San Francisco got most of the attention, but if there is one city that has been most consistent at producing fine rock & roll bands, it must be Los Angeles. The Byrds, Love, the Doors, Clear Light–each in its own way the cream of the renaissance, each reflective in a special fashion of a highly refined understanding of music both as sound and sensibility. Some of them were atrocious outside...

Crabby Appleton is an inventive L.A. group in the classic mold: high ringing guitar, crackling organ and a lead vocalist whose delivery is strenuous and dramatic, in contrast to his phlegmatic demeanor, which carries all the sullen narcissistic charisma any band needs. Another patented, short-lived hype group? Nope. Crabby Appleton, I'm happy to report, is the real thing — no great innovation...