Review #220: Black Flag - The Process of Weeding Out 12" (1985)

THE PROCESS OF WEEDING OUT (EP)

Year: 1985
Genre: Post-Punk/Free Jazz
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 4
Length: 26 Minutes
My Rating: 6/8

Sorry it's been awhile since I've written a review, I guess. Feels that way, anywaez. Anyways, yeah, I had kind of some depression shit going on and a lot of school work too and I think I should go take a shit, so I'll go and do that and then get [it] on with the GODDAMNED REVIEW ALREADY!!!

Okay, I typed that previous part about three days ago and I still haven't finished the fucking review... I'm just gonna start blaming it on the Zoloft. Anyways, I'm on break right now (sort of) so I've got no more exkuses. And I feel just fine right now, thank you very much...

Anyways, ABOUT THE ALBUM... this is "The Process of Weeding Out" by Black Flag, a four-song instrumental EP in which the band further explores their new punk-jazz-metal-stoner motif which could be said "weeded out" a lot of people who only liked them for their hardcore sound, and there's no singing... Henry Rollins isn't on this album at all, so he was probably off masturbating or doing spoken word while the rest of the band jammed their pennises and vaggina off! This is one of the last records the band ever released while they were still together -- just a month before their final LP, "In My Head" came out... that was a cool album. But we're talking about TPOWO today, so let's get the wax a-spinnin'...

1. Your Last Affront
A real long song... starts off with just the crazy bass guitar riff... the drumming is wild and all over the place, though you get the idea that they know what's going on more than you ever will... eventually some weird lead guitar melodies can be heard, with the occasional blast of an A-chord... the guitar gets more and more intense as it starts sounding more like a speeding vehicle buzzing off into a desert. It gets around to feeling like some sort of a soundscape... real amazing. The lead guitar bubbles up to the surface of the glass panel which separates you from this wildness... be it the album sheet or the screen of the computer. In another part of the song, the beat starts getting really fast and choppy. Like a gun firing bullets! Amazing... after the chaos climaxes, the song SERIOUSLY slows down, into a trudge through a lonely, slow, cavernous atmosphere... is this my last affront? WELL GEE WILLIE WONKERZ GODDAMN IF I KNOW!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. The thumping beat kind of reminds me of those first few moments of "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath, or even "Three Nights" by this same band. After a few minutes, the music gets ultra-fast again and gradually returns to the original bass riff, kind of like how the song started before the slow part. What a song...

2. Screw the Law
This is a fast one with a hardcore beat... however, the guitar sounds hardly anything like that style of music... more heavy metal, but still nothing like metal... a lot of lead guitar wankage and a pretty cool bass riff. At the very end, the drumming gets REALLY crazy, and then the song's over. End of Side A.

3. The Process of Weeding Out
A ten-minute song... pretty much the punk equivalent of free jazz... ridiculous ultra-fast drumming, improvised lead guitar playing, funky bass-playing... eventually, the drumming turns into a more normal beat, but it doesn't last for too long. Very improvised, un-traditional sounding music... I would barely even call this rock music.

4. Southern Rise
This one's got a slow, blues-type beat and a pretty damn cool bass riff. Nice, relaxed guitar sounds... the beat eventually gets faster and more punkish... towards the later half of the song, the guitar solos get more intense but also quieter... either that or it's just my imagination. Sometimes you'll hear drumrolls that sound like machine guns firing off. Pretty cool. The song fades out...

Kind of like the second half of "Family Man". My favorite songs on this record are "Your Last Affront" and "Southern Rise". Actually, the second song is pretty good too, I just wasn't extremely into the song that the EP is named after. But it's a pretty neat listen. Don't expect a Minor Threat song here! Weird, jazzy, discordant, but somehow it all works. Anyways, sorry for taking so long to make this review, I just felt shitty and lazy lately. Bye bye.

Review #171: Black Flag - Loose Nut (1985)

LOOSE NUT

Year: 1985
Genre: Hardcore Punk/Heavy Metal
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 9
Length: 34 Minutes
Style: Angry/Energetic
My Rating: 7/8

By 1985, a lot of Black Flag's fanbase began to dwindle 'cuz they were becoming so damn different from all of the other bands that they had influenced. Integrating heavy metal into their music, playing slower, elements of free-jazz, a spoken word album, and all other sorts of things that were seen as "un-punk" (how ironic!), Black Flag returned once again just a few months after "Slip It In" came out to bring us this album, called "Loose Nut". Looks like that guy in the cover of the album may be having a "loose nut" himself, dontcha think? Anyways, this album is very similar musically to "Slip It In", maybe a tad bit poppier, and it includes an older song also called "Modern Man" which was written back in the early '80s.

1. Loose Nut
Wow, the production is pretty far above what I'm used to hearing from this band! A lot more reverb here. Which isn't so bad. The riff is real heavy-metal sounding. Kool feed-back on this, as well. The lead guitar on the third verse sounds pretty damn awesome. A lot of layered vocals, the whole song feels like a huge wall of melodic chaos bouncing off the sides of your eardrums! And then, you've gotta love the expectable schizophrenic guitar solo from Greggy Ginny! The song speeds up and collapses into a moment of chaos at the end.

