Photos By: Nicolas Bates

For anyone who’s ears are open and tuned in to their local music scene, the one thing that they probably don’t hear much of these days is punk. It has all but become a forgotten four-letter word. When uttered, it usually conjures statements such as: “I loved NOFX in high school,” or “Damn! I can’t believe I sold that Pennywise record,” or “Remember Face To Face? Sucks that they broke up.” It’s a genre that has never garnered very much respect from the music industry. Radio stations have never really gotten on board with it. MTV never sought out bands like Black Flag or The Descendants to help promote their videos. And the general public has never quite understood the do-it-yourself, “stick-it-to-the-man” code of ethics in punk rock.

But on Saturday night, in a place that couldn’t be any less punk, the 900 Strung Out fans who packed inside of the elegantly upholstered walls of the El Rey Theatre would have made you think that rebellious musical genre is alive and well.

Still in support of their most recent studio effort (Agents of The Underground) and currently celebrating their 20th year as a band, Strung Out proved before a sold-out audience just how they have risen above the punk fray and have remained prevalent after two decades of music. One reason why they haven’t: KROQ. Vocalist Jason Cruz said as much between songs. “I don’t understand why KROQ always sponsors our shows and only plays our songs at 3:00 AM on Sunday mornings.” But the truth is that he did know why––we all did. And that’s really what makes Strung Out’s enduring success so amazing: the ability to continually put out innovative forms of punk music without any sort of commercial success.

With that in mind, it was all too fitting that the band opened with “No Voice of Mine.” Not even giving a chance for the kids in the pit to catch a breath, drummer Jordan Burns immediately ripped into a crowd favorite in “The Exhumation of Virginia Madison” before launching into a sped-up version of the ultra-catchy “Car Crash Radio.”

Being a night of themes, the band presented a balanced sampling of both oldies and newer songs in small batches, never once faltering in their energy or precision. Playing the first three songs off of The Element of Sonic Defiance was a personal highlight of the night, with all three offering plenty of face-melting courtesy of shredders Jake Kiley and Rob Ramos. The band also payed homage to the memory of original bass player Jim Cherry by performing “Too Close To See” and “Asking For The World” before bassist Chris Aiken reenergized the crowd with that memorable opening bass line in “Firecracker.”

In an interview prior to the release of their last record, Cruz said: “We say what we feel and do it all our own way, and we’ve done it all this time without radio, without TV, and without the help of a corporate record label. We are the essence of what the punk rock movement started out as and has strayed so far from. We are living proof that you can succeed by doing things your own way.” Strung Out probably won’t ever make any noise over the radio airwaves, but with unwavering fan support and an engaging live show, who’s to say that won’t continue to shake the walls of the underground scene for another twenty years.