It doesn’t matter where they’ve been, or where they’re going; it’s all about where they are now: center stage at some Hollywood club, playing their guts out.

Periodically, we mine these darkened dives for the few self-assured gems, the ones who possess the skill and ambition to take their music to the next level.

The last time we dipped in for a swim (July 10, 1997), we found Ozomatli on the brink of stardom, Sugar Ray learning to “Fly,” Jon Brion tweaking our consciousness and Tenacious D reminding us that comedy sure ain’t pur-ty. Hollywood was tripping the light eclectic, with the outrageous Boogie Knights and Silver Lake’s Touchcandy sealing the deal. (For updates on these groups, see Page 10.)

Now, as organic, gritty rock takes center stage again, we can feel the excitement in the smoky air. Musicians are heading here at a full gallop. The horses are off, and since we like to catch ‘em just as they’re heading out that Tinsel gate, we combed the clubs for a fine taste of the future.

From recent transplants to hometown heroes, these five acts are the reason that rock ‘n’ roll never dies:

Coyote Shivers

He’s all glammed up with no place to go . . . but up.

When Coyote Shivers looks at you from the stage and says, “Listen babe, I’m gorgeous, you’re gorgeous, we’re perfect”--the opening words to his song “Lust Never Sleeps”--he ain’t kiddin’. He’s cocky, punk rocky, glitter trash gorgeous, and he’s got tiny sparkly stars glued all over his torso. More on that torso later.

Shivers, who moved to Hollywood in mid-’98 from New York, performs regularly at such clubs as Dragonfly, Vibrator (a Thursday night glam club he co-promotes at 7969) and the hot dance club Cherry, where he also deejays. He deejays at Goldfingers on Saturdays as well.

“He’s the best thing on the scene,” says Bryan Rabin, the promoter of Cherry and the first to book Shivers in L.A. “He’s gonna be huge.”

Shivers draws from the New York masters--Iggy Pop, Velvet Underground, the New York Dolls--but recasts himself in a contemporary light. At a recent Dragonfly show, while a couple was making out at his feet, he spun a Lou Reed riff on his guitar while singing, “I want a million dollars / I want fortune and fame / I want the hole world to say it’s such a shame / I want to blow out the candles / Blow out my brains / I’m secretly jealous of Kurt Cobain,” a sweetly nihilistic sentiment most Gen-Xers can relate to. His cattle call is a song titled “Plus One,” which celebrates the fact that mind-altering substances and sexual freedom are key to rock ‘n’ roll. With his band, which includes drummer Chad Stewart and bassist Casper, he’s liberating the ‘90s from its self-indulgent self and indulging listeners further.

The Canadian native’s life changed forever in 1976, when a Toronto neighbor came home with a Ramones record.

“In that first absolute moment that I heard the Ramones and realized there was music out there that wasn’t on the radio, my life had changed,” he says.

At 20, he began working with producer Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan), which led to his producing the group Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet (best known for the “Kids in the Hall” theme song). He acted in the film “Empire Records,” which included Shivers’ Lanois-produced song “Sugarhigh” on its soundtrack. Before he moved to L.A., his live shows garnered rave reviews in Billboard and Details, which led to opening stints on the KISS reunion tour. Most recently, he released the EP “Half a Rock ‘n’ Roll Record,” which provides much of the soundtrack to the E! channel’s hourlong “Club Vegas” special, in which he also stars.

Now, back to that torso. Realizing that, in the temple of rock ‘n’ roll, image is next to godliness, Shivers works hard to keep his Iggy Pop litheness intact.

“From the Beatles to the Stones to a crazy thing like KISS, I’m in that camp that realizes that image is half of it,” he says, referencing the glitter stars he painstakingly attaches to his body before his shows.

Indeed, his stars appear to be lining up.

Internet address:

https://www.coyoteshivers.com

Bluebird

Each time Bluebird hits the stage--at the Whisky, Spaceland, El Rey, the Troubadour--the audience gets some rock ‘n’ roll love therapy. The 4-year-old L.A. quartet, made up of singer Sam Velde, brothers Bryan and Jim Brown (who play drums and bass, respectively) and guitarist Barry Thomas, plays loud, hard, organic rock. The music is atmospheric without wavering, and although it is the definition of D.I.Y. (punk rock terminology for “Do It Yourself”), it is an indie band that’s ready to move on.

“We’ve done what we set out to do,” says Velde. “We’ve toured, we’ve produced three records, and it’s time for the next step.”

Already, Bluebird has opened shows for such groups as Fugazi, L7, Helmet, Rage Against the Machine, Jesus Lizard and the Foo Fighters, who came to Bluebird’s rescue when its wheels locked up.

