MOHAWK?? YEAH, RIGHT.

Earlier tonight I was going off about the lack of originality and authenticity in younger bands. All of the bullshit hipster hype shit. I had to post the Middle Class, a late seventies band that, for me, has always been the best example of an un-hyped, non-posing, original and groundbreaking band. Informed by the early (pre-hardcore) L.A. punk scene, they were younger, from Orange County, and they played fast. Real fast. And they did it before anyone else. 1978. Some consider their "Out of Vogue" the first hardcore 45. I know it was the first hardcore record I heard. Even if you were used to the wildly varied salad bowl of L.A. punk styles, you had to stand back and think "Just what the fuck is this?!?" I'd seen them a few times before it came out, and even then I was taken aback. Those of you born into a world where hardcore already existed, imagine hearing it sped up like this for the first time. No one sounded like the Middle Class when they hit. And they were just kids, literally jacked up on soda pop, playing within their abilities, perfectly stripped punk rock blasts.

I went looking for clips and ran into two that were interesting, for different reasons. The first video is live in some bar in Reseda, from 2013, and while not the best Middle Class video, is notable for the lame pit. Watch the drama unfold. It starts as a small but relatively earnest group of kids whose parents probably hadn't even met when hardcore first picked up steam. It shows because by the 1:15 point in the video, they're just walking is a circle like the mental patients in "Midnight Express". I won't criticize the kid up front with the hat and "ska" emblazoned on the back of his jacket because he's probably the coolest kid back at school. It should be noted here that Middle Class never wore any of the clichéd punk or hardcore gear (leather, spikes, patches, bandanas, slogans, etc.). The photos above, taken roughly 35 years apart, are pretty representative of how they looked. Always stealth.

The second video, from the Echoplex in 2011, is particularly for those of you already familiar with the Middle Class. It's a cover of Devo's "Gut Feeling" and they manage to make it sound just like Middle Class, particularly Jeff Atta's monotonal vocal. It's followed by "Out of Vogue" and I gotta say it still has that punch three and a half decades later.

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Listen:
Middle Class - Out of Vogue mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it
Middle Class - Three other songs (from the first 45) at Killed By Death Ditto
Middle Class - Twenty songs streaming at Sonic Hits
Video:
The Middle Class - Live at Weber's Place (2013) at YouTube
The Middle Class - Gut Feeling/Out of Vogue (2011) at YouTube
Visit:
Interview with Mike Atta [RIP] at Agony Shorthand
Interview with Jeff Atta at Noisey
The Middle Class - Discography at Punky Gibbon

YOU WITH THE MOHAWK, SIT DOWN.

Let me set the scene for you. It's 1978. The west coast punk rock scene is in full swing, with major hubs in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The music is louder, the looks of the bands more esoteric, and the collective posture is one of "fuck 'em, we'll do it ourselves" type DIY. With few exceptions, the music, though often sloppier and simpler, was not all that much of a departure from the New York Dolls, the Stooges, the MC5 and the like. Contemporary higher profile punk bands like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones may have provided reference points, but both of them still had one foot in traditional rock 'n' roll. 

The look of the bands and a large part of the audience, while not always as outlandish as the media often described it, was intentionally sending a message that "we're not like you". Ragtag ensembles of thrift store clothes, crazy hair colors (rare back then), badges, leather, slogans plastered on anything and everything, spiked hair, boots and a lot of black. This is not a description by some clueless knucklehead decades after the fact. I'd seen scores of punk bands at that point, read the magazines, scooped up independent punk 45s, and, with like minded friends, put out a fanzine and put on shows. I was as familiar with West coast punk rock as just about any other participant. But nothing prepared me for the Middle Class.

I don't remember where I saw then first, but I do remember them taking the stage as an opening act, looking totally normal, like they just got off work. They were young, and not derelict or dangerous looking at all. The only thing that was punk rock about their look was that there wasn't any of the rock star wannabe posing, nothing flashy. In fact the only thing that looked different about them is that they didn't seem to go out of their way to look different. Then they plugged in and started to play. Ho-ly shit. It was as if they had all of the angst of the entire scene bottled up, and let loose like a can of shaken soda pop. One short aggressive song after another, some played faster than anything I'd ever heard. Total teen fury. Their first self released 45 was no different. It's regarded as one of the very first, if not the first, hardcore records. Pre-mosh moron hardcore, and that was a small window.

I ended up meeting the band and, with friends, put on a show in which they were sandwiched between the Alleycats and, if memory serves, the Crawdaddys. After the show, I hung out with them, Black Randy, and Alice Bag, in the hotel they were spending the night at. I'm only mentioning that because I spent enough time around them to surmise that this was a band of nice, unassuming guys, with nary a hint of posturing. They were different. Different from "normals", different from rock bands, and different from other punk bands. They were unknowing trailblazers. Middle Class were, in their own way, more punk rock than punk rock.

