Lauren Saunders
Staff Writer
Tired of waiting for the members of Whitestarr to finally get over their hang-overs and start playing regularly scheduled gigs at their favorite Malibu stop, The Malibu Inn? This set of rock n’ roll royalty, including front-man Cisco Adler, son of legendary songwriter and producer of The Mamas and the Papas, Lou Adler, and drummer Alex “Orbi” Orbison, son of musical legend, Roy Orbison, provides Malibu with the classic rock hooks of Southern bands such as The Black Crowes with the sexiness of The Rolling Stones.
While many Malibuites are mesmerized by the bands’ long hair, velvet striped pants, and pirate bandanas, they are left craving more and the only other venue that the community offers for live music is The Dume Room, a red lit smoke-filled bar, large enough to hold only two pool tables which have to be cleared if a band performs. While “The Room,” as most locals refer to it as, gives people an intimate feel for the music, with bands like Big Dume and Two-Cents playing a stool’s seat away, it also is not large enough to cater a dance floor, although most “band-aides” typically make do.
Forty-five minutes away on Sunset Boulevard, Amoeba Music, one of Los Angeles’s most eclectic record stores, offers a solution to the drought of Malibu’s music scene, free of charge.
This hot spot has two other locations, in the heart of California’s hippie homeland, Berkeley on Telegraph Avenue, and on the revolutionary Haight Street in San Francisco.
If you can get past the seediness of Sunset Boulevard, pushing through chattering homeless people and radicals alike, Amoeba Music opens up to a concrete warehouse brimming with shelves and bins of every record, CD and DVD imaginable. With an on-hand staff of starving musicians and groupies, clad in skinny-legged jeans and vintage concerts tees, there is no possible way to leave the store empty-handed. It caters to every musical taste.
According to frequent customer, Jimmy Greer, “Amoeba Music is like a dying breed.” In Los Angeles, all forms of music purchase have been stripped from stores like Blockbuster or The Warehouse, with a limited number of Tower Records available scattered in the city. While typical record stores offer up to 80 percent of mainstream labels, Amoeba’s selection is the opposite, offering only 20 percent mainstream and 80 percent independent.
Amoeba draws in a mostly Silver Lake alternative crowd. According to Greer, “Amoeba is like the AA for music lovers because they can come to the store and hang out and talk music with other people of their kind.” People like to come to the store because it still has vinyl records for purchase, which typically are only found on eBay or garage sales.
To fuel your desire for a sound or venue different from the Malibu local scene, Amoeba Music hosts concerts for underexposed independent bands. Through The Homegrown Independent Artist Program, Amoeba staffers bi-monthly choose unsigned bands and give them an opportunity to perform in store, featuring their albums in their stores and newsletters.
This month’s pick is Secretary Bird. Lead member Mike Semple combines the desert influence of his hometown, Tucson, with the vast sound of L.A. to create an unheard vibe all of his own.
If you are looking to expand your “scene” and hear some bands that are not dependent on their famous parents’ coattails or checkbooks to book gigs, check out Amoeba Music. It is almost a guarantee that you will leave with a rare album in hand or a new appreciation for greater L.A.’s underground music scene. Fringe-coat wearing, loose-curled “Penny Lane” was most likely a fan.
07-13-2006
