Pogie Brown, Berkeley, CA 2002

Andrew Pogany sent in these beauties... his first band, Pogie Brown (he, Pogie, on drums, his best friend Brown on guitar) were a duo on a mission,dedicated to single-handedly reviving LA's Hobo tradition. "We were horrible" he remembers, "but brazenly horrible." Their lyrics were the stuff of legend with songs such as "Jesus was a nice boy" and "The Val Kilmer Song" garnering sufficient local following for them to play the Whisky A Go-Go, supporting My Sexual Dad. Firing on all cylinders, Pogie Brown were unstoppable. But Pogany admits their success was based on a simple equation: Lyric thuggery + musical imprecision = Pogi Brown (cover your ears.)

Judge for yourself by listening to their classic anthem, " Jesus was a Nice Boy." The band's days were numbered. In classic rock 'n' roll fashion, Brown's manipulative girlfriend broke up the duo. The band are pictured below at a bowling alley photo booth in happier days. "Our look was no look at all. We wore all ugly hand me downs. But in line with the DIY / folk-anti-folk movement that burgeoned after us, we started sewing our own hats and shirts and stuff. That hat in the picture is one of those. It reads “God Ain't Cute”. And neither were we!

Brown went on to found Not Not Fun Records, now a staple in the LA noise underground, and the band Robador, who recently opened for Sonic Youth. Pogany went on to join the lesser known Here Kingdom Comes, pictured below, in his kitchen, known more for their fine eye at the flea market than for their instrumental mastery. But Pogany remembers his days in the band with an unbounded enthusiasm. "The camaraderie of a band surpasses friendship. You all come together from random directions and are suddenly forced to point in the same direction. There is something so pure about it. And that's what I miss"