L.A. DJ/music promoter Michael Stock, founder of the showcase Part Time Punks, has taken Taylor under his wing to record the five glittering tracks that make up the Part Time Punks Session. Like a best coast John Peel, Stock regularly captures radio-ready recordings of bands making their way through the city; for Tennis System’s second go-round, Stock teamed up with Drew Fisher (The Melvins, Bleached, Babies) at the city’s legendary Bedrock Studios L.A. to pin down songs such as “Call it Home,” “The Summer After” and “Esoteric” in a single take, preserving their furious urgency.



Arriving in Los Angeles was a spirit quest that took Taylor from one coast to the other: It was in gritty Washington, D.C. that a young Taylor steeped like tea in the music of Fugazi and Bad Brains, Black Tambourine and Velocity Girl. Now, Taylor distills his adopted home’s sun-bleached optimism and its heartbreaking letdowns: “Lovers and Fake Friends” abandons its dreamy beginnings for a disenchanted, Dinosaur Jr.-esque riot of guitars. “I Want It All” may as well be the lament of every sorry West Coast dream-chaser.