2. Bastard in Love
The first song I heard from this album (in this digital age it is likely you will not hear the first song on an album first). It's pretty catchy and surprisingly poppy for a Black Flag song, but of course with that edge you'd still expect from a Black Flag. Just a lot more up-beat. Gotta love that guitar solo as well. And there's even vocal harmony in the background with either Greg Ginn or Kira Roessler (probably Greg). It's a good-feelin' song.

3. Annihilate This Week
Another catchy as fuck (in a darker way) song! It's a satire on a person who goes out and gets fucked up and does drugs every week to pass time by and always parties. I love it... there's something really dark yet up-beat about it. You can hear Kira and Greg in the background yelling the names of the days of the week inbetween Henry's lines in the chorus section. Kira's voice sounds AWESOME. "But you're a regular party MACHIIIINE...". FUCK YEAH! And to make things better, there's a fucking kick-ass guitar solo that's REALLY AWESOME AND FUCK YES, THIS SONG FUCKIN' RULES YOU FUCKIN' FUCKERS SO FUCKIN' FUCK OFF YOU FUCKIN' PIECE OF FUCK! Which would be a compliment. Damn, I'm really feeling the energy from this one. Must mean it's an awesome song, man! YES!!

4. Best One Yet
The intro vaguely reminds me of "Slip It In". This one's once again a little more positive-sounding than that song. TAKEALOOKAROUNDTAKEALOOKAROUNDTAKEALOOKAROUND! THIS WILL BE THE BEST ONE YET! The bass riff is real cool too, so listen to it, man/woman!

5. Modern Man
This song's older than the other songs on this album, and an earlier version of it can be found on the "1982 Demos" album. The intro is slow and similar to Black Sabbath with the thumping bass pedal and that demonic-sounding riff. But this all speeds up after many repeats of that... to turn into something a lot more fast and the riff changes into a chaotic, energetic speedy fucker that reminds me of driving the car through the street in the daytime and banging my skull on the air in front of me! Henry sings about a character, "Modern Man", representing the state of people who have no time for intimacy or to be personal and are so fixated on work and the like that they don't even have a desire to enjoy life as much as be a gear in the machine. Another really good song, once again.

6. This is Good
Sort of an erratic guitar riff to this one. A little bit like "Swinging Man", but slower, riff-wise. A little too repetitive, still, so it drags on even though it's probably one of the worse songs on the album.

7. I'm the One
A little better than the track before it, but still kind of falls short compared to the first five songs. It's fast and it's got a verse and chorus and shit. Like that. Hehe. Maybe I just don't feel as good as I did earlier.

8. Sinking
A slow song. Neat bass riff. It's a little less energetic. Not downright fucked-up like the My War stuff, but here's Henry singing "it hurts to be alone". One minute in there's a real good guitar solo, but it's also very short. Starts out kinda melodic but quickly flails into atonal sadness. 'nother guitar solo at two minute and fifteen seconds in. Come to think of it, this song sounds a lot like the kind of stuff they'd be playing on "In My Head", the slow psycho-delic sorta stuff. This one's pretty good.

9. Now She's Black
The beginning is slow. The beat vaguely reminds me of the Butthole Surfers, somehow. Did Black Flag even listen to the Butthole Surfers? I do nut know. This song's about Henry being really in love with a girl who ends up turning on him. There's a slow guitar-only bridge section with Henry speaking the lines rather than singing them. BLACKKK!!! BLAAACK!!! FLAG.

That's the end of the album. Many people don't like the album for its production or the fact that it sounds too much like heavy metal, but that does sort of make it stand out and I like it in some ways better than the similar album that came before it, "Slip It In". There's some real high-energy moments to the album, however, especially the first five songs. YEAH! So, go check it aut if you haven't already. It's a real cool album, mannnnn. WOWEE ZOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Annihilate This Week
2. Modern Man
3. Bastard In Love

Review #150: Black Flag - Slip It In (1984)

SLIP IT IN

Year: 1984

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 8
Length: 38 Minutes
Style: Angry
My Rating: 6/8

After being prevented from releasing any new albums for about a year and a half by law, the band began releasing new albums like crazy several times in one year to compensate. 1984 started off with the infamous album My War, then in September, the band released a spoken-word/instrumental album that was musically weirder than anything else they had released at the time, "Family Man". Now, only three months later in December, the band released another new album called "Slip It In", which returns more to the style of music that can be found on the first half of My War, and it's got a lovely lil' cover of a nun holding some dude's leg (probably Greg Ginn's). But yeah, it's the fourth Black Flag album. It's pretty good.

