Yes L.A. is a six-song compilationEP featuring first-generation Californian punk rock bands. It was also the final release of the short-lived but influential Dangerhouse Records label.[1]
The compilation includes a 1978 rawer early version of X's song "Los Angeles", described by Dangerhouse Records co-founder David Brown as "a scathing, literal depiction of the scene which needs no explanation".[5] The record also features a rare alternate mix of the Germs' "No God",[6][7] a song originally produced by Geza X[nb 3] for the EP Lexicon Devil,[nb 4] previously released in May 1978.
Yes L.A. was mastered by Jeff Sanders at Crystal Sound Studios in Hollywood, California.
All songs on the compilation were previously unissued, with the only exception of Black Randy and the Metrosquad's tune "Down at the Laundrymat", featured on the band's studio albumPass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie[nb 5][10][11][12] from July 1979.[8]
Designed by Pat Garrett,[1][8] the record artwork was silkscreened by hand on the ungrooved side of each single disc,[1][4][8] with one of three different color combinations, namely, green/black,[15] green/blue,[16] and green/red.[17] Some of those copies were misprinted.[nb 7] Examples include discs with text only,[18] with the background image in front of the text, or the image and text on the side with the grooves, rendering such a record unplayable.
Some non-silkscreened black vinyl test pressings are known to exist.[8]
Original copies came without a sleeve, instead packaged in a clear plastic bag with a white cardboard backing.[4]
Reissues
At some point during the 1990s, the rights to Yes L.A. (and the entire Dangerhouse Records catalog) were acquired by Frontier Records.[6]
In June 2013, after 34 years out of print, Yes L.A. was reissued by Frontier in a one-time limited edition of 1,000 almost exact replicas of the original EP[nb 8][4][19][20] to commemorate the label's 100th release.[1][6]
Track listing
Where it is necessary, songwriting credits are listed in the format lyrics/music.
^"Just as the scene was being split into harder-driving, superadrenalized extreme power metal-punk on one side and simpy new wave power pop on the other, the first L.A. punk compilation album, ... Yes L.A., was released..." – Brendan Mullen[2]
^"... We [Dangerhouse Records] were kind of feuding with him [Geza X] about some of his production techniques, which at the time was squirrelly because he's such a creative guy and he'd try anything. So we had taken the tapes of the Germs that Slash magazine owned and remixed them the way we would do it – sort of the Geza way. It was interesting to compare..." – David Brown[8][9]
