Like so many of the bands — good and bad — to rise from Los Angeles' unique amalgam of strip malls, starshine and street life, the postpunk quintet Your Enemies Friends' considerable impact hinges as much on image and attitude as it does the sound itself. Not image in the sense of accessories or visual association, mind you; they don't wear matching outfits or assign themselves general roles like 'the one who"d hold you if you cried," nor will they ever become inextricably linked to mechanical dragons, murderous inflatable ghouls or specific hats. The young-ish group does, however, exhibit a unique ability to manipulate their fans' perceptions, at once appearing and sounding as (a) exactly what they are, and (b) the complete opposite.The band's new record, The Wiretap EP, is a thrashing salvo of No Wave-inspired energy that, at the outset, reeks of nihilism, rejection, the anti-everything. It doesn't just sound potentially dangerous. It sounds like it's actively endeavoring, right now, to twist the shiny happy facade of human interaction into a hideous parody of itself, one that probably reveals too much of our true selves for comfort. At the same time, the tuneage is groovy, pogo-inspiring and played by a smiling, good-looking outfit in their early 20s who mix black, Velvet Underground leather and mod-ish coifs with an indie-thrift aesthetic like they"ve (a) either got no time for irony, or (b) it consumes them completely.
What the hell is going on here?
'sometimes people think that the way we approach (music) is negative, but it's actually very humorous," testifies keyboard player Aska Matsumyia. 'some people just don't get the joke."
The idea of humor arises again and again in conversation with Matsumyia. A nicely subjective tool, it serves to both explain Your Enemies Friends' process, and open even deeper levels of contradiction. After all, it's commonly postulated that every facetious comment is based in truth, or that there can be no comedy without malice. Take, for instance, the band's label, Hollywood's Buddyhead, whose insurgently funny, character-assassinating online gossip page leaves little doubt that, for those guys, some of the best stuff is that which leaves someone bleeding. And judging by the amount of press the site is receiving these days, plenty of other folks second that emotion. (If you haven't had your fill of sublimely vulgar sarcasm and pop culture skewerage today, by all means, head to www.buddyhead.com/gossip. And make a donation.)
So humor is a part of it, sure. But perhaps the simplest analysis of what Your Enemies Friends are all about is that the band is utterly unconcerned with offering the music-listening public a complete package that's easily digestible, explainable or accessible. Hell, they don't even know how the group (Matsumyia, guitarist/vocalist Ronnie Washburn, drummer Luis-Carlos Contreas, guitarist Allen Watke, and bassist/vocalist Dana James) evolved into what it does or doesn't seem to be at this particular moment. They just played the music, and let it happen.
"It's not something that we think about — it came along with time," says Matsumyia. "I think it was like, you don't realize it when you're actually writing music, but when you look back you realize you were going through this or that."
If these folks are tough to peg, it's because any relationship between five creative individuals is a complicated one, and they aren't bothering to clean it up and spell it out for you. In fact, one senses they're getting a lot of enjoyment out of exacerbating the situation.
"We all have completely opposite personalities, but we all have the same sense of humor, I guess. We all laugh at the same things," Matsumyia says cryptically. "I think that it's something you create by being around the same people all the time."
Your Enemies Friends are currently on tour with all-girl quartet The Donnas, known for delivering a vastly more straight-up sort of rock 'n' roll. Anyone who's taken a listen or two to The Wiretap EP could suppose that YEF's jagged style and subversive, clique-y aesthetic might alienate a Donnas crowd. While Matsumyia acknowledges that the group is playing for something of a new audience, and in the largest venues they"ve booked to date, she reports that they're receiving a surprisingly warm reception in most cases.
"It's been amazing every night. It's a younger crowd than we usually play for — it's kind of like a new (style of) music for them," she says. "It's very inspiring to play at bigger places. We went form playing at bars to this tour, which is awesome."
It's safe to say that a majority of those getting turned on to Your Enemies Friends on this tour haven't read about YEF in 'zines or downloaded YEF mp3s. Which means that their first exposure to the group will be the music itself. And that's definitely a good thing, because it's what matters most, really, and at the end of the day, Your Enemies Friends is a great, loud, iconoclastic rock band offering something different from, and in most cases far better than, what's going to make the Top Nine at Nine.
"We just do whatever we like. It doesn't even cross our mind that we should think about whether they're going to get the humor of it," says Matsumyia. 'there's so many different (kinds of) people. I think just being yourself is the best thing you could do."
Editor's note: The Donnas/ Campfire Girls/Your Enemies Friends show, originally thought to be scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 10, was actually confirmed for Monday, Nov. 18.
This article appears in Nov 6-12, 2002.