1. Slip It In
Yes, it is the song that the album iz named after. Surprised? Well, yeah, there's this really cool bass riff being played by Kira, and then soon enough, the guitar and drums are brought into the mix, with the signature musical pause in the song done once, before Henry starts singing. There's a lot of guitar leads which add to a more intense feel for the song. I love the rhythm guitar riff that Greg plays right before the first verse begins. Oh, and Suzi Gardner from L7 does the backing vocals on this song... that's right, the girl who's moaning "slip it in!" throughout the song. Yeah, this song's about a typical slut who tries to pretend that she's innocent but usually ends up fucking everyone in the end. "You're not loose, you're wide open!". Yeah, and don't forget to watch the truly awesome music video for this song either.

2. Black Coffee
One of the first Black Flag songs I can remember listening to. And it's pretty good. The riff is legit, the song wouldn't be complete with the descending lead notes that play during the verse, and the beat is fast enough to give it that punch it needs. There's a nice solo about mid-way through the song.

3. Wound Up
This song has the feel of an earlier Black Flag song... it's mainly in the guitar riffs. The things that set it apart from early 'Flag is the noise-feedback cracks in the first riff, and the breaks/pauses in the chorus section. But I could totally see Keith Morris singing this. Another guitar solo in the middle.

4. Rat's Eyes
This is a slower song, tempo-wise, but there's more to it, usually extra beats and chords added on succeeding a section of the song where the verse or chorus "should have" actually ended. I think the point of this song is to describe feeling like being in the lowest of lows in society, being regarded as "filth" and "shit" because of a lack of money. This was definitely the situation of the band at the time that this song was written, and continued to be until after the band broke up. End of Side 1.

5. Obliteration
Am I hearing gongs here? Maybe they're just cymbals or something. This is an instrumental piece, riddled with confusing tempo-shifts and note progressions. Very unpredictable. Either that or I'm just stupid. At the end of the song, the tempo begins to progressively slow down to a trudging slowness as it is suffocated by an endless array of lead guitar melody.

6. The Bars
The song starts out sounding a ton like "Slip It In", until the riff is revealed to be much different. I mean, the bass riff is different also, but not that different, and I swear you could probably at least have the first minute of these songs playing together in perfect sync. The song's lyrics describe the feeling of living life itself as being trapped inside a prison cell, as Henry sings "every time I see, I've got my hands wrapped around the bars". The first verse of the song sings about a girl who "saw the prison inside", and "on angel's wings jumped out of her apartment window", alluding to suicide.

7. My Ghetto
The song ominously begins with a long hum of feedback, before the first verse abuptly begins, with extreme full force and intensity. Henry rants of the monster known as his ghetto, which sucks in victims and devours, so eager to give nothing to its victims. The beat gets progressively faster and faster until it collapses upon itself into pure noise, which dissipates into nothing but more feedback. Shortest song on the album.

8. You're Not Evil
The longest song on the album. There are slow parts, fast parts, calm parts, angry parts, scary parts, it has a lot of variety in it. The song describes somebody who feels guilty about being themselves and that "they're evil" because society pressures them into feeling that way. If that's what the song's about, then I can say I can relate to this one. "YOU'RE NOT EVIL..."

It's not quite as good as some of the other albums like "In My Head" or "My War" or "Damaged", but still a good album for sure. There's a lot more heavy metal in this album than the ones before it, so metalheads could probably appreciate this one too. I'd even go as far to say that there's a jazz influences as well... not as much as on "Family Man", but it's definitely there. And I'm just spewing crap, 'cause I don't even listen to jazz, but I've heard enough to know that this album is influenced by it. So, yes, Slip It In. Slip It In-to your CD player. Slip It In back into its protective cover (tehe) when you're done listening to it on your turntable. Slip It In-to your cassette tape player. Slip It In to some girl's pussy. Or a dude, if you swing that way. Or not. But yeah, that's all I can think of to say for this review. Now enjoy this music video.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Slip It In
2. My Ghetto
3. Wound Up

MUSIC VIDEO FOR "SLIP IT IN"

Review #136: Black Flag - Everything Went Black (1982)

EVERYTHING WENT BLACK

Year: 1982

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 25
Length: 63 Minutes
Style: Angry/Rebellious
My Rating: 7/8

In the first half of the band's career, Black Flag went through more vocalists than toilet paper! Well, not quite (I hope, at least), but there were several vocalists before Henry Rollins, and in some aspects these incarnations of Black Flag enjoyed more success. "Everything Went Black" contains just about most of the stuff that Black Flag recorded in the late '70s and early '80s that didn't make it on any records. We hear very early versions of songs that later became famous, and the band's transition from a snotty, more metal-influenced version of the Sex Pistols to what came close to their mental phase that reached full bloom when Henry Rollins joined the band.

It's a double LP, so each side (except for the last one) is dedicated to a certain phase of the band. Side A of the first slab has all of the Keith Morris (of Circle Jerks fame) stuff, and the songs are somewhat slow. The B-side of that same vinyl has Ron Reyes/Chavo Pederast, and it's slightly rougher than their '78 cuts, but it has the least material on it. The second LP has a Side C featuring early '80s recordings with Dez Cadena and his extremely aggressive vocals, enough to fill out an album in its own right. And lastly, Side D is just an audio collage of early Black Flag radio promos. When the band first released this album, they were still in the middle of legal trouble with MCA, forbidden to release any more music, so initially the record was just released under the names of the performers in Black Flag featured on this album, alongside the famous four-bars logo. By 1983, the album had the Black Flag name on the cover again.

1. Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie (Keith)
The first part of the album kicks off with some Keith Morris, so these songs would fit in nicely on "Nervous Breakdown". This is my favorite version of the song. The beat is really cool. It actually slows down after the intro, but then we get a real rockin' riff and a those confrontational vocals from Keith. In the second verse, it gets even slower! The lyrics are bratty and awesome. "I've got problems of my own, they ain't the kind that can't be solved with an... ATOM BOMB!". Eventually, a later version of this song was one of the songs on the first LP, "Damaged".

2. I Don't Care (Keith)
Eventually Keith made (much to the dismay of Greg Ginn) this song his own by playing a faster version on the first Circle Jerks album. It's a classic anthem to teenage apathy and recklessness, especially to average girls.

3. White Minority (Keith)
A satirical song that makes fun of white supremacist groups. Nonetheless, I really like this song. Nice guitar riff-age in all parts. Later sung by Ron Reyes on the "Jealous Again" EP.

4. No Values (Keith)
Another Jealous Again track done with Keith Morris. This version of the song is slower. Oh well... twice as much fun, right? This song's about killing people and shit like that.

5. Revenge (Keith)
"You rollin'?", asks Keith. Not "You Rollins?", as some idiot who doesn't even exist might believe, 'cause ol' Henry Rollins was in Washington D.(i)C.(k) at this time servin' up some iced cream. Keith's spoken intro to this song is a lot quieter and calmer, not quite the same as the yelling, reveling manner that Chavo did it in. It's not a very long song, but you probably knew that. It's fast, though, compared to the rest of the Keith Morris songs. JEALOUS AGAIN!

6. Depression (Keith)
Wonderful riff. It's about being depressed, but this song's not very depressing, I'll say that! It's fast, and it perfectly describes the situation of many depressed people, but the song has a pretty positive outlook on the whole thing -- "I've got hope it's gonna get better... JESUS CHRIST... they fucking better!" Note how different those lyrics are from later versions of the song. Yup, this one made it all the way to "Damaged".

7. Clocked In (Keith)
This song to me just feels like a generic Black Flag song, riff-wise. You might ask me how that is so... it just feels that way to me. But it's still good... the chorus riff is great!

8. Police Story (Keith)
A song about those people we all love to hate. The song describes the situation with the L.A.P.D. -- "the city's run by fucking pigs, they're taking the rights away from all the kids", proclaims Keith. When he insults one of the officers, they throw him in jail. Another time he gets beaten with a billy club. The lyrics here are extremely memorable in every way and I'm surprised Black Flag isn't a classic rock band already.

9. Wasted (Keith)
Even though he already recorded "Wasted" with the band for "Nervous Breakdown", this version is a tad faster. The final lyric is altered from "I was wasted" to "I was wasted and still am!". End of Side 1.

10. Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie (Chavo)
Now Ron Reyes takes a whack at mastering "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie". And here, the song is much more aggressive and fast, with the vocals a notch more angry, and the music more violent this time around!

11. Depression (Chavo)
Very similar to the first version, but with different vocals, and slightly different lyrics. I like how he sings.

12. Police Story (Chavo)
THE FUCKING CITY IS RUN BY PIGS!!! THEY'RE HERE TO TAKE THE RIGHTS AWAY FROM ALL YOU KIDS!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHH FUCKKKKK!

13. Clocked In (Chavo)
Yep, good song with Chavo singing. See my description of the first version.

14. My Rules (Chavo)
Another real good song! Later on the band recorded it with Henry Rollins as a B-side to the T.V. Party single. Short but good. End of Side 2.

15. Jealous Again (Dez)
Now for the longest part of the album, the Dez Cadena years (er, year)! Starts off with someone saying that the band can now play, and then it cuts to a hilariously poorly played "song" (if we can call it that) on a piano. Then after a bit of that, we hear the song "Jealous Again", now sung by Dez Cadena! In some parts, his voice gets real wild. It's a great break-up song with a nice guitar riff and a fast beat. "Bitch."

16. Police Story (Dez)
More stories about the Police. Here, Dez's voice sounds harsher than ever. More energy to everything, and now the guitar leads are getting wilder than ever! Instead of saying "I may serve time", Dez sings "I waste my time!". Yup, this song got on "Damaged" also when Henry got a hold of it.

17. Damaged I (Dez)
The fastest version of this song you'll ever hear! Dez sings instead of speaking, and I can't even understand what the hell he's saying. It sounds awesome, though. I guess this is my favorite version of "Damaged", just for the fact that it's so energetic. In 1981 the band put a slower version of this song on the "Louie Louie" single, and then an even slower, even more fucked up version on "Damaged" (didn't see that one coming?).

