SONG: "City Of Angels"
ARTIST: The Distillers
ALBUM: "Sing Sing Death House"
YEAR: 2002
WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:
"City Of Angels" appears to be a song about the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles. The image of L.A. is glitz and glamour and hollywood. The facts are that for every one person that makes it, literally thousands have those hopes and dreams shattered. The image of Los Angeles evokes hope of fame. The reality is broken dreams and despair for most who travel there to make it.
THE DISTILLERS DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):
2000 - The Distillers (Hellcat Records)
* did not chart on the Billboard 200
2002 - Sing Sing Death House (Hellcat Records)
* did not chart on the Billboard 200
2003 - Coral Fang (Sire Records)
* peaked at #97 on the Billboard 200 on 11-1-03
2021 - Live In Lockdown (Rise Records)
* did not chart on the Billboard 200
MY THOUGHTS ON THE DISTILLERS
The Distillers formed as a band back in 1998, hailing from Los Angeles, California. Their lead singer/songwriter/rhythm guitarist Brody Dalle was from Australia but moved to L.A. because of a relationship formed with Rancid's Tim Armstrong after touring together. This relationship no doubt helped The Distillers hook up with Armstrong's Hellcat Records which is a subsidiary of Epitaph Records. The Distillers first release was an EP in 1999 called "The Distillers". In 2000, the band dropped their debut full length, also called "The Distillers". In 2002, The Distillers dropped "Sing Sing Death House". This album featured music videos for the songs "City Of Angels" and "The Young Crazed Feeling". In 2003, The Distillers released "Coral Fang" through major label Sire Records. This would prove to be the band's most successful record and their only to break into the Billboard 200 charts. The band toiled around for a few more years, but Brody's relationship with Armstrong was now over. She got married and had three kids with Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme but that relationship is also over as Dalle filed for divorce in 2019. The Distillers seemed to have broken up in 2006 as Dalle formed a new band called Spinnerette and after that performed as a solo artist. But in 2018, The Distillers got back together with their most consistent line-up, Brody Dalle (vocals/guitar), Andy Granelli (drums), Ryan Sinn (bass) and Tony Bevilacqua (guitar). Not only did The Distillers perform some live shows, they also released a split single, "Man vs. Magnet/Blood In Gutters". Rumor has it that the band went into the studio in 2019 to work on a new album. As of now, I haven't heard if the new record is done but i'm sure like everything else, the pandemic probably slowed the process. The band did release a live album called "Live In Lockdown" in 2021. The Distillers are a great, in your face punk band. Brody Dalle is just punk rock chic personified! She got the snarl. She got the attitude and fuckin' A right, she got the pipes. Dalle has a great voice for punk rock music and you can almost hear her vocal chords crying in pain when she shreds her vocals. She's a total bad ass! I was totally fired up when The Distillers got back together. I got into them late. My first taste of their music was "Coral Fang" and "Beat Your Heart Out" was probably the first song I heard by them, a great fuckin' tune by the way! It kinda sucked because once I found them, they were gone! So after a 12 year hiatus, I was stoked to see them drop a new double single and get back in the studio. Hopefully, we start to get back to normal and The Distillers put the finishing touches on a new record and we can see them perform in a live setting soon. On a side note, you gotta check out this band's b-side "Cincinnati". What a killer song!
SIMILAR ARTISTS:
Rancid
Transplants
Social Distortion
Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards
Anti-Flag
TEN THE DISTILLERS SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:
1. Cincinnati
2. City Of Angels
3. Beat Your Heart Out
4. L.A. Girl
5. Drain The Blood
6. The Hunger
7. Sick Of It All
8. Man vs. Magnet
9. The Young Crazed Feeling
10. Gypsy Rose Lee
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