The “FYF Fest” (FYF an acronym for a not-so-press-friendly exclamation) has been one of the musical treasures of the L.A. music scene for some time. This annual festival, done in a true D.I.Y. spirit, has featured the best of the underground, spanning genres and scenes like it ain’t no thing: it was started in 2004 by then-teenager wunderkind Sean Carlson and his buddy Keith Morris (of Black Flag/Circle Jerks fame). This time, however, these champions of all things indie and eff-the-man have outdone themselves. The latest FYF extravaganza – taking place September 5th has a special angle, considering its location at the Los Angeles Historic State Park. It’s subtitled “Save Our State Parks,” and if you’ve ever been to Cali, you know how great the state parks are: where would outdoor sports, music, hiking and so on be without them?

Charity angle, aside, as usual, Carlson has done his all to bring in great music and comedy – outdoing all previous efforts. There’s the tweaked garage rock of Black Lips, the off-kilter Italo-disco of Glass Candy, innovative shoegazed super fuzz from No Age and Wavves, naughty dancing boy Har Mar Supersar, freaky folk from Lightning Bolt, and so much more. It’s for a good cause, it has every band you’d ever want to see, and it’s in the sunshine. What the eff? With a heritage like that, FYF is definitely a must-attend event: best of all, there will be plenty of bike parking, making this not just a cool event that’s good for the ears, but good for the planet! Sometimes the medium is the message!