Red Scare Then There Were None '84 LP

$

40

"One band I wasn’t into during the day but which has achieved almost legendary status are Red Scare. Formed in 1982, Red Scare were one of the few punk/post-punk bands fronted by a woman, the amazing Bobbi Brat. None of their work is available on iTunes or Pandora or as yet on Spotify but a few songs have been mercifully uploaded to YouTube from the 1984 album Then There were None. “Mind Inertia” has the zippy rhythm of classic Germs (think “What We Do Is Secret”) coupled with Bobbi’s high, shrieking vocals; this is a good blast of old school Hollywood/LA hardcore. “Don’t Look In the Basement” starts with an atonal, minor key piano noodling, which builds into a harsh, caterwauling music and vocal that sounds a lot like Juju-era Siouxsie and the Banshees. The lyrics draw upon the then-popular strain of horror rock particular to LA and best evidenced by bands like Vox Pop and Castration Squad. “Street Life” starts with an industrial squalling that evokes Fatrix or Throbbing Gristle but is rescued by a classic hardcore bass line that draws the song into its more traditional punk structure. Still, the lyrics are less strident than on “Mind Inertia”; here Bobbi reminds me a little ofInger Lorre’s later work with the Nymphs. The music sounds amazingly similar toTSOL’s post-hardcore, pre-metal work on their album Change Today? in that it draws on traditional hardcore for its tempo but has a more complex sonic structure that pulls from post-punk influences like early Cure. The title track is a chugging, swirling post-punk confection that again shows influences from everything from Joy Division and Siouxsieto Die Kreuzen and P.I.L. I think I like this song the best of the ones I’ve heard, it really captures the spirit of mid-80’s LA post-punk well. Right on its heels is “Flight 007”, which has a slower tempo and a repeating riff that shows how Red Scare could incorporate hard rock/metal influences but still swathe them in swirling post-punk guitar work. “Way Out West” has a cowpunk feel much like fellow LA cowpunks the Screaming Sirens andRank and File.

I never listened to Red Scare during their heyday, however I do have a small but memorable connection to lead singer Bobbi. In fall of ’86 or so, I dragged three of my high school buddies up to LA to the Anti-Club to see some bands, including Bobbi Brat’s solo project. My friends were not punkers, they were suburban college dorks and I remember the whole night was one of almost constant cringing embarrassment for me since they so clearly didn’t fit in at such a place, nor did they like any of the bands we saw. Anyway after her set Bobbi came offstage and was hanging out in the big lobby area by the door and I happened to strike up a conversation with her. I have no memory of what we talked about, only that she was really nice and more than a little drunk. She may have been hitting on me, I have no idea; back then I was an attractive if skinny little punk boy and who knows, maybe that was her type. She was very attractive, with died black hair in a ponytail, tattoos, big clunky black shoes, and a sophisticated cool demeanor. I was more than a little intimidated by her, so of course I didn’t try anything. Sadly, Bobbi died of cancer not two years later; it makes me sad to think that that nice, beautiful punk girl didn’t live long enough to see the ascension of Nirvana and that her own life was cut so tragically short."