Who are these dudes? A San Diego wannabe version of the Ramones?! Opening up for The Raveonettes on Friday, Nov. 13 at the Henry Fonda Theatre were the Crocodiles. Immediately I thought about the Larry Clark flick, “Wassup Rockers.” There’s a scene where some dude calls out to the lil skate crew, “What are you guys? The Mexican Ramones?” Seeing the Crocodiles up on stage all clad in matching leather jackets (sans the bassist in a jean jacket) and jeans tight as ladies leggings, made me think, “What are these guys, the San Diego, uber white boy Ramones?
The dudes were pretty cool and fueled with some fast thrashin’ rock n’ roll with a ballad or two. Their lead guitarist, Charles Rowell, kicked ass and resembled a young Dee Dee Ramone. While front-man Brandon Welchez, had some punk swagger. I really dug the whole distortion and 60’s garage sounds through out their performance, but somehow found myself yawning a bit through their set. Maybe it was their lack of crowd interaction or cocky attitudes that left some of us a bit unengaged. Dudes didn’t even say “thank you” or anything at all at the end of their set. The curtain just dropped immediately. I guess that means their “cool.”
Oh yeah, these kids spit more than a herd of camels. Between Welchez’s and Rowell’s constant spitting and sweat droplets, that stage was covered in DNA. Hope they swept it for the headliners The Raveonettes!
Photos and Video: Craig Parker
