Los Angeles
1985–present·Los Angeles, CA
LA's loud-rock history is huge and largely offstage from the noise rock story — hair metal and Sunset Strip dominate the image — but the underground is there. L7 is the noise rock anchor. Four women writing songs that could strip paint, bouncing between Sub Pop and Slash without ever softening the edges. SST Records down in Long Beach fed the wider LA scene; the Smell and the Redwood Bar kept the all-ages DIY circuit going. LA noise doesn't announce itself. You have to know where to look.