I'm not certain when I first came across The Mormons. A possible date was in 2007 when they played the Eagle Rock Music Festival. If that was my first encounter, it was very appropriate. I've always associated The Mormons with Los Angeles music festivals. In 2010, I shot the FYF Festival and as I left the festival (exhausted from a full day of shooting), one of my hopes was to run across the band playing somewhere outside the festival grounds. I was not disappointed.
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| The Mormons outside FYF in 2010 |
Who are The Mormons? The band has been around since 1998, but I think you'd be forgiven if you haven't heard of The Mormons. They've carved out a niche in the deep underground scene -- and I'm sure they're still playing outside music festivals. Their Spotify bio has the following, "The Mormons are a Los Angeles punk band that has been rocking out correctly since 1998. They are known for their high energy stage performances and Devo inspired sound." With a band named based off a religious organization, they're also irreverent.
I happened to notice that they were playing at The Escondite with a long time favorite Pu$$y-Cow (you can read a review I wrote up in 2025 here). More than a few years had passed since I last saw a full set of The Mormons so I circled the date.
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| The Mormons at The Escondite |
The band lived up to their Spotify bio, closing out the night with a 35 minute punk performance and dark, humorous, and sarcastic takes on their songs. And yes, all members of the band were dressed as Mormon student missionaries. There is one large difference (of many) between the band and student missionaries. Mormon student missionaries serve for two years while The Mormons are closing in on 30 years.
For "Robot Remnants," lead singer Patrick Jones took a step out onto the removable stage steps and then you saw him judging the situation. Suddenly, he did a dead weight drop onto the floor. A bang was heard as his bike helmet hit the floor. He later took those removable steps and dragged it out to the center of The Escondite's floor. He then carried it back like a cross.
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| The Mormons at The Escondite |
Fellow original member Vince O'Campo provided the humorous commentary on their songs (sometimes rather morbid). For "Pixelate Me," he went off on how the song is a remake of Tron. He did his movie review of the recent Tron: Ares movie by saying it did have good moments, but it also wasn't that good and that their song was easily better than the movie. For "Rats," he went with the morbid take, talking about how Gene Hackman basically died due to rat droppings. Hackman didn't die from hantavirus, but O'Campo argued that he indirectly died from it.
Comment from the audience: Is this like Devo, but with bike helmets?
Comment from the band: Back to Mr. T's there.
You've got to know a little music history to understand the comment. Mr. T's Bowl is currently Highland Park Bowl. Back in say the 1990s to early 2000s, it became a hangout for the punk music scene that included Pu$$y-Cow and The Mormons. You wouldn't enter through the front door. No, you entered from the back.
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| The Mormons at The Escondite |
Talk about a flashback moment for me. In the audience was Chris Price, formerly of the band Automatic Music Explosion. That band goes down as one of my two favorite Los Angeles DIY bands of all time.
Let's go with "Assholes and E Waste" as the Song Spotlight, because there is a love-hate relationship with technology. Here we have a rant against it. The song can be found on their most recent EP, the 2024 They Watch.
Worthless chatter incased in glass.
Setlist: Assholes and E Waste, Robot Remnants, Easy Dancing, Eaters of Shit, Recoupin', Pixelate Me, Rats, Apocalypse 2012 A.D. the Ride, P.A.D. Hair and Teeth, Armchair-Armchairs, They Watch.
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