The Warlocks of Euphoria

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY

The Warlocks overlapped their name with what the Velvet Underground was going to be called—“The Primitives” got used up the same way but someone can still try something with a modern version of “The Beachnuts”—and overlapped their sound with what the Velvet Underground was gonna do if John Cale had demonstrated a higher tolerance for doo-wop tropes, and they didn’t hide affection for gentle West Coast wake-up records like If I Could Only Remember My Name and Oar on the slow songs, either. Out on stage it can sometimes be Bobby (Hecksher) and the Beasts if they really lean into the loudness—not sure where the particularly fluid Warlock roster is puddling this particular week, but when I saw them last it was Modern Lovers Live at the Long Branch with a thumb on the turntable and the delay to the point of hyperventilation, and one superfan submitted so fully to the experience that she just about lent them a yodel solo on “Cosmic Letdown.” “You should look at the crowd more! It would help your performance!” she told Bobby, but of course he’s neither Bobbies Rydell, Sherman or Darin, so he doesn’t carry a performance on the depth of his dimples. On record, however, it can be Bobby and the Baby Blankies—doze now, dream forever, let the fish nibble at submerged synapses. As a certain spaceman says: It’s not the slide down, it’s the climb back up, and Warlocks got song suggestions till the whole trip is finished.

THE WARLOCKS WITH THE STEVENSON RANCH DAVIDIANS AND THE MEEK ALEX’S BAR | 2913 E ANAHEIM ST | LONG BEACH 90804 | ALEXSBAR.COM | SUN 9PM | $10 | 21+

Tags: alex's bar, drone, Music, the warlocks