60 Watt Kid

During a period of financial hardship, vocalist Kevin Litrow routinely took light bulbs from his building’s laundry facilities simply to illuminate his living space. The apartment manager responded by circulating a notice that urged residents to “watch out for the 60 watt kid,” an epithet that later supplied the title for Litrow’s folk-noise endeavor. After leaving the noisy dance-punk duo Dance Disaster Movement in 2002, he began performing solo acoustic freakout sets throughout Los Angeles and Orange County. He soon teamed with multi-instrumentalist Derek Thomas to lay down a CD-R demo of droney psychedelic pop. The pair then relocated to San Francisco—the city widely regarded as the birthplace of psychedelic music—where they enlisted drummer/xylophonist Garrett Pierce. The trio quickly built a local following through appearances at Café du Nord, the Hemlock, and assorted area warehouses. Their concerts incorporated 8-mm footage that supplied a vivid ’60s kitsch setting for the ambient swells threading through their improvisational pop melodies. Impressed by a single live set, Absolutely Kosher offered 60 Watt Kid a recording contract, resulting in the release of the band’s self-titled debut LP in early November 2007.