With Slate of Live Music, Small’s K.O. Is a Knockout

A lot of people who came of age in the late ‘80s grew up in a Hollywood bar called Small’s K.O. Small’s had the look and the soul that later became the standard for dozens of nightspots. The intimate room was a little bit worn, but nothing that a lick of paint, some cool fixtures and very dim lighting couldn’t repair.

No matter what you did earlier in the evening, everyone in the underground music scene wound up at Small’s before calling it a night, which made for a jampacked, smoke-filled rock ‘n’ roll experience. When some deejay wasn’t rocking you out with the Black Crowes, the Rolling Stones or the Stooges, a band was rocking you out on the small stage.

Scenes have come and gone in the past decade, but Small’s defied the odds by never closing down or renaming itself to fit whatever new wave came along.

To its credit, the beloved club is setting a new standard. About six months ago, Nancy Whalen, the founder of the seminal Silver Lake club Pan (the forerunner of Spaceland), began booking live music three nights a week, and Small’s is rockin’ once again.

Shows are free Tuesday through Thursday, and Whalen is booking some of the best bands around. In addition to some better-known local bands such as Silver Lake rockers TouchCandy and WACO, Whalen is giving a lot of baby bands their first shows. “I don’t care if a band has a following,” she says. “It’s not about who you know, it’s about fostering new talent.”

Tonight is a good example of the new Small’s experience, pairing two bands that make their own instruments: experimental jazzers Pink Floyd the Barber and Ukefink, which does a sort of alternative hillbilly thing by employing such oddities as a vintage suitcase equipped with strings and a kiddie drum kit. During the upcoming “Poptopia ‘97” festival at many clubs, Small’s will counter with a “Punktopia” showcase: Expected on Feb. 4 are E. Coli and the Splatz, and on Feb. 6 PopDefect, Thelonious Monster and Shoegazer play.

* Small’s K.O., 5547 Melrose Ave. 21 and over, no cover. (213) 469-8258.

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Club Buzz: A hot deejay is proving once again that all you need are two turntables and a microphone: Deejay Plan 9 From Outer Space, a recent New York transplant, can currently be found in Hollywood at Small’s on Tuesdays and the Room on Thursdays and Sundays. Going back to the old school by working two records at a time, Plan 9 scratches, twists and turns the platters, which include lots of ‘50s and ‘70s jazz, funk and “good” hip-hop. “I don’t do gangsta-isms,” he says.

* The Room, (213) 462-7196.