Death of Innocence

Legal Weapon, “Death of Innocence” (Arsenal, 1982)
Legal Weapon were part of the first wave of suburban L.A. hardcore. But while they shared their peers’ cold edge, dark melodic sense and feral attack, their music was slightly slower, and thicker and more swinging as well. But what really made them stand out was lead vocalist Kat Arthur, whose husky, tremulous wail came at you like a steamroller, with hints of both cute and scary – picture a teenage punk rock Janis Joplin who can also channel Tiffany/Debbie Gibson or Linda Blair’s character from “The Exorcist.” Her lyrics were cool, also sex/drugs/crime/family dysfunction/social conflict/economic collapse. . . kind of like now. Oh yeah, they were catchy as all hell, too.
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