18. Louie, Louie (Dez)
This a different version of the song than the one on the 7". The recording quality is different and the lyrics are almost completely different. A Richard Berry cover. Black Flag truly makes this song their own, and in some ways could be compared to the Richard Berry in the sense that the band repulsed and frightened mainstream audiences back in the 1980s like the Mr. Berry did in the 1940s.

19. No More (Dez)
This one starts off with an extremely memorable, ominous intro which consists of a droning bass continuing in one note, very slowly getting faster and faster, and almost a minute into the song, each bass strum is accompanied by a drum hit, getting faster and faster until the whole thing has gone from droning into pure speed! Halfway into the song, it changes into a fast thrashy piece with a great riff, in both the verse and chorus! This song sings about wanting to break free from being a mere slave to the system. Later featured on "Damaged" with Henry.

20. Room 13 (Dez)
Didn't the Circle Jerks also do a song about something called "Room 13"? Yeah, this is a fast proto-noise song with riffage punctuated by a second or two of guitar noise and feedback. Feel the thumping bass drum in the chorus. DAMAGED!

21. Depression (Dez)
This version's angrier than the rest, and features neat backing vocals in the chorus section. You can feel the depression in Dez's harsh but weary-sounding voice. Slightly more abrasive guitar sound here. I can't decide whether I like the version that Chavo or Dez sings more...

22. Damaged II (Dez)
In this album, "Damaged II" is actually longer than "Damaged I"! It's a wild, aggressive, hard-rockin' romp through anger and disparity, with a few pauses to breathe inbetween... this song really rocks. It's seemingly endless, but that makes it awesome. Also, check out the weird sounds Greg occasionally pulls off with his magic guitar.

23. Padded Cell (Dez)
Nice intro! This one's pretty fast, with occasional breaks in the tempo. And something about MANIACS!

24. Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie (Dez)
This really is the last song on the album. This song one last time. It sounds very similar to the version on the Damaged LP. Not much else I can think of that hasn't already been said about this song. Dez's vocals seem to have a different flow to them than the other ones. And the difference in tempo between the main parts and the guitar-less parts is greater. End of Side 3.

25. Crass Commercialism
This track occupies the "Side D" of the album (opposite of the Dez Cadena side). It's about 17 minutes of commercials for Black Flag shows. The first one is kinda funny and features Dez Cadena going off on a monologue about how he's sick of being so damaged in life, and he finally decides he's going to end it all... by going to see Black Flag at the Fleetwood at Redondo Beach! And it's gonna cost $4! He's gonna have to steal it! Just gonna end it all with Black Flag! An instrumental version of "Damaged I" plays in the background. The next one features a girl who's a "Black Flag slave" who spray-paints the Black Flag logo all over town! It's from about 1980, as they advertise the then-forthcoming "Jealous Again" EP as well. "DAVID! THE GORILLAS ARE KNOCKIN' YOUR DOOR DOWN!!". Many of these commercials contain very funny little skits featuring friends of the band and members of the band. It's just too bad there's hardly any "good muff" loving Black Flag anymore. Damn, that'd be great. Another commercial plays a mock-police conversation (or maybe even real), in which a cop warns another cop of a disturbance of a club, getting pumped up to "beat up some punkers". By the end of the commercial, they realize the punkers are Black Flag are too much for 'em, so they have to call the National Guard! Soon choppers can be heard. Another one features the Devil himself, telling fans that if they keep coming to Black Flag concerts, their hell will be on Earth and that when they die they can only find bliss. Another religious-themed promo features a punk rock preacher, calling the blessings of God upon the "shaved little heads" of the world's punk rockers, complete with organ music playing in the background. We hear such things as Adam Ant himself telling the world that his band sucks. Then in another instance we meet the forgotten secret member of Black Flag, "Johnny Stash", who plays us a country version of "No Values" before the announcer provides info on the next Black Flag concert. Then there's a commercial featuring an argument between a boy and a girl, laden with references to Black Flag song titles. The very end is a skit featuring two very stoned/high people conversing about things such as a "gelatinous hump" and radioactive waste, and many other sings. Very funny. Yep, definitely a great part of the album, even if it's not quite a "song". Can't believe how many girls used to like Black Flag. I need some good muff, dammit.

A lot of people love this album, and for a good reason, also. It shows the evolution of the band from their early days to the days just before Henry Rollins. It also shows what was happening 'behind the scenes' during the days of their first few records for those who weren't there to see it all happen. This is the Black Flag that just about EVERYONE (who isn't totally lame) loves. Always fun to hear the different vocalists go through different versions of the songs, and to hear the band have some fun doing it. I've said a lot, though. It's gonna be hard to pick a top 3. But I shall. Enjoy some videos, too.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Damaged I (Dez Cadena)
2. Depression (Chavo Pederast)
3. Damaged II (Dez Cadena)

A CLIP FROM "THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION" & SOME MORE MUSIC VIDEOS

Review #119: Black Flag - Louie Louie (Single) (1981)

LOUIE LOUIE (Single)

Year: 1981

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: Posh Boy Records
Tracks: 2
Length: 5 Minutes (Very Short)
Style: Angry
My Rating: 6/8

Black Flag never released a full-length album with their third singer, Dez Cadena, but they did release two 7" singles with him on vocals. The first one was called "Six Pack". This is the second record they released with Dez Cadena, and it features a cover of the early rock song "Louie Louie" on one side, and a new song called "Damaged" at the other side.

