It's Casual is a two-piece Los Angeles hardcore punk band formed in 2001. Founded and fronted by

Eddie Solis Eddie Solis is a Los Angeles music industry professional, musician, and show promoter. He has worked in sales, marketing and artist promotion at labels such as Century Media, Priority Records, Macey Lipman Marketing, and SST Records, where he wo ...

, the band has released the three studio albums ''Buicregl'' (2002), ''Stop Listening to Bad Music'' (2004), and ''The New Los Angeles'' (2007) all on CD and LP. It's Casual has performed with groups such as Story of the Year, Fu Manchu, Mastodon,

High on Fire High on Fire is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1999. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, also plays guitar for doom metal band Sleep. High on Fire won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Metal Per ...

, and Zeke.

History

Early years

It's Casual was formed in 2001 in Los Angeles, starting with

on guitar, a bassist, drums, and a second guitar player. The name was inspired by a line in '' The Wild Life'', Cameron Crowe's follow up to '' Fast Times at Ridgemont High''. Solis soon met W.C.E., the drummer for Co-Ed and realized they had similar interests, such as Black Flag, The Melvins, and arena rock like Kiss and

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

. W.C.E. pitched the idea of a two piece band and It's Casual reformed with W.C.E on drums. The band has a hardcore punk and

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

sound, with Solis on vocals and guitar and W.C.E. on drums.

''The New Los Angeles''

After returning from a summer tour in 2006 the band began working with producer Sergio J. Chavez ( Motörhead/ Helmet) for a third album, ''The New Los Angeles''. In January 2008 the band had supporting slots for Fu Manchu on their North American tour. ''The New Los Angeles'' LP was released in Fall of 2008. Mastodon handpicked It's Casual to open for them in Athens, Georgia in October 2008, and the band played in-store at Criminal Records the day before in Atlanta, Georgia. During this time Solis casually befriended the Los Angeles music video director Robert Schober, also known as Roboshobo. Schober has previously directed videos for Mastodon,

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, and The B-52s. He began listening to ''The New Los Angeles.'' Four months later he offered to film a music video for the album's title track. The video was released in June 2009, and first premiered at The Viper Room Lounge. The band has released a split 7-inch from

Basement Records Basement Records is an American independent record label founded by Chuck Dietrich in 2000. The company is headquartered in La Habra, California and doubles as a recording studio. The label's primary focus is American punk rock artists. Basement ...

with the hardcore band

Bullet Treatment Bullet Treatment is an American hardcore/punk band based out of Los Angeles, California, United States. Most of their albums are released on Basement Records. They also have released music on Fat Wreck Chords and Think Fast! Records. Started by ...

, and has also announced production on a new album titled ''The New Los Angeles II: Less Violence More Violins,'' which is purportedly inspired by the California education budget deficit.

Shows

The band has performed with bands such as Story of the Year, Mastodon,

, Fireball Ministry, Zeke, 16, Visual Discrimination, and

Mondo Generator Mondo Generator (sometimes known as Nick Oliveri and the Mondo Generator) is an American rock band founded in 1997 by Nick Oliveri. History Formation and ''Cocaine Rodeo'' (1997–2002) Nick Oliveri (under the moniker ''Rex Everything'') fo ...

. They regularly play at venues such as The Viper Room and The Relax Bar, which is booked and managed by Solis as a metal venue in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

Style

The band has drawn favorable comparisons to Black Flag, Motörhead, and

Discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

, and Solis has described the sound as "L.A. hardcore" and "L.A. skate rock." Themes include "municipal outrage" at freeways in Los Angeles and daily incidents and observations from living in the city. Solis has also cited Kiss as one of the band's onstage influences, quoting "For me, Kiss plays very loud and they engage with the audience," and similar to Kiss, they have a wall of amps behind them on stage as both a practical and visual part of the show.

Discography

;Studio albums *''Buicregl'' (2002) CD/LP *''Stop Listening to Bad Music'' (2004) CD/LP *''The New Los Angeles'' (2007) CD/LP ;EPs *''It's Casual/Bullet Treatment Split'' (7-inch vinyl)

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.itscasual.tv/
It's Casual
on MySpace
It's Casual
on Facebook
It's Casual
on YouTube Hardcore punk groups from California Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 2001