Laaz Rockit "Know Your Enemy": Bleeding Priest's Bay Area Metal Spotlight 21

Laaz Rockit

Know Your Enemy

1987

Roadrunner Records/Enigma Records

Holy shit. It’s Bleeding Priest’s Bay Area Metal Spotlight. Who’s this fresh-faced pup talking to you right here? Yeah, new year, new face, or new old face. I shave my beard off every January. It’s just a thing I do.

But anyway, I’m not here to talk about my face. I’m here to talk about Lȧȧz Rockit and Know Your Enemy. This is a ripping Bay Area metal album. This is the first album where they really started getting the sound that most people are familiar with. It’s the Annihilation Principle era sound. Real crushing guitar tone and more in a thrash direction.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Lȧȧz Rockit, at least on this album, are a thrash band yet. But they are definitely heading in that direction, especially compared to the album that came prior to this, No Stranger to Danger. That record was kind of the weakest album of their entire discography, I would say, and not very heavy.

Their debut is fantastic. City’s Gonna Burn is very promising. Then they kind of took a step backwards with No Stranger to Danger and went for more of a radio-friendly sound. I don’t know how else you’d put it. But they came back with a vengeance with this album.

This is my favorite Lȧȧz Rockit album. Most folks will pick the follow-up, Annihilation Principle, and that’s a brilliant album as well and definitely more thrashy. I just dig the songs on this album a little more.

Mike Coons, the vocalist, is at his peak on this record. Most Dangerous Game is probably my favorite Lȧȧz Rockit song. Brilliant songwriting. The vocals really make the song soar. Mike Coons was a very special vocalist and doesn’t get enough credit. Lȧȧz Rockit doesn’t get enough credit, period.

Laaz Rockit, 1980s

They were pretty influential in the Bay Area scene in a pretty big way. In the early ’80s, they were the band that most bands opened up for. They were the shit. Then they got a little bigger in the late ’80s and got more thrash, but they kind of got lost in the shuffle with other thrash bands that had been doing it longer or were just a little more vicious with their sound. I don’t know why they didn’t get bigger than they did, but this album is fucking fantastic.

This is the first record to feature their mascot, Crunch. I love this album cover. This is USA all the way. Very flag-waving.

I bought this record at a place in Grass Valley called Clock Tower Records. At some point in time, Ron Quintana was involved with that store and was selling records there. He eventually opened up his own store, Ron’s Real Records. Some of his collection is still at Clock Tower Records, I believe, and I think this copy is from his collection.

The back tells a different story, though. It’s autographed by guitarist Aaron Jellum and it’s for a guy named Mikey. He wrote, “Mikey, let’s smoke some.” So Mikey, if you’re out there, I have your record, and I’ll sell it to you for one million dollars.

I actually have a little bit of history with Lȧȧz Rockit. The only audition I didn’t get was auditioning for Lȧȧz Rockit. I was 18 years old. I had just moved out of the house and was living in Hayward. A good friend of mine, Scott Sargeant, had just joined Lȧȧz Rockit, and they had a tour of Japan coming up. They needed a drummer, either permanently or just for that tour. Either way, it was a trip to Japan.

So I said fuck yeah.

I learned the four or five songs he asked me to learn. I already knew most of them because I had Annihilation Principle, and I think I had this album on cassette. I went to the audition and I was just too excited. Too young and too excited. I played the songs way too fast. I remember the bass player at the time telling me to slow it down while we were playing, and he was right. I was just trying to show off how fast I could play and how fast my double bass was.

It wasn’t a train wreck, but it definitely wasn’t tight. I didn’t get the gig, and I wasn’t surprised. I knew the songs. I just played them recklessly.

I do remember one of the guys casually talking about doing a bunch of cocaine earlier in the day and then running his dog in the Oakland Hills. It was so rock and roll.

Fast forward about eight years. Scott Sargeant calls me again and asks if I can play a couple of Lȧȧz Rockit tunes at an event at Slim’s. This was around 1997 or 1998. It was a memorial show for a woman who was very influential in the Bay Area metal scene. Vicious Rumors played. Tom Hunting did a Black Sabbath set where he was singing and drumming, which was pretty fucking awesome.

A version of Lȧȧz Rockit played. I was on drums. Scott Sargeant was on guitar. John Torres was on bass. Sven Sutherland was on second guitar. Mike Coons was the vocalist and the only legit original member on stage.

We didn’t even rehearse. Earlier that day, my band Old Grandad played on Market Street at the very first Tidal Wave fest. Then I went straight to Slim’s and played on Tom Hunting’s kit, which was a real treat. That kit was dialed in.

We played Leatherface, Prelude to Death, Fire in the Hole, and one other song I can’t remember. I remember Mike Coons turning around and saying he didn’t even know who I was, but that I was pretty good. We fucking ripped it. I still have it on cassette somewhere.

Then fast forward again to around 2001 or 2002, when the Chuck Billy benefit happened at Maritime Hall. Scott Sargeant calls me again and asks if I want to drum for Lȧȧz Rockit at the benefit. Of course I said yes. It was one of the most significant thrash metal events ever and for a great cause.

I spent weeks doing my homework. Then the week of the show, I got the call that Mike Coons decided he didn’t want to do the event. Whatever the reason, Lȧȧz Rockit didn’t play. I was fucking crushed. Their logo was on all the posters and shirts, but they didn’t actually perform. Flotsam and Jetsam replaced them and absolutely killed it. Best set of the night.

I love Lȧȧz Rockit. They kick ass. This album, Annihilation Principle, and the follow-up Nothing Sacred are the trifecta of their super heavy, ripping records that border on thrash.

If you’re not familiar with this one, check it out. It’s a great place to start.

I’ll talk to you soon. Bye-bye.

–Bleeding Priest