1. Louie Louie
The original version of "Louie Louie" was written way back in 1955 by Richard Berry. It has since then become one of the most famous and well-known rock songs of all time. The most famous cover version of the song was recorded in 1963 by a band called the Kingsmen... back in 1963, the song was considered extremely controversial (and the FBI actually became involved in this case) because the lyrics were commonly misheard as being perverted by concerned parents (WHO'S the pervert again?). Anyways, fast-forward to 1981. "Louie Louie" is now a family favorite of the Jones', and now BLACK FLAG is the band that will turn your kids to Satan! As you might expect, this punk version of the song is harder, angrier, and besides the main chorus, the lyrics have been changed to something darker and more fitting to Black Flag lyrics. "Who needs love, when you've got a gun... who needs love TO HAVE ANY FUN?", screams Dez. Definitely a great cover if I've ever heard one.

2. Damaged I
Here we have a really underrated Black Flag song. It's slow, it's angry. Sort of a precursor to grunge and noise rock all at once. There's three versions of the song: this version, the LP version with Henry Rollins on vocals, and the fast version from "Everything Went Black". This is the first one mentioned of those three. My guess is that the lyrics here have mostly been improvised. It's a sludgy, seething train-wreck of a song. The riff nearly carries no melody at all. The beat is slow, as the guitars sort of plod along like a slug (minus the salt) on a stick. I remember I had left my church and I felt like everyone turned against me, and I felt like the words to this specific version of the song rung very true for myself. Which version of the song you like the best is subjective opinion, I suppose. Some might prefer the TRUE psychotic-ness of Henry's "Damaged I", or the more energetic version on "Everything Went Black". The song portrays inner pain accurately, to say the least.

This was Black Flag's fourth release, I believe. There's not any sort of HUGE story behind it or so to speak. The guys just probably wanted to record another single. This was probably right before Henry Rollins joined the band, and would remain its frontman for the rest of its existence. Both of these songs remained a major part of the band's performances even into their later years, so it's interesting to hear how these earlier versions of the songs sound. I can't think of anything else to say. Here's a music video...

MUSIC VIDEO FOR "DAMAGED I"

Review #110: Black Flag - Family Man (1984)

FAMILY MAN

Year: 1984

Genre: Spoken Word, Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Post-Punk, Jazz-Punk
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 11
Length: 33 Minutes (Medium-Length)
Style: Demented/Dark/Weird
My Rating: 6/8

"Family Man" has always been sort of the odd-one-out in the whole Black Flag discography. It's no regular punk record, that's for sure. Family Man. One half spoken-word album, one half-instrumental album -- actually, not quite: there is one song with instruments and vocals on here, and it's called "Armageddon Man". Nine minutes long, too! Well, if you're looking for a "Damaged" or a "Jealous Again", you won't find none of that here... which would actually mean that you WOULD find that here, but the harsh truth is that you won't. This iz far-off, musically complex shit that your typical hardcore band wouldn't even know where to start playing. And that's okay. Black Flag were masters of their genre. The first half of the album is really more just a "Henry Rollins" record, as it's just him talking (except when you can hear some of the other band members laughing). Yeah, you'll hear a lot of his early spoken word pieces here. Some are rather disturbing, and others are slightly humorous. Maybe not for the easily offended... I can't imagine how many people I know would probably try to burn this album if they heard the title track. And hey, the title track is the first track. What an excellent place to start, right? Get out your wax, place it on the turntable, stick your needle in the right place, and get it spinnin'... OR just put your CD in the stereo... or just click on the fucking MP3 file... lame-ass. Ahem. On with Family Man.

1. Family Man
In the beginning, there was Henry, and there was Kira. And God saw that it was good. After eons passed, Henry speaketh: "Do you want the Family Man, or do you want the Swingin' Man? You choose"... to which Kira answereth: "family man". And like a tape recorded set off by a single click of the 'play' button, Henry goes off like a fuckin' gun. "Family Man"... even just two words in, you can feel the contempt and venom in the lexicon. "Taking no chances on the new day", "your sandcastle's all built, smiling through your guilt". Henry basically talks about how much he hates the 'family man'. The thing that people with no other idea of what to do become. The patron saint of mediocrity. "Taking no chances on the new day". This track is the ultimate weapon against middle American generic cookie-cut values. Tell 'em something that offends them. Speak irreverently about their loved ones, even if you don't mean it. It's the words that stab like a salt-covered sword. Your mediocres, wannabe alpha-males, society followers, sick perverts... they all come neatly wrapped in the Family Man. "Smiling through your guilt". This piece is your weapon. It will make your own friends uncomfortable. Try it. I dare ya.

2. Salt On a Slug
A slightly more low-quality track. This one's about Henry poured salt on a large slug. They say it's not a nice thing to do. Well, let's just say this slug was pretty much fucked. Then Henry imagines that he's a giant tongue that gets dipped in salt.

