Being a music fan in Los Angeles in the late 1970s was a lot of fun. At the time we had DEVO, The Screamers, X, LAFMS, and a variety of other artists doing recordings and shows. My favorite band was The Screamers, and perhaps because they are the most 'rare' of those bands, in that they never released a proper studio recording. As a live show, they were as great as great can be. Another band that I enjoyed live was The Weirdos. I'm not sure of where they came from. At one time I thought or heard that they were from Cal-Arts, but I'm not too sure about that. They had a strong visual sensibility, not unlike The Screamers, but more rooted in the tradition of rock n' roll. To me, they weren't really a "Punk" band, but a well-crafted band who could write songs, and this album clearly shows that aspect of their work/talent.
"Destroy All Music" is a compilation of recordings that The Weirdos made in the late 1970s. The first side consists of demos, and "Destroy All Music" EP, and side two is their fantastic "Who? What? When? Where? Why?" six-song 12" EP. I like side one, but it's side two that shows off the strength of The Weirdos. I suspect that they shared an aesthetic and love of music with the British band Clash, especially on their first album. It's rootsy but with classic songwriting touches, I think mostly due to the talent and skill of Cliff Roman with the brothers Dix and John Denney. The Weirdos are not as brilliant as The Screamers or DEVO (at their height in the mid-70s), but they can deliver a classic garage rock sound that is very much of that era. "Who? What? When? Where? Why?" is very much wonderful in its recording, and it is a series of moments that showed promise and even perfection.
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