We caught up with Permissive Rot ahead of their show opener on Saturday for Tijuana Panthers at Soda Bar. Get your tickets here and we’ll see you up front!
by Narda Crossley
ListenSD: What’s the strangest or most unexpected inspiration behind one of your songs?
Permissive Rot: The lyrics for “Low Cool Iron” are from the care label on a pair of swimming trunks (“machine wash”, “do not bleach”, etc.). I was looking for something to sing over the music and the trunks were the first thing I grabbed off my bedroom floor.
LSD: If you could collaborate with any musician from San Diego, current or past, who would it be?
PR: Maybe Joseph D’Angelo of La Mesa’s Departmentstore Santas. Their 1984 LP At The Medieval Castle Nineteen 100-Year Lifetimes Since is a homemade, experimental pop masterpiece and was a big inspiration for Downward Sparrow.
LSD: What’s the one thing you wish more people knew about the San Diego music scene?
PR: I don’t know how much it’s changed but it’s always been fairly tight-knit and folks are generally down-to-earth and approachable. I’ve made some good friends over the years. The SD punk/indie/whatever scene has a pretty rich history and it’s cool to be a small part of that.
LSD: Which one song would you recommend to someone who just discovered Permissive Rot for the first time?
PR: Game of Anarchy is kinda Permissive Rot’s anthem/mission statement and probably more indicative of how we sound live as a band than the record as a whole. One of the best songs I’ve written.
LSD: What do you have on repeat lately?
PR: The new album from Intermission is a banger. Guided by Voices, always. The Lavender Flu. Keith Hudson.