3. Hollywood Diary
A bizarre love story about a guy who loves a woman so much that he cuts off his own left arm (the good one), and sends it to her with a box of chocolates. The woman eats the chocolates and watches some television. The man shoots himself in the head, and then takes the pieces of his splattered cranium and puts them back in place, to start over "with a renewed vigor not seen by many".

4. Let Your Fingers Do the Walking
Sort of a stream-of-consciousness rant with a good sense of wit and intensity. It's the longest spoken word piece on here, being over three minutes long. "How much time do you have? Do you know? How much do you need to get the job done? You know exactly what I'm talking about, don't ya? Of course you do. That's exactly why you came here in the first place."

5. Shed Reading (Rattus Norvegicus)
Rattus Norvegicus: the Brown Rat. This one is spoken from the viewpoint of a rat. Henry's favorite animal. It really makes you feel a lot of sympathy for the furry hero. Rattus reminds us that "if you could see past the fur, I think you'd realize that I'm a lot like you". Rats actually do share much DNA in common with human beings. Perhaps we should be more considerate of the rights of rats. What the hell, now I sound like one of those PeTA people...

6. No Deposit, No Return
This one's pretty depressing. That's probably what it's about. The feeling of isolation and depression. Being alone. It's late at night. No deposit... no return...

7. Armageddon Man
The real stand-out track here. It's the only "song" here, in the sense that it contains both vocals and instruments. Even then, the vocals are spoken, not sung. Musically, this shit far weirder than "My War" could dream of being. By this point, the punks who thought they knew what Black Flag was all about were leaving in droves. It's like free jazz, or something. Just real fucked-up, y'know? I have no idea if he wrote the whole thing or if he just improvised it. "THESE PEOPLE ARE FOR REAL. THEY WATCH TELEVISION. THEY RUN IN CIRCLES. THEY BARK LIKE DOGS. THEY RIP AT MY HEELS. THEY WANT TO PUT A COLLAR AROUND MY NECK. THEY WANT ME TO BE LIKE THEM. WELL, I JUST WALK RIGHT PAST THEM, RIGHT OVER THEM, RIGHT ON TOP OF THEM. I JUST CRUSH THEIR FACE: BECAUSE THEY'RE NOTHIN'." This song is really long, it's nine minutes long. End of Side 1.

8. Long Lost Dog of It
Here begins the instrumental side. This tune has an eerie, ominous feel to it, as a dark bassline is played, along a plodding, thumping bass drum, with droning lead guitar. Slowly, the drum work gets slightly more aggressive. The song fades out after about two minutes.

9. I Won't Stick Any of You Unless I Can Stick All of You!
This song's faster and more urgent. At some points (the chorus), the music goes into little brief jabs of one-note music, until 'laxing back into something with more flow. Some parts are faster than others. In other parts of the 'chorus', the guitars all stay the same, but the drumming gets real wild. It plays on a repeated general "melody", but the trick is that in each section, there's always something different going on with at least one of the tracks of audio.

10. Account For What?
So all this time, Henry just gets to sit back and do nothing while the rest of the band slaves away at these musical monsters. All he had to do for this album was just say stuff. Hah hah hah... This one's okay. Not a huge fan of the bassline, but it's still a decent track. The bass sort of drives the rest. Meanwhile, the guitar (and at some times the drumming) is all over the place!

11. The Pups Are Doggin' It
This song begins by simply fading in. It's pretty speedy. That doesn't stop it from being Black Flag-tastic, though. The lead guitar is real cool. At one point, the tempo slows down or something like that. After the band finally gives up their game, it all dissolves into a clattering mess of noise that, well, fades out.

That's "Family Man". Definitely one of the strangest and most challenging works of Black Flag. And yes, the date written on the cover of the album is when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Apparently Family Man saw it necessary to assassinate himself. Because the government told him to. Because aliens n' reptilians and Osama bin Laden and stuff. Blah blah blah. Hey, here's a joke: what does a PUPPY do? It DOGS things. Because puppies like dogging stuff. Like, they DOG things. And when they become DOGS, then they just PUPPY things. It all makes perfect sense. Mathematics. Science. Sexual Education. School. Agh. Yes, this iz a good thing butt it iz probably not fer everyjaun. I'm hungry. Thanks for reading my review. Enjoy these videos I have posted below for you. Goodbye, now!

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Family Man
2. The Pups Are Doggin' It
3. Let Your Fingers Do the Walkin'

VIDEOS

Review #86: Black Flag - Six Pack (Single) (1981)

SIX PACK (Single)

Year: 1981

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 3
Length: 5 Minutes (Very Short)
Style: Rebellious/Political/Angry
My Rating: 6/8

"Six Pack" is among the most popular and well-known songs by Black Flag. It's somewhat the signature song of the Dez Cadena era, the Black Flag vocalist who had rough, harsh vocals like no other. Some consider his vocals even more brutal than Henry Rollins. They never really released an album with Dez, but they did release two singles, and some of his lesser-known work is on the compilation titled "Everything Went Black". The single also contains two B-Sides, which I personally consider better than the A-Side... funny how things work, isn't it? Well, the cover is an early work by Raymond Pettibon, portraying a punk painting himself into a corner because the band believed that "punk was painting itself into a corner." And while that could be summed up as the main philosophy of Black Flag, this record, along with everything that came before it is linear and "normal" enough for just about any self-proclaimed punk fan to enjoy. I wouldn't doubt that the ironic nature of the title song was lost on some early fans, though...

