The punk scene in Los Angeles was the last of punk music's Big Three (including New York and London) to make a name for itself, and did not share the sonic diversity of the bands from the other scenes. L.A.'s punk scene seemed to be the one with the longest staying power though: throughout punk music's evolution into hardcore, and alternative rock and then later in the '90s into punk-pop, it always thrived in the L.A./Orange County area. With all these different types of punk music existing and taken into account though, L.A. punk usually refers to the original bands from the city, before hardcore took over. The punk music that these bands played were often tight and gritty, somewhat tougher and faster than their New York and London contemporaries. The one major exception to this rule though was X, whose male/female harmonies, riffs borrowed from rockabilly, and educated lyrics probably would have fit right in with the CBGB's crowd. Other prominent bands that contributed to the sound of L.A. punk were the socially political Dils, the pioneering hardcore and anguished lyrics of Germs, and the bizarre humor of the Weirdos and the Dickies. Due to the rougher style of punk in L.A., the city later became the center for the music's shift into hardcore, with Black Flag and their label SST leading the way through the '80s.