In 1996, Michael Knott was supposed to become a rock star. After a decade leading underground acts like Lifesavers and L.S. Underground, he’d assembled the Aunt Bettys-an Orange County band aimed for superstardom. Major labels fought over them in a bidding war. Elektra won, offering total creative control and real money. It should have been Knott’s moment.Their self-titled debut delivered everything promised. Recorded at The Green Room and co-produced with Gene Eugene, the album was a “witty, decadent, catchy, assuring rocking record” pulled straight from Knott’s nights in local dive bars. The songs channeled the Stones’ swagger, Bowie’s glam edge, and Jane’s Addiction’s intensity-furious guitars, snarling vocals, and supposedly true stories about alien abductions, tattooed lovers, and the walking wounded of late-night bar culture. Knott rewrote classics like “Rocket & A Bomb” and “Kitty Courtesy,” elevating them to new sonic heights and cranking up t