For many of us, the idea of extraterrestrial life outside of our universe is a feasible one. For one, it would be pretty collectively self indulgent to assume that we are the only living beings in our infinite and ever expansive universe. The idea of aliens visiting our planet from other solar systems would oppose everything we've come to understand about physics, and would have to involve some sort of time travel, a concept that, for us carbon based knuckleheads, is something we just can't wrap our brains around. But as far as extraterrestrials or aliens go in science fiction novels, in movies and music, it is pretty commonplace. The reason for this may be attributed to our consistent need to validate our existence by familiarity and our desire to not feel alone.
Zolar X, the now legendary glam rock outfit from Los Angeles, is a perfect example of our insistence of entertaining the notion of alien life in music. Forming during the late months of 1971 by Steve Della Bosca (who would later adopted the moniker Ygarr Ygarrist and later went on to be in Rock Bottom and the Spys), Billy McCartney (Zory Zenith) and Bruce Alan Courtois (Zany Zatovian), they've come to be known as one of rock n'roll's strangest acts. Going as far as inventing their own “Zolarian” dialect, often to other's annoyance, they made sure to never break character in public. They made their own costumes that usually included bizarre and cumbrous shoulder pads, jumpsuits made with otherworldly materials (silver lame') weird boots and a large array of prosthetic antennas. During the heyday of Glam they became fixtures on the LA scene playing at Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, The Starwood and Palladium with such acts as The New York Dolls, Iggy Pop and Van Halen.
With a renewed interest in the band, last year Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label reissued their Timeless LP that included additional tracks not on the original album of the same name that Ygarr put out himself nearly 25 years ago. There is a documentary that should hit the film festivals within this next year, and Zolar X go out on tour with Thor starting this Friday in Seattle (see dates below).
Aug. 18 at Sunset Tavern in Seattle, WA
Aug. 19 at Dante's in Portland, OR
Aug. 20 at Golden Bull in Oakland, CA
Aug. 21 at 12 Galaxies in San Francisco, CA
Aug. 22 at The Attic in Santa Cruz, CA
Aug. 23 at The Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, CA
Aug. 24 at Brick By Brick in San Diego, CA
Aug. 26 at Vaudeville Cabaret in Tucson, AR
Aug. 29 at Rudyard's in Houston, TX
Aug. 30 at Emo's in Austin, TX
Sept. 1 at The Conservatory in Oklahoma City, OK
Sept. 2 at Downtown Music in Little Rock, AR
Sept. 3 at The Basement in Nashville, TN
Sept. 7 at The Note in Chicago, IL
Sept. 8 at Vnuk's in Cudahy, WI
Sept. 9 at Saddle Creek Bar in Omaha, NE
Sept. 10 at 3 Kings Tavern in Denver, CO
Sept. 11 at Urban Lounge in Salt Lake City, UT
Sept. 12 at Neurolux in Boise, ID
Sept. 14 at Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma, WA
And here is the Zolar X "Timeless: Starmen on Sunset" Documentary Teaser.
Zolar X's wig stands back stage at the Subterranean. Photo by Alex White
