Le Face - Interview - June 2009
By: Steve Rose
You might have missed it while you were busy shaking your ass to Health, daydreaming to Abe Vigoda's tropical banter or hiding under an open parachute at a Mai Shi show, but Los Angeles has a really thriving underground punk scene right now. Like a dark, broody mix of Joy Division and the Germs, Le Face come, kicking and screaming for our attention. Violent, cold hearted and stand offish, they are a literal punch in the face - largely due to their shows often ending in blood, violence and the arrival of the fire department. This I witnessed first hand at a gig of theirs in LA (with rawkus power poppers Rough Kids and crusty punk veterans The Stitches) as an audience was showered with broken glass, and an onlooker or two falling victim to fistycuffs at less than ten paces, before the fire marshals arrived.
Trading on sparse post punk structuralism, with the raucousness of early Black Flag or Circle Jerks, they baptize themselves a new genre, "neo-dada noise" (or at least a new sub-genre). Disparate, distant songs push and pull like a sonic argument, permeated by churlish riffs and a self effacing nest of sound. A minimal punk rock band of sorts, acting tough, perhaps? Essentially, nice guys that haven't even bothered to get US passports (unfortunately deeming it uncertain if they'll ever leave LA to tour the United Kingdom). Le Face like a drink or two, and to debate the darker yet no less important aspect of the modern dilemma, alongside unsubtle mimicry of their piers. Debut LP Isolation comes via the punkass Dead Beat Records. The title track, 'Manic Depression' and 'Salvador Dali' are particular record high-lights for me. Quasi-tongue in cheek darkness, coming across like an eire Dead Kennedy's with nodzzz towards spooky eighties darkwave sensibilities. Un vrai festin pour les oreilles.
We caught up with Marcus and Ryan a couple of passport-less punks, to shoot the shit on LA, Derby Crash and If they'll ever get to the UK:
Rockfeedback: Can you introduce yourselves and what you do in Le Face?
Marcus: " I'm Marcus and I do vocals."
Ryan: "Ryan, I play guitar."
RFB: Can you tell us a little bit about how you started? As the majority of the idiots in the UK have probably managed to not hear about you!
M: "We started playing together about three years ago. We mainly did crappy bars out in orange county. People hated us."
R: "We played a lot of house parties to drunken fourteen year olds and they threw beer bottles at us. It used to be pretty fun."
RFB: To me Le Face sounds like you should all live in a shared house where no one works, and you all just sit around drinking PBR and listening the The Germs all day? How far from the truth is this?
R: "We all have full time jobs so we only get together about once a week. But yeah, lot's of beer and records."
M: "The night usually ends when one of us vomits the pizza we get from down the street. I have puked to almost every Killed By Death comp there is."
RFB: Your record is amazing, I heard rumours that you might be releasing a 7" on a UK based label? What's the scoop on that?
R: "Thanks. Yeah, we will probably do a UK 7'' after this next record is released."
M: "We have talked to a few different people about a 7''. Probably at the end of the summer."
RFB: Do you have any plans to ever come over to the UK? How many of you have left America before, and how many of you actually have passports?
M: "I have been to Mexico. That's about it."
R: "We will get passports. We want to party with the 'chavs'."
M: "We will do some shows most likely in the fall. Nothing definite, but we plan on it."
RFB: LA bands are pretty hip in the UK right now with the likes of Mika Miko, Health and No Age doing unimaginably well. What are the best bands in LA at the minute that we don't know about?
R: "Nasa Space Universe, Oki dokie..."
M: "Gestapo Khazi. Rough kids, Shark toys."
RFB: I found LA a strange place - everyone seems to either love it or have it. What are the worst and best things about living in the infamous Los Angeles?
M: "The people are all full of sh*t, that's for sure. But where else could I go to get a chilli cheese pastrami hot dog burrito?"
R: The beach buns. Amoeba record store. Museum of death.
RFB: It's extremely difficult for people in the UK to gage the size and popularity of US acts due to the fascist style of media coverage. How do Le Face go down in LA and the west coast of the United States?
R: "You have to kiss a lot of ass around here, which we aren't willing to do so we aren't very well known."
M: "They like the bands that have neat looking MySpace layouts. If you have never played a show that's even better."
RFB: Shows in the UK can be funny, sometimes people lose their shit, sometimes they stand there stroking their chins. What happens at your shows? Do people always go mental and smash stuff? Or does no body batter an eyelid most of the time?
M: "The shows are pretty wild. The people that see us have their own weird little agendas."
R: "Sometimes the police, ambulance, or fire department will show up. Other times there will be a drunk guy passed out in the corner and nobody cares."
RFB: Were you pleased at the outcome of Isolation? Do you have plans to record again?
M: "I am pleased. It's more of compilation of demos though. It's really raw, and ugly."
R: "It took a total of about twenty minutes to make. One take. About four people had a hand in recording it. Full of bad vibes."
RFB: What were the three most influential records on the writing of your album?
R: "Hmmm...Well, we listened to a lot of records. Too many to count. We were inspired by bands like the Urinals, Bobby Soxx, Christian Death, Nervous Gender."
M: "X Blank X, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Tuxedo Moon, Electric Eels.
RFB: Are The Germs your favourite band ever? What do you think of Pat Smear in the Foo Fighters?
M: "I like the Germs. Have you seen What We Do is Secret? The worst movie I have ever seen. Were they trying to ruin the Germs legacy?
R: "The only thing I like about Pat Smear being in the Foo Fighters is the promotion of fresh breath. All rockers wanted to chew mentos after that. Remember that video?"
RFB: Why do you think that California and Los Angeles have such an infamous tradition of punk rock? When other parts of the US don't?
R: "There has always been very aggressive type bands in Los Angeles, ever since the 1950's. I don't know why. It must be the weather."
M: "Strange people do strange things. There must be something poisonous in the tap water."
RFB: I noticed that you appear to be touring for most of this summer? What are you looking forward to the most about your upcoming shows?
M: "It's always exciting to perform in another city because after a while you get fed up with the same people all the time. It's something new for us."
R: "Looking foward to some bad reactions.
RFB: What do you want to do with this band? What are your future plans and aspirations for Le Face?
M: "We have another LP coming out in a few months, and then after that we're going to do a few more 7''s."
R: "We're probably going to do more touring in the US and make a trip over to the UK as well."
Le Face can be found on www.myspace.com/leface, and their debut full length Isolation can be acquired from www.dead-beat-records.com . Their sophomore LP is slated for release in September/October on the extremely cool Tic Tac Totally Records.
Artists in this article: Electric Eels, Black Flag, Abe Vigoda, Germs, Gestapo Khazi, Health, Joy Division, Le Face, Mika Miko, NASA Space Universe, No Age, Oki Dokie..., Rough Kids, Shark Toys, Teenage Jesus and The Jerks, The Circle Jerks, Tuxedo Moon