LOS ANGELES WEEKLY

"LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"

SEPTEMBER 1993  

"ANGEL AND THE BADBAND"  

"DEAR EDITOR:    For the last couple of years now, I've watched the L.A. Weekly music writers pay increasing amounts of attention to bands that they themselves knock mercilessly, but promote enthusiastically.  the latest case in point: in the Scoring the Clubs for August 31, Johnny Angel refers to the band Woodpussy as "excruciating", "aggravating" and "unlistenable".  he even states that Spin (not a great rag, but not as bad as he says it is) named Woodpussy the "third worst band in America".  After all that, he recommends we go see them.  Helloooo?  Anybody home?    I find it "excurciating" and "aggravating" that the Weekly's supposedly discriminating music writers consistently plug bands that compensate for their lack of talent by disrobing (yawn), treating their audiences like shit (double yawn), screaming about how screwed up their life is (snore) and generally resorting to adolescent shock tactics to get attention.  Even thefact that Woodpussy "eschew song form, melody and beat" is nothing new.  Remember John Cage?    With all the truly talented and deserving L.A. bands struggling to get noticed, it's a shame and a crime that the Weekly's hipper-than-thou music writers ignore them in favor of obnoxious, talentless shock groups that don't think, don't cry and don't care."

                                                                        -Michael David                                                                         Sun Valley