You'll have to confirm it with your crusty quadragenarian friends, but I was always told that the first wave of LA punk bands got a lot of flack from their East Coast and across-the-pond counterparts for having the gall to feel dissatisfied in the relative utopia of sunny Southern California. Of course, now we all know that the City of Angels is a hellhole of concrete, traffic jams, and crushed dreams, but back in 1980 everybody else in the country apparently thought it was just one big endless Beach Boys song. What the fuck was Bad Religion even thinking when they named an album How Could Hell Be Any Worse? Had they ever been to Kansas?Geography obviously plays a huge role in determining a band's sound and modus operandi. For riff barons It's Casual, the city of Los Angeles has fostered a love for the kind of discord and volume that initially propelled fellow SoCal bands like Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, and Slayer. The city's sprawl and blight has also provided the duo's mission statement—their new record The New Los Angeles II features singer/guitarist Eddie Solis lashing out against the faulty infrastructure of his beloved hometown. Whether they're speaking out against the defunding of public schools, the de-emphasis of public transportation, or the absence of social safety nets, It's Casual are dead serious with their topical "greencore."With drummer Dob Le Ve in tow, Solis seems to be on a mission to save Southern California from mediocrity and ruin. Unfortunately, Southern California fought back. The monster storms that pulverized the coast last week also pulverized Solis' home. Chunks of his roof were blown away, his house flooded, and the bulk of his appliances and electronics were destroyed. While it would have been a pleasure to talk to Solis about his advocacy for living car-free in California, running the DIY label Stoked Records, or his history in LA's grimy metal and punk scenes, he's currently scrambling to salvage his home office in anticipation of their album's release tomorrow. So in lieu of reading a transcribed conversation, take a moment to bask in the big riffs The New Los Angeles II. Order yours and look for the vinyl on Record Store Day.
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