Listening Post

The conventional wisdom is that grunge killed West Coast metal.

But that's not entirely true: For a short time, the impending dominance of the Seattle sound actually made a lot of L.A. rock bands try harder. It lit a fire under their complacent asses to expand their horizons. And it also gave bands that had been doing that for years a chance to finally be heard.

This was one of those bands -- one of the best no-frills rock and roll acts to kick around the Sunset Strip then finally break through when the rest of the chaff was cut away.

Here's Love/Hate's Wasted in America.