If I’m being honest, I was never a big fan of the L.E.S. Stitches. They shared a lot of bills, it seems, with bands I was a fan of, at places like Coney Island High and the Continental, but there was something about them that was so adherent to the tonsorial and sartorial parameters of “punk rawk, maaaan,” that it seemed a little too contrived for my tastes (not unlike the similarly inclined D Generation).
That said, It must seem a bit rich for someone as hopelessly nostalgic as myself to be lambasting a band for being too unabashedly retro. They just didn’t seem to bring anything new to the discussion, y’know? Ahh, what do I know…. they at least got out there and did it. What the hell did I ever do?
Anyway, apropos of absolutely nothing, I found myself dialing up some Stitches on YouTube and — who knew? — they actually made a couple of proper videos. While I haven’t really changed my tune about the band, I enjoyed this particular clip — entitled “Could Just Die” — in that it unwittingly captured some downtown locations that, twenty years later, either don’t exist anymore or simply aren’t recognizable.
Keep your eyes out for The Scrap Bar, The Continental, Sophie’s, the stoop of 36 East 4th Street (across from what is now Swift’s), The New York Marble Cemetery and more…
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