All of this came flooding into my head in the last twenty four hours, after learning that Mike Atta, the guitarist of the band, lost his battle with cancer on Sunday. Folks, he was one of the good guys.

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Listen:
Middle Class - Out of Vogue and three other mp3s at 7 Inch Punk
Go there to get it. The first four song 45. Not an EP because there's nothing extended about it.
Visit:
Suddenly In Vogue - Excellent band profile at OC Weekly 2002
Local punk pioneer Mike Atta dies of cancer at OC Register
Middle Class - Music available at Frontier Records

STAY GOLDEN PONY BOY

I love that photo above. They're kids, really, ranging in age from about 16 to 21. It was taken over thirty years ago, and looks as if it was on the set of The Outsiders. The photo is actually of two early California punk bands, the Middle Class and the Zeros; I'm guessing while on tour, or before a show. Oh, the shit these guys would see in ensuing years.

Both bands are active again. The last Zeros show was in January (I think), and the Middle Class are playing tonight, in just a few hours (after reuniting for the recent Frontier Records' 30th anniversary show). They're in what is sadly a class unto itself: first wave punk rock survivors. Just looking at that top photo and knowing that these two bands are still playing, and not just milking it, makes this old geezer stop and reflect. (Sniff, sniff.)

I think I've posted all this stuff before, but that photo up top (kiped from the Middle Class Facebook page) just got me going. Though none of the guys were full on innocents back then, they were relatively fresh from the garage (literally). And now, here we are thirty plus years later. Fuckin' A.

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Listen:
The Middle Class - Out of Vogue mp3* at 7 Inch Punk
The Middle Class - You Belong mp3* at 7 Inch Punk
The Middle Class - Situations mp3* at 7 Inch Punk
The Middle Class - Insurgence mp3* at 7 Inch Punk
*Direct linking disabled, go there to get them.
The Zeros - Wild Weekend mp3 at Che Underground
The Zeros - Wimp mp3 at Linux Enthusiats Group (?)
The Zeros - Don't Push Me Around mp3 at Fredeeky
The Zeros - Beat Your Heart Out mp3 at Che Underground
The Zeros - Main Street Brat mp3 at Che Underground
Video:
The Middle Class - Situations/Above Suspicion (live, recent) at YouTube
The Middle Class - Out of Vogue (live, recent) at YouTube
The Zeros - Don't Push Me Around/Wimp (TV show, 1977) at YouTube
The Zeros - 30th anniversary DVD trailer at YouTube
Visit:
The Zeros - Lengthy bio at Che Underground
The Middle Class - Recent interview at L.A.Record (6/20/2011)
The Middle Class on Facebook
The Zeros on Facebook (fan page?)

BUT THEY LOOK SO BLAH

For whatever reason, I always kinda lumped Wire (from the UK) in the same category as the Middle Class (from Fullerton, CA). Though they sounded different, there were too many similarities between the two bands to ignore. Both were four piece bands; utilizing a guitar, bass, drums and vocals line up; and played really short songs. Both started in 1976 (though the Middle Class didn't record until a couple years later). Neither band paid a lot of attention to punk dress codes, instead going for a relatively utilitarian look. Both bands, while not really headline grabbing in their prime, are now recognized as far more influential than most of their respective punk scene contemporaries. And, both bands have records that I wished I still owned. (I hope my landlord appreciates the timely rent check some twenty years ago.)

Here's four from Wire's first, Pink Flag, and the entire first EP from the Middle Class. (It is now safe to take out your safety pins.)

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Wire - 12XU mp3 (right click to save) at The Golden Lanterns [??]
Wire - Reuters mp3 (right click to save) at MFR
Wire - Ex Lion Tamer mp3 (right click to save) at Let's Sexy Fighting
Wire -Three Girl Rhumba mp3 (right click to save) at Merry Swankster
Pink Flag, the Wire website

The Middle Class - Out of Vogue mp3 (right click to save) at Killed By Death
The Middle Class - You Belong mp3 (right click to save) at Killed By Death
The Middle Class - Situations mp3 (right click to save) at Killed By Death
The Middle Class - Insurgence mp3 (right click to save) at Killed By Death
The Middle Class - Homeland LP and compilation LP downloads at I Heard It Before
Suddenly in Vogue [About the Middle Class] at the OC Weekly
Alice Bag's L.A. Punk Rock 1976-1981 photo album
Photos: Wire by Annette Green, the Middle Class by Alice Bag