Professional Wildmen - The District

From the District Weekly (1/14/2009)

You may have seen fedora-topped frontman Daniel Holden before, risking life and larynx for a hot riff and a cold beer. No doubt he was flanked by stone-faced guitarist Jarrod Stiles and bassist Mike Peralta, propelling their brand of Lomita-approved, ‘70s-era rock into the 21st century. But recently, the business cards changed.

Until the middle of last year, Wet Cassette performed under the more cleverly inebriated moniker, Rolling Blackouts. Eschewing booze for sex in name only, Holden and company introduced a new drummer (Sean Johnson) and added a keyboardist (Jon Highlander), both hailing from another South Bay mainstay, the Voyeurs, formerly of E>K>U>K>. (To further complicate the musical map, original drummer and professional wildman Gabe Garnica has moved on to form Sonadora with ex-dios-er Qevin Morales.) Defining the difference between their past and present selves, Holden glibly states, “Wet Cassette sounds like your dreams coming true. Rolling Blackouts were less dreams coming true and more like keeping you up all hours of the night.” Plus, he adds, the band simply likes how it rolls off the tongue.

At the height of their Blackouts billing, the boys were best witnessed reverberating among exposed wires and cushionless sofas in parts of Los Angeles no positioning device could ever find. During one hectic late-night performance, a bottle of wine (red!) flew by like a shoe at a press conference; the ursine Peralta deftly dodged the chucked two-buck and resumed his supporting vocals without so much as a smile. Few people choose to earn a living this way—these guys seem never to have considered there were alternatives.

Appropriately, with its ample overhead clearance and weighty Pabsts, Alex’s Bar has hosted many great Blackout/Cassette shows, including a late-summer residency several years back with their geographical cousins, dios (malos). Holden has a special place in his heart for the local watering hole: “Alex’s Bar has been a great venue. The kids know where it is and actually wanna go there.” So now, having been told where and when, it’s just up to the kids to get a ride.

WET CASSETTE, AVI BUFFALO, BY SUNLIGHT ALEX’S BAR 2913 E ANAHEIM ST LONG BEACH 90804 562.434.8292 ALEXSBAR.COM SUN CALL FOR TIME $5 MYSPACE.COM/WETCASSETTE

Professional Wildmen @ the District