A decade later The Monolators continue to make some of the most energy-filled, intriguing music coming out of the Los Angeles DIY underbelly. They will release Ten Years of Tears, a cassette compilation (now available for pre-order via Vanity Projects) with an anniversary celebration and release show Saturday September 22 at pehrspace. RFSL tips our hats to them and hands over the reins of Video Free Silver Lake to Eli Monolator this week.
By Eli Monolator
I thought about trying to dig up some videos with a 'decade' theme, or something that would be in some way representative of our impending anniversary, but gave up pretty quickly and instead went with the time-honored 'assortment of stuff that we're currently obsessed with' approach, with no particular theme implied. Some of these videos are music-related, while others are about rocket-powered Lincoln Continentals instead. Let's start with the rocket-powered Lincoln Continental:
Kenny Powers' Super Jump
This is a brief excerpt from a documentary about The Super Jump: an
attempt in the late 1970s by a stunt driver named Kenny Powers to jump a
rocket-powered car one full mile across the Saint Lawrence River. Think
of it! A MILE. In the air! In a car! What kind of car did Kenny Powers
choose for this effort? A Lincoln Continental, of course, possibly the
least aerodynamically-suitable car imaginable--at least they added little
fins on the sides. The results are sadly predictable (SPOILER: IT DIDN'T
WORK), but Powers's words--"did I make it? Is everybody pleased?"--live
on. Yes, Kenny Powers--we are pleased:
Bonnie Tyler "Total Eclipse of the Heart"
Speaking of disasters, let's move forward a decade and take a look at a
current obsession of ours, Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart."
"My Heart Will Go On" Recorder by Candlelight
Watching that inevitably brings to mind this next video--I imagine many of
you have already seen this, so my apologies for digging it up again, but
for the uninitiated, this always makes me misty-eyed:
The Trammps "Disco Inferno"
We here at Monolators HQ always appreciate a good live band--we also
appreciate a band that doesn't feel like it has to reproduce its songs
EXACTLY LIKE ON THE RECORD. Here is a song that I am, frankly, sick of
and never need to hear again in my life, but this performance is so
stellar that I can watch it over and over again. Mary says: "just looking
at the horn section makes me tired":
The Four Polks " Miss You "
And finally here is a little something that our bandmate Arlene from
Madame Headdress showed us--the Four Polks from Portland, Oregon,
circa--not sure, 1940's? Everything about this is great, especially the
vibraphone solo, and the sweaters. I guess all malt shops came equipped
with vibraphones in those days, right? Right. Charming and lovely:
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