Punk Rock Anarchy and a Little Nostalgia

There was an inevitable family-reunion feeling at the El Rey Theatre on Sunday, as members of the Minutemen, the Runaways, the Weirdos, Bad Religion, TSOL and other veteran Southern California punk and glam-rock musicians played a concert celebrating the release of a new book about their heyday.

Written by rock journalist Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen, founder of seminal Hollywood underground club the Masque, “We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk” covers the ‘70s and early-’80s local movements from glitter to hard-core to power-pop and beyond. If naturally a nostalgia trip, the sold-out show (benefiting youth shelter My Friend’s Place and punk fanzine Flipside) also offered veterans and latecomers an opportunity to reflect on the era’s legacy.

Hosted by Mullen, Satin Tones singer Hal Negro and writer-scenester Pleasant Gehman, the smoothly flowing, 51/2-hour sampler was an incomplete representation, tossing together wheat and chaff.

But from a loopy solo acoustic turn by Geza X to raucous sets from the Controllers, the Dogs, the Crowd or the Screamers’ KK & Paul Roessler, all the performers were appropriately enthusiastic, and in some cases surprisingly civilized. And with short sets hitting the highlights, even historically less stellar stuff proved more fun than many remembered.

The point, Mullen said, was to “think of this as a kind of dignified salute to the actual songwriting of the era, some of which was truly fab.”

Skeptics might say L.A. punk’s main legacy was its early diversity, along with the visceral energy and sense of fun it brought to anarchy, and the defiant, uncompromising stance that flourished partly as a result of being virtually ignored in favor of the New York and London scenes.

But when it came to such numbers as the Adolescents’ “Amoeba,” Fear’s “I Don’t Care About You,” the Skulls’ “Kill Me, Kill Me” and Agent Orange’s “Bloodstains,” all of which were played Sunday, Mullen’s observation was right on.

His point was further underscored when former Minutemen Mike Watt and George Hurley offered a rare re-creation of their seminal San Pedro hard-core band’s work. Dedicated to their late singer-guitarist D. Boon, the set not only captured the frenetic brevity of the Minutemen’s political-philosophical-cultural commentaries, but also deftly reflected the adventurous deconstructions of funk, jazz and rock that made the group an enduring giant of the genre.

Keith Morris also served up a heapin’ helpin’ of hard-core anti-sentiment in a presentation highlighted by tunes from two of his former groups the Circle Jerks and Black Flag, as well as the Weirdos’ “We Got the Neutron Bomb” (featuring Weirdos guitarist Cliff Roman).

Cherie Currie of the Runaways was far less decadent than back in the day while performing “Cherry Bomb” with original drummer Sandy West, but her grown-up presence was a reminder that even when a band’s moment lasts forever, everything eventually must change.