Drinking in L.A.

I'm am officially no longer 26, and I feel old. This song was the anthem for my friends and I. The rare song that everyone discovered on their own and agreed that this would represent us for our male bonding purposes. I was going to dissect it and delve into the lyrics and the song and band history, but fuck that. There is only one section I'm concerned with here.

Feeling kind of groovy
Working on a movie (yeah right)
But we did nothing,
Absolutely butkus that day
But I say
What the hell am I doing Drinking in L.A.
At twenty six?

This is an accurate representation of how I spent 26. Did I really get anything done? No, but it was a good year. The song is all about wasting time but holding on to that dream and there are moments when you're plugging away and you wonder if it's all worth it or not.

At the end of the day, all I've really done is drank in L.A., both literally and figuratively. Now that 26 has past and I've moved into that golden age where legends dare not pass (think Kurt Cobain), I realize I'm getting old. Twenty six seems like the age when it's last acceptable to wander aimlessly and all the truths of the real world hit home.

Has any else felt this?

I'll keep listening to this song, but it is now less an anthem, and more a reminder of what's past. The carefree days of just drinking in L.A.

R.I.P. Indie 103.1

(photo courtesy of edgar wright)

You were not always perfect, but compared to KROQ (and every other radio station in LA) you were the shining city on the hill.

After five years, Indie is going off air so it won't have to play the corporate radio game anymore. From now on, it'll be an internet only station which is great if you happen to be at home a lot. It was the best thing to drive around and actually hear new music (that's good), who actually listens to internet radio all the time? Fuck that, when I'm at home it's the TV, when I'm on the road, it's the radio and between Indie and KCRW, I had a nice thing going on.

Fact is, "corporate" Indie was still leaps and bounds better than any other radio station in Los Angeles for consistently breaking new music and programming quality, niche shows. Joe Escalante and Barley Legal Radio, Jonesy's Jukebox, Watusi Rodeo, Head Trip, Coup d’état, Harmony In my Head. Then, on top of that, the regular rotation featured cool, hip music.

You can tell they were trying to make it, with gimmicks like "Indie Activists" and all the corporate tie ins. They cut costs by letting Joe Escalante go and there were always a fair amount of commercials. But I could always count on them to play consistently quality music. I'll be damned if I'm gong to listen to Nicole Alvarez over at KROQ on my drive home. She is the epitome of what is wrong with KROQ nowadays. She has a very narrow taste in music and has such a fake radio persona. If KROQ could just let Kat Korbet, Jed the Fish, and Rodney program their own music, it would ease the pain. Instead we get Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Crap du jour in emo, nu-metal and pop-punk.

Just when I though terrestrial radio still had a chance...

Click Here