Six Reasons to Love Crime (the Band)
Crime
1. San Francisco's Crime was the first West Coast punk band.
Or at least the first to put out a record. (The Nuns and the Avengers were early, too.) Established in the summer of 1976 by Johnny Strike and Frankie Fix, Crime put out its first single, "Hot Wire My Heart" b/w "Baby, You're So Repulsive" in 1978.
2. The band members either wore police uniforms or dressed like gangsters.
Which looked badass (see above). And in case you thought Generation Y invented irony.
3. Their music was really, really good, at least part of the time.
See "Frustration," above, which is pretty much perfect.
4. Crime had a song called "San Francisco's Doomed."
Which, as anyone who survived Willie Brown, the dot-com era, the Web 2.0-era, and the rise of Train will tell you, was absolutely true.
5. Crime played at San Quentin
Where they know a thing or two about crime (not the band).
6. Sonic Youth covered Crime's "Hot Wire My Heart."
On Sister, even.
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