“We were opening shows for [Foo Fighters] in the South and our van kept breaking down,” says Bryan Brown. “After driving 100 miles an hour from Beaumont, Texas, to make it to a House of Blues show in New Orleans, the group made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.”

Within days, they were driving a former Foo van.

With a fervent L.A. following, Bluebird incites its audience with powerful music and equally powerful imagery. Using a film montage as a backdrop, grabbing clips from “Koyaanisqatsi” and mutating them with compelling live puppet shows, this artful group is in a class by itself.

“I feel like I’ve been working my whole life to get to where I am,” says Bryan Brown. “We’re not Limp Bizkit or Rage [Against the Machine], which you can understand right when you hear it. We don’t sound like anything you’ve heard before, but I know in my heart it’s an actual legitimate piece of art.”

https://www.highatmosphere.com

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club / B.R.M.C.

These cats have it all: talent, youth, good looks, a British art-school drummer. The trio, which includes Peter Hayes and Robert Turner (who share guitar, bass and vocal duties) and drummer Nick Jago, blew into town six months ago from Berkeley and are already causing a stir. Taking its name from Marlon Brando’s motorcycle gang in the 1950s flick “The Wild One,” the B.R.M.C. mixes psychedelic rock with some serious attitude and even more serious hair (visualize the Kinks in their youth).

Five hundred copies of its self-produced CD sold at a handful of Hollywood shows, at such clubs as the Troubadour and Whisky. On the strength of those shows and sales, the group recently inked a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music. Although its being wooed by major labels, the threesome’s not in any hurry to make a decision.

“We’re still looking for that right person to go with,” says Turner. “When you meet people, it’s black or white.”

Despite their youth--they’re all 20 and 21--Turner and Hayes have worked together for six years, and they take the work seriously (having stockpiled 35 songs). The opening track on its 13-song debut, the stunningly beautiful “Love Burns,” was recorded two years ago in an East Bay bedroom yet sounds remarkably contemporary. Taking its cues from the likes of the Jesus and Mary Chain and the Stone Roses, the B.R.M.C. came to L.A. at the right time, with Hollywood clubs strongly supporting the young rock and Brit pop scenes.

“We spent a year playing in San Francisco, and at the end of it, we felt like we were back where we started,” says Turner. “L.A.’s given us a fresh start.”

For these fresh-faced lads, the future looks bright.

E-mail: itsagas137@aol.com

At the Drive-In

Originally from El Paso, Texas, At the Drive-In built its following the hard way: touring, touring and more touring. As fans of the L.A. newcomers can attest, At the Drive-In rocks, big time. In fact, the fivesome--which includes vocalist Cedric Bixler, guitarists Jim Ward and Omar Rodriguez, bassist Paul H. and drummer Tony Hajjar--rocks so hard that it has earned the prestige of being the first band to sign to the new DEN Music Group, the cybertainment label launched by industry heavyweights Gary Gersh and John Silva.

At the Drive-In, which has toured with Rage Against the Machine, Jimmy Eat World and AFI, has brought its hard-hitting, explosive sound to 11 countries and is scheduled to hit Japan for the first time in May. The band has two releases on Fearless Records, “Vaya” and “In/Casino/Out,” and begins recording its DEN debut on Jan. 17 with producer Ross Robinson.

https://www.atthedrive-in.net

Tracy & the Hindenburg Ground Crew

The one anomaly in this set is Tracy & the Hindenburg Ground Crew. First off, lead singer Tracy Thielen’s no bony spring chicken but a 30-something guerrilla artist who wears his heart on his sleeve, even when he’s being ironic (which is always). His quirky songs have been compared to Ween’s, but he dives into deeper waters.

“I always tell people, Tracy’s the one who’s gonna be remembered,” says Sash, the booker of the eclectic club Hot Pants at Mr. T’s Bowl in Highland Park. “He’s got the songwriting gift.”

With each song in a different genre--from bizarro folk-polkas (“I Like Being Alone”) to trippy space ballads (“The Lying Hearts Club”), few can resist his songs of damaged love.

As it is for the other candidates, 2000 is shaping up rather nicely for Thielen, a Los Angeles local whose songs have been covered by X and appeared on the “G.I. Jane” and “Full Tilt Boogie” soundtracks. After nearly five years of playing the clubs, he’s also solidified a group of musicians.

“I finally have a group of people who want to be a ‘band,’ ” says Thielen, who performs regularly in L.A. with keyboardist Danny McGough (Tom Waits), drummer Andy Sykora (the Negro Problem), guitarist Christian Carbone and Miiko Watanabe on bass and tuba.

https://www.actionbox.com