For the Record

Author: Jason Gutierrez

The Smell is a tiny club nestled in between a dive bar called Jalisco and an independent movie theater in downtown Los Angeles. If you weren't looking for it, you'd probably walk right past it. I did. Three times. The truth is that somehow, while the rest of us were asleep, Los Angeles in general and The Smell in particular has become the center of the noise rock and art punk universe with some very exciting bands and music coming out of the ratty storefront The Smell calls home.

If noise rock and art punk doesn't get your ire up I don't blame you. In genres normally dominated by guys named Todd rubbing their guitars against amplifiers, you'd think that bands interested in exploring these genres would think about it for three seconds and realize it was a terrible idea. But the music coming from the acts associated with The Smell manages to rise above the stereotypes.

The most successful, and arguably the best, band to emerge from The Smell is the guitar/drums duo No Age. Their debut album, "Nouns," was released, with much critical fanfare, last spring on Sub Pop records. No Age really is a pop band working extraordinarily hard to not be a pop band. What makes "Nouns" such a fantastic and surprising release is that, despite layers of distortion, self-made samples and other effects, hooks are still discernable and catchy. Guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Spunt got their start in a hardcore band called Wives, and those influences remain, especially in songs like, "Here Should Be My Home," which sounds like it could have just as easily fit into Descendents' early 7"s for SST Records, and the album's closer, "Brain Burner," almost sounds like a Blink-182 song that had its shiny production taken away and the annoying dude killed. No bands are the sum of their influences, and No Age manage to pay homage to their influences (the bands of Southern California hardcore of yore and distortion heavy shoegazers like My Bloody Valentine) while also distinguishing themselves by their ability to ensure their fragile melodies stand out amidst the wash of distortion and effects.

In addition to a performance space, The Smell is also home to olFactory Records, a label which, much like Montreal's Constellation Records, is an attempt to capture the sound of a scene. As such, their decision to co-release Devon Williams' debut solo album, "Carefree," makes no sense and makes perfect sense at the same time. On one hand Williams cut his teeth in punk band Osker during the late 1990s, so it would make sense that a former punk rock singer with a penchant for experimentation fits naturally into The Smell's experimental rock setting. But, Williams' experimentation means pulling chamber pop, country, power pop and punk into a single song and making them co-exist, which is definitely different from the distortion and effects soaked experimentation of No Age and Abe Vigoda. What is surprising about "Carefree" is just how well these seemingly disparate elements come together. "Honey" has the light breeze of California pop and the quiet country jangle of a Gene Autry song, and it's fantastic. Almost as fantastic as The Cure circa-1986 sound of "Bells," the album's real stand-out track.

I think it speaks volumes about the legitimacy of a club and a scene that it can produce as various an array of acts as The Smell has and have each band produce fantastic music. It's hard to look at the independent music coming out of Los Angeles and not be excited about it. The lo-fi output of The Smell-based bands is a refreshing change from the increasingly production heavy independent music coming out of places like Williamsburg. Besides, maybe a Southern California import is just what you need to get through the bitter cold during a long walk into town.