Spinning 'Permanent' Sounds in Eagle Rock

While shuttered record stores have become an all-too -common sight in this era of digital downloads and file sharing, many music fans insist that nothing delivers the sound of music quite like the grooves of good old vinyl.

And that’s the creed of Permanent Records, a Chicago-based record store/record label that recently opened its doors at 1583 Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock. On June 4, an eager crowd of music aficionados perused eclectic releases, noshed on food donated by neighborhood store , and enjoyed performances courtesy of live bands and deejays.

When Permanent Records' proprietors Lance Barresi and Liz Tooley first experienced Eagle Rock, they were impressed by the community’s feisty bohemian spirit. “We came for a visit on a friend’s recommendation to eat at but it was closed,” recalls Barresi. “We came wandering up the street, went into the comic book shop, saw a ‘For Lease’ sign in the window, talked to Tim the landlord, who is a super cool guy, loved the space, and here we are.”

Tooley makes it all sound so easy—and who can deny that it’s the perfect fit: Permanent Records also has a division of the company devoted to signing and releasing music–a welcome addition to Northeast Los Angeles’ thriving live music scene.

“Lance and I will do a lot of the A&R (artist and repertoire), but it’s a big collective of people,” says Tooley.

Genre-wise, the label focuses on rock. “But we’ve dabbled in a few other things,” says Barresi. “We’ve done every thing from garage rock to hypnotic psych to brutal noise, almost metal stuff. We’ve also done some Italian horror music for Umberto, out of Kansas City. We don’t really do anything specific, aside from what we like a lot–so much we can’t not put it out.”

Permanent Records plans to be “a retail store and a label with nothing but underground artists,” according to Barresi. “And a few reissues. We did the “Busted at Oz” Chicago punk LP from 1981 for its 30^th anniversary, and we reissued Steel Pole Bathtub’s last record, “Unlistenable,” which is a real ‘chrome’ psychedelic punk’ record. Also, a Cyclone retrospective—they’re an arty, minimalist band from The Bay Area.”

Unheard gems, says Barresi, are the company’s sonic trademarks. “People submit stuff and we find old records. When music comes across our desk and we think, ‘This can’t go unheard any longer,’ that’s when we jump at the opportunities. We don’t have a regular release schedule—we’re always waiting for the perfect record, which is very subjective.”

At the record store, under-appreciated and obscure classic LPs fill the bins and line the walls. While the store also sells new and used CDs, cassette tapes from microlabels, zines, turntables, accessories, and selected DVDs, their passion is vinyl.

“We have limited space,” notes Barresi. “Everyone knows you can go to a thrift store and get a Herb Alpert record for a dollar. But where can you find a record by The Shaggs anywhere but online? Again, we’re curating the store based on what we like.”

Based on enthusiastic reactions from the store’s customers on opening day, Permanent Records is rapidly endearing themselves to a devoted following of Eagle Rockers.

For the store’s energetic entrepreneurs, it’s a two-way street. “We found a neighborhood we liked and went for it,” says Barresi. “Who could come to Eagle Rock and not want to stay?”