Scary Day 6: 45 Grave's "Evil"

Jen's stories about being a teenage deathrocker in Los Angeles back in the 80s never cease to amuse me. Being deathrock back then required such commitment - especially as a teenage kid dressed up in all black goth gear riding the bus or trudging along the sidewalk during the height of a typical blindingly bright and hot LA summer. It still does require commitment I imagine, even though you're a lot less likely to get beat up for it.

Yet somehow Los Angeles became one of the main birthplaces of US deathrock/goth music. Strange. It all happened during that intensely creative period in the late 70s/early 80s when dozens of great punk, new wave and hardcore bands sprung up out of decaying old Hollywood, LA's rundown trashy beach neighborhoods and eventually the endless tract home dystopias at the city's edges.

Led by Dinah Cancer, 45 Grave was one of those early bands (along with others like Christian Death, for example). Sounding raw, very 70s punk and very new wave, "Evil" has got to be on your Halloween soundtrack.