Super-group delivers classic L.A. punk
The Flesh Eaters show will power through album A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die in its entirety
In 1981, The Flesh Eaters released A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die. Critics then (and now) hailed the record for its original mix of rockabilly, country and garage-rock.
Later, The Flesh Eaters would undergo various incarnations. But for a brief time, the lineup was a who’s who of the nascent L.A. punk scene: John Doe and D.J. Bonebrake of X, Dave Alvin and Bill Bateman of the Blasters, and Steve Berlin (then of Rhythm Pigs, eventually of Los Lobos).
Today, A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die is regarded as a touchstone of the era. The musicians who played on the record have cemented their reputations in other bands and with solo careers.
For fans of that era, and/or the respective musicians who played on the album, the chance to see The Flesh Eaters is a can’t miss opportunity. As vocalist/songwriter Chris Desjardins (who adopts the nom de punk Chris D. as Flesh Eaters frontman) notes, it’s not every day that he’s able to corral this particular group of musicians into the same room, never mind a tour bus.
“There were a few times we almost did stuff between 2006 and 2015 (the two previous times this lineup reunited), but it just didn’t come together,” Desjardins said.
When he started the band, Desjardins was a writer for L.A. punk zine Slash. He is interviewed in The Decline of Western Civilization, the 1981 documentary of the L.A. punk scene from director Penelope Spheeris (who would go on to direct Wayne’s World).
He calls the film “a pretty good snapshot” of the era. But physical traces of that time and place are rare.
“That neighbourhood where the Masque (in central Hollywood) was and the other punk rock venues that were happening in 1977 to the early ’80s are mostly gone,” he said.
“It’s a shame. There’s nothing sacred in Hollywood as far as developers are concerned. They don’t even hold sacred vintage movie signs or studio buildings. So underground punk rock clubs don’t have a chance.”
Before The Flesh Eaters show at the Rickshaw, Desjardins will take part in a Q&A about a 1987 movie called Border Radio. Vancity Theatre is screened the indie road flick at on Wednesday. Programmer, film writer and former Vancouverite Kier-la Janisse was to be in attendance.
Along with fellow Flesh Eater John Doe, Desjardins is one of the film’s stars.
“The filmmakers (UCLA students Allison Anders, Dean Lent and Kurt Voss) approached me one night when my band Divine Horseman was playing a place called the Music Machine,” he said. “They gave me the rough script. It changed quite a bit in the two years of making the film.”
When The Flesh Eaters do take the stage, they’ll power through the entirety of A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die, along with a few songs from later years and a cover or two.
Asked why he thinks A Minute to Pray has aged as well as it has, Desjardins said it’s at least partly due to the album’s mix of influences.
“I was listening to a lot of African Indigenous tribal music at the time, and also standard rhythm and blues and blues stuff like Howlin’ Wolf and John Lee Hooker,” he said. “And I was listening to a lot of soul music but also a lot of garage bands and punk rock. I was obsessed with trying to meld those influences. I took a lot of rhythms from African tribal music and transposed them to garage-rock arrangements. And we had saxophone, marimba.”
Then there’s that lineup of musicians. Vancouver music fans will be hard-pressed to catch a hotter, more accomplished rock ’n’ roll lineup onstage this year.
“This was kind of a side-project, even back then,” Desjardins said. “It’s a special thing when we can get together and find the time to do it.”