Lostboys Finding Their Heavy-Metal Niche

How do you remold a generic Valley-metal band into a rough, tough posse of Hollywood rockers? Like, say, convert Odin--the youthful band that Bill Gazzarri kept calling a “foxy bunch of guys” in the film ‘Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years”--into the bikeresque Lostboys, who headlined the Roxy on Friday?

You could decorate the mike stands with plants, place lighted candles by the drum kit, plaster the clothing with drawings of Jesus and talk a lot about “the streets” between songs. You also could have lead singer Randy O learn his moves by watching Guns N’ Roses videos and write choruses that go something like this: “Lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely. . . .” You could also have the band be managed by street-smart mogul Vicky Hamilton, who helped launch GN’R, Poison and Faster Pussycat.

And it almost works. The Lostboys’ bottom-heavy hard-rock tunes don’t have the vocal hooks or monster riffs of a Guns N’ Roses, but the band is well rehearsed and appears ready to spend the next year opening arena shows for Kix or whatever. With the right video, these guys could be as big as--and probably about as interesting--as, say Warrant.