Suburban Lawns were an American

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

band formed in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

in 1978 by

CalArts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

students William "Vex Billingsgate" Ranson and Sue "Su Tissue" McLane. They later recruited Richard "Frankie Ennui" Whitney, Charles "Chuck Roast" Rodriguez, and John "John Gleur" McBurney.

History

After forming in 1978, Suburban Lawns released their debut single, "Gidget Goes to Hell", in 1979 on their own Suburban Industrial label. The song gained the band notoriety when its Jonathan Demme-directed music video was shown on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''. The band was part of the LA punk scene at the time, alongside bands such as X,

Saccharine Trust Saccharine Trust is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1980 by singer Jack Brewer and guitarist Joe Baiza. The band would frequently perform with SST labelmates Minutemen and Black Flag. However, Baiza descri ...

and

Fear Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...

. Their musical performances included creative costumes with Su Tissue delivering, according to Ennui a "full mind blowing impact". Though music journalists found her performances confusing, that she "looked so bored and uncomfortable standing on stage with all of these boys that looked like they were having so much fun". Their sole album, '' Suburban Lawns'', produced and engineered by EJ Emmons and Troy Mathisen, was released in 1981 on I.R.S. Records, featuring new wave radio favorite "Janitor" (previously released as a single in 1980). It has been said that the lyrics of "Janitor" were derived from a real-life conversation between Sue "Su Tissue" McLane and friend Brian Smith. According to Smith, the two were conversing in a loud room when they first met: :She asked me what I did for a living. I said "I'm a janitor," and she thought I said "Oh my genitals." ichard "Frankie Ennui" Whitneyoverheard this and wrote the song. According to Richard Whitney, this story is somewhat backwards; the music and all of the lyrics apart from “Oh, my genitals! I’m a janitor!” were already written when Sue McLane added them herself: :Su was definitely more of a poet than I have ever dreamed of being. The lyrics, except for Su’s contribution, are pretty straightforward science-nerd stuff about all things explosive. Su’s addition, whatever the source (and I have no reason to doubt what Brian Smith has apparently written about how Su came up with that addition), gave the song a poetical spin that added the dimension it needed to make it interesting. That’s exactly why, in my opinion, our best songs were those that were written collaboratively. Gleur departed during the recording of the

Richard Mazda Richard Mazda (born 5 May 1955) is a record producer, writer, musician, actor and director. Music career Mazda was one of the co-founders of Poole punk/mod band Tours, singing and playing lead guitar. They signed to Virgin Records in 1979 aft ...

-produced five-song EP ''Baby'', released in 1983, and the band folded shortly afterward.

Later projects

After the split, Whitney and Ranson formed a new, short-lived band called the Lawns, while McLane attended Berklee College of Music, where she studied piano. In 1982, McLane recorded a solo album, ''Salon de Musique''. She also played the role of Peggy Dillman in Demme's 1986 comedy movie '' Something Wild'' opposite

Melanie Griffith Melanie Richards Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s. Born in Manhattan, New York City, ...

, Jeff Daniels and

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primet ...

. In 1985, William Ranson (aka Vex Billingsgate) formed a new side project called Alfalfa. Members included- William Ranson (aka Vex Billingsgate) - Guitar & vocals, Jamie Loveless - Guitar, Steve Reed - Bass, Curtis DeHoff - Bass, Jeff Schweer - Drums, Lee Howell - Drums They released one 7" Lucky Guy/Jewels on Urban Garden Hi Fi Disc. In early 2000s, Ranson and Gleur formed a band called Suburban John, along with drummer Jon Tomis.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Suburban Lawns'' (1981, I.R.S. Records)

Singles and EPs

* "Gidget Goes to Hell" 7" single (1979, Suburban Industrial) * "Janitor" 7" single (1980, Suburban Industrial) * ''Baby'' 12" EP (1983, I.R.S. Records) '' Suburban Lawns'' was reissued in 2021 on

Superior Viaduct Records Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

to critical acclaim.

Influence and legacy

The band influenced bands that followed them such as The Minutemen. However their influence can still be found up to the present day, with

Maximum Rocknroll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly zine of punk subculture. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and hardcore music, and primarily featu ...

magazine citing Suburban Lawns, along with DEVO as being a major influence on "this millennium's reboot of oddball new wave". Priests'

Katie Alice Greer Katie Alice Greer (born 1989) is an American artist, songwriter, performer and producer. She was the lead singer of Priests and released her first solo album in 2022. Greer was born in New Baltimore, Michigan. She moved to Washington D.C. in 20 ...

wrote of her love for the band in Making Waves #4 fanzine in 2016. Frank Zappa cited "Gidget Goes To Hell" as one of his favorite punk records. Photographs of Suburban Lawns are in the

Victor Sedillo The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

archive at the Charles E. Young Research Library at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

References

External links

Discogs.com entry
{{Authority control * https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/suburban-lawns-suburban-lawns/ * https://www.vice.com/amp/en/article/r7p79g/looking-back-on-suburban-lawns-the-great-forgotten-la-new-wave-band American new wave musical groups American post-punk music groups I.R.S. Records artists Rock music groups from California