Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – The three members of The Monsters took the stage at the Zebulon in matching red dinner jackets that had a large “M” on the upper right side. They stood there on the stage with a banner hanging behind them that had a single letter, “M.” Beat-Man (guitar and vocals) was stage right. Janosh (bass and vocals) was stage left. Swain Lee (Drums) was dead center. Beat-Man had the tiniest of smirks for a reason.
Over the loudspeakers, Barry Manilow’s “Mandy” played. The band started to greet each other with handshakes, small talk, and pats on the back. Beat-Man then held his guitar at a 45 degree angle. That was a signal to the audience to get ready to go wild for the next hour plus – it was an audience that was primed to do so as they had long since stationed themselves as close to the stage as one could be without actually being on the stage. “Mandy” drifted towards silence and Swain Lee slammed his sticks onto the cymbals and the band was off with a raging punk rendition of “Searching” with heavy beats that jarred the heart loose and vocals that blasted the sound system.
Per their bio, “The Monsters were formed in 1986 in small-town Bern, capital of Switzerland. Their sound is a fuzzed out mix between 60s garage punk, wild teenage trash rockabilly and primitive rock‘n‘roll . . . Besides the countless shows in Switzerland, The Monsters played extensive tours through Europe including Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Russia , Austria, England, Norway , Sweden , Denmark and Spain. In 2003 the band toured Argentina, Brazil and New York, and in 2005 they toured in Japan.”
The band last played the United States back in 2014 and their fanbase came ready to enjoy every moment of the set. Many in the crowd were dressed to impress with a ’60s style fashion statement that brought out images of those ready to cruise down the road until they eventually ended up at diner to be served by those on roller skates. Others formed a mosh pit in the middle of the venue to enjoy the more primitive Rock N Roll moments.
Their song “More You Talk Less I Hear You” had Beat-Man saying, “The next one is a political song or a relationship song, it depends on how you want to look at it.” Their song “Stranger To Me” was dedicated to the city of Los Angeles and was their interpretation of how they felt heavy metal sounded in 1982. It was a rapid fire song that had the band sweating from the energy they put into their instruments.
The band played a number of songs from their 2021 album release called “You’re Class I’m Trash.” Just like the album title, many of their songs have unique titles. One such song was “Smell My Tongue.” “It means, if you work the whole day, the whole week for a boss who is a complete asshole. And you have to lick his asshole every day and you f*cking hate it, but you need the money.”
The band mentioned that their music has no melodies and no good lyrics, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a singalong. For their song “Yellow Snow Drink,” the band handed out cards to the audience that had lyrics to the song. The audience sang along “I’m going to kill myself tonight. I’m going to kill myself tonight.” Their songs can be rapid fast. Their song “Get Drunk on You” clocks in at just 1 minute 38 seconds. That song finishes faster than the horse who wins the Kentucky Derby. What is that song about? Beat-Man mentioned that the song was written during COVID and he had sex with his girlfriend ten times a day and got paid for that (assuming he meant that in Switzerland, the population got government subsidies due to lockdowns, not that his girlfriend paid him for sex).
For a band that has been around since 1986, they never lost any energy – though towels were needed to deal with the sweat. And considering the vocal screams, their voices never cracked. The band ended the night with “High Heels and Mini Skirts,” but the crowd would not let them go off stage without a couple encores. Afterwards, fans came up to Beat-Man and took photos with all involved making monster poses.
Local Los Angeles band El Colmo played a garage rock jam session. The band sang their songs in Spanish with a passion that expressed their musical craft. Their songs were appreciated by the crowd who cheered their approval throughout the set.
The Monsters Setlist: Searching, The Love I Never Had, Blow Um Mau Mau, Gimme Germs, More You Talk Less I Hear You, Stranger To Me, Dead, Smell My Tongue, Yellow Snow Drink, Kiss You Dead, Voodoo Love, Blasphemy, Get Drunk on You, Carpool Lane, In and Out, Whatcha Gonna Do, I Love You, I’m Going Away Girl, High Heels and Mini Skirt. Encores: Happy People Make Me Sick, I Want You
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