User:Jeanne boleyn/Max Lazer Band

The Max Lazer Band
The Max Lazer Band was a four-member glam punk group based in Los Angeles in the late 1970s. It was fronted by Max Lazer (Born 1950), a lean, peroxided blond, whose real name was Jarrett Miles. Max, curiously,was employed as a gardener in a Los Angeles cemetery. The Max Lazer Band played in various clubs around the Los Angeles area, especially on the Sunset Strip and Venice .Several of their songs "Street Queen" and "Saints of Rock and Roll" appear on a compilation CD, "The Godfathers of LA Punk" released on the Siamese Dogs label. This Indie label was co-founded by a French producer, Philippe Mogane who had been residing in Los Angeles at the time. One can hear the driving punk beat punctuated by saxophones and Max's laconic yet tauntingly aggressive singing which hits the listener with the force of machine gun fire. They were a perfect fusion of glam and punk rock. Other groups beside Max Lazer that formed the sadly-forgotten but thriving punk scene of that era were Black Flag, The Circle Jerks, The Controllers, The Germs, The Heaters and The Cats. The British group Dogs d'Amour were largely influenced by The Max Lazer Band when they played in London. Something of Max Lazer's strut and swagger can be seen in the performing style of later bands such as Guns and Roses.The Los Angeles punk scene was basically ignored by the mainstream media but the local radio station KROQ devoted a fair amount of airspace to groups such as Max Lazer.

In 2010 The Max Laser Band released its first full length LP. Entitled "Playtime", the album represents the best of Max's 70's stylish songs with amazing and original renditions of: "Black Tea", "White Meat Vendor", "Heavy Metal Hall of Fame" and "War of the Lasers". The album is rich in its overtones and shows the absolute and unique style that Max has developed over the years. With "Eyes of the Unknown" Max creates a hypnotic tune that comes to symbolize his affection for female background singers who are portrayed prominently in the song. Not willing to sit on his laurels "BS Man" is a driving tune that uses the strength of a brass section to bring it all home. "Bluesender" with it prominent harp sends you down the road a piece and "The Hawk" a brilliant melodic guitar chord progression with a biting solo second to none epitomizes the era in one four minute moment.

"Playtime" was a true labor of love conceived between original Max Laser Band members Max Laser and Nick Kazandjieff. However, and not content with a snapshot of the past, however glorious it was, Nick and Max started recording their second album in the early part of 2010. Inviting Kofi Baker to join them on drums un the initial sessions at the old Beach Boys 4th Street recording studio in Santa Monica, California  those sessions yielded monstrous results and   revealed that the musical synergy that had existed so many years ago had been rekindled. The 4th Street sessions were followed by numerous session at "The Crib" in Pasadena, California. The result of those sessions is the second album by The Max Laser Band entitled, "Beautiful Heartbreak". The album's highly anticipated release is scheduled for June 2012.