How I came across Kiss or Kill.
by Joe Dana
"the most photographed person in Kiss or Kill history"
A long time ago I was floating from stupid job to stupid job to no job at all to stupid job again. I filled the down time drinking at a bar called Max’s. It is gone now. My friend, Glen, and I would go there quite often but we especially enjoyed Sunday nights.
Sunday was the slowest night for the bar so they tried to get more people to show up by making the beer extra cheap. They also brought in a DJ named Lori who would play all our favorite songs. She would mostly play punk rock and all the “alternative” rock that KROQ had long forgotten about.
Once in a while, Lori would play a few tracks from this local band. Glen and I would always forget what the band was called since we were drinking heavily at the time. On one particular night we asked Lori who the band was again.
She replied, “They are called Bang Sugar Bang and they are sitting right there”
Glen ended up buying their EP which included the song, “Posh Kids” and a few others. I talked to Cooper most the night about local bands. She passed me a flier for a kiss or kill show that I wouldn’t be able to attend. I thought she was a way cool though. She was one of the first people I ever met who knew who Sex with Lurch were. We discussed the recent Sex Pistols reunion show and we discussed just shows in general.
I remember saying, “Yeah. I’d love to be the type of guy who sees a show like once a week.”
I finally saw Bang Sugar Bang at a crap bar on the west side called Joxer Dailies. It was a Halloween show so I dressed like a priest with a hard on. Also playing that night were the Shapes. I think the only other people there were Nancy Jean and her brother. The venue only had one mike so Cooper and Matt had to share. They didn’t even turn down the sports on the TV.
Despite all of this, Bang Sugar Bang blew me away. They were pop punk in the best sense of the word. They made me think of X and the Pixies and so many others. They ended covering suspicious minds.
After the show, we all went to Nancy Jean’s place in Venice . Everyone went to bed and Matt and I stayed up until sunrise drinking corona, eating cold pizza and discussing World War II and punk rock.
After that, Bang Sugar Bang, their friend and Glen and I became sort of a Sunday night drinking club. I told everyone I knew about Bang Sugar Bang. I knew we’d all be going to their next show at Goldfingers.
My first Kiss or Kill show was here. The line up was The Shapes, Silver Needle, Deadbeat Sinatra, Bang Sugar Bang. I was blown away by all the bands that played. The Shapes had the quintessential “Fuck you” front man, Silver Needle had this raw energy that couldn’t be touched, Deadbeat Sinatra made you think of knife fights in classic movies, and Bang Sugar Bang just plain owned the stage.
Before Bang went on, someone with Goldfingers pushed their slot later and some crap country band played before them. Matt was pissed. Cooper cried and Chris (Poulos aka DJ CPod) tried to comfort her. Then they took the stage and played a blistering set. I banged by head on Matt’s guitar which became my signature move until my head couldn’t take it anymore. Chris used to have the poster from this show on his wall.
The next Kiss or Kill was at the Garage. I don’t remember who played that. What I do remember is how the Sunday night drinking club started re convening at the Garage on Tuesday nights. The booze was cheap and you didn’t have to pay a cover if you were planning to stay in the bar and drink. DJ Annathena played great music too. The bartender Tony made sure we’d be drunk and happy. Tobin, the owner of the garage was always fantastic to us. Suddenly our Tuesday night drinking nights became Kiss or Kill nights.
Then a bunch of other shit happened.
I was there for most of it. Some parts I remember and some parts I don’t. A lot of great bands, venues, people, some drama, and wonderfulness.
Thanks to Johnny 99, Cooper, Matt, Siria, Rob Z, Andre and Amanda.
“Front Row” Joe
“Gorby Bang”
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