Lead singer of the early Los Angeles punk band The Bags, Alice Bag (aka Alice Armandariz) has written her memoirs, Violence Girl, detailing her life pre through post Bagism.
Almost 35 years after the advent, the originators of L.A. Punk can be broken down into the losers (Darby Crash), the careerists (Belinda Carlisle, Pat Smear) and the survivors (The former Ms. Bag is currently married, has children, and lives in Phoenix, Arizona and writes on her own site: Diary Of A Bad Housewife http://alicebag.blogspot.com).
It’s a breezy read, with each chapter lasting only a few short pages (much like the songs themselves). Those looking for a down and sleazy expose of the early days of punk will have to look elsewhere. Violence Girl touches somewhat lightly on drug and booze degradation, but certainly nothing in the same “vein” as tomes like the NY Punk scene oral history Please Kill Me.
Alice takes us through her domestic violence filled Latino-American upbringing in East L.A. and the origins of the L.A. Punk scene, with tales of her own band and contemporaries such as X, The Germs, Weirdo’s and Go-Go’s.
Unlike the dole que/political movement of the original UK scene, and the older scene in New York, the early L.A. punk scene was largely populated by bored teenage kids who couldn’t play for shit, and didn’t have anyone schooling em on rock n roll. As a result, alot of the bands never got signed (until the DIY scene started up) and recorded output is a bit scarce. The Bags never had a proper LP release (though a compilation has recently been issued).
Virtually all of the late 70’s and early 80’s left coast punks are featured in the book- from Patricia (Pat Bag) Morrison (later of Sisters Of Mercy and The Damned) to Geza X, Phranc and Dinah Cancer (45 Grave). Ms. Bag seemed to play with them all in various bands .
If I have one complaint about the book, it would be that she spends too many pages on her upbringing before getting into what most people would pick up the book for (the punk scene).
Nonetheless, Violence Girl fills in many of the blanks with regard to the pre- Decline Of Western Civilization LA Punk scene. It’s an honest look at a period that often is ignored with in the annals of Punk.