1. Six Pack
Begins with a downbeat bass-driven melody, and an abrasive guitar section. The intro suddenly transforms into a speedy, upbeat song about a guy who dislikes most people and would rather just spend all of his time with a six-pack of beer and get wasted.

2. I've Heard it Before
The intro is a spoken (or should I say 'yelled') piece with a lot of lead-guitar and a beat that progressively gets faster and faster. The main section is a faster part like in "Six Pack". The chorus is pretty catchy. A classic teenage rebel anthem about being tired of hearing the same rhetoric forced onto you when you wanna break free from the useless rules! Something I've definitely been feelin' lately.

3. American Waste
My favorite song on the 7"! It's got a great riff, a fast beat, and great lyrics. It's about feeling lost amidst the large American system, not wanting to die as another slave to it, but living for your own dreams, not "burning up in the heap" like the rest seem to mindlessly do.

As I said before, it's a classic punk record and if you were to ask some random person what their favorite Black Flag album was (if they've even heard of Black Flag), they might just name this one. It's short, but satisfying. The band released another two-song 7" record with Dez Cadena on vocals and one side contained a cover of "Louie, Louie" by the Kingsmen, and another side contained "Damaged", the first slow song Black Flag ever did. The song "Six Pack" on this single would later be re-recorded and sung by Henry Rollins on the band's debut EP. But, I'm not really even supposed to be writing any of this because a few days ago I got grounded for -- GASP -- making my own rock music! How depraved of me, right? Well, even this record gives me comfort that someone else expresses the same sentiments as I am, right now; in a world where even my own friends are preaching to me about what's wrong or right in life and slowly growing up before my eyes. It's nice to hear from someone else that it's okay to rebel.

MUSIC VIDEO FOR "AMERICAN WASTE"

Review #64: Black Flag - T.V. Party (Single) (1982)

T.V. PARTY (Single)

Year: 1982

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 3
Length: 6 Minutes (Very Short)
Style: Funny/Angry
My Rating: 6/8

Without a doubt, "TV Party" is the most famous Black Flag song. It's catchy, funny, and has lyrics misinterpreted by frat-boys unlike any other. There were two versions of this song... the one on "Damaged", and this version, which is a re-recorded one. This single contains three songs, the latter two of which cannot be found anywhere else, and these songs are the only recordings that were allowed to even be released in between "Damaged" and "My War" for legal reasons regarding SST, MCA, Unicorn Records, and the first Black Flag LP (Damaged). Anyways, here comes the big review-part that y'all have probably been waiting for. Here it is. I just said that. And I'll say it again... here comes the review part. dlkfjdsgfdklshdjdsvfjdsk,nfvdsksdb

1. T.V. Party
The famous one. Basically a satire on people who waste their time doing nothing but watching television all day and drinking beer. A lot of references to popular television shows of the time are made, such as 'Saturday Night Live', 'Quincy', and 'That's Incredible!'. There's a funny music video they did for this song.

2. I've Got to Run
This is a song by Black Flag a lot of people haven't heard. It's pretty fast (compared to the first song, at least), and has crazy bass. Extremely aggressive, fucked-up vocals from Henry -- sounds just like something that could've been in "Damaged".

3. My Rules
This song's really short. Pretty noisy. Overall, it sounds similar to the song before it, but it has a lot of musical pauses punctuating a lot of the sung lines. You hear a final rugged yell from Henry fade out just as the song ends.

It sucks that this one's only three songs long. But, that's what you expect in a single. Hell, a lot of singles only get two songs. Some even have just one! But still, this one is more of the kind of stuff that was on "Damaged" -- wild, angry, and noisy. All three of the songs are equally enjoyable, so there's nothing to regret about this one. I personally like this one's version of "T.V. Party" better, but some might disagree. Regardless of whether or not you actually "get" the lyrics, this little record should rile up any party where some punks (or people with just good taste in music) are involved, so what the hell, grab a couple of brews, sit around on your couch... and listen to THIS!

MUSIC VIDEO FOR "T.V. PARTY"

Review #54: Black Flag - In My Head (1985)

IN MY HEAD

Year: 1985
Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Post-Punk
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 9
Length: 37 Minutes (Long)
Style: Demented/Angry/Weird
My Rating: 7/8

Black Flag was a hardcore punk band (often considered the first of its kind) from California. The band existed for about 10 years and was notorious for it's ever-changing style, non-stop touring, and confrontational performances. However, this was the last full-length studio LP the band ever made. It has a lot more experimental elements to it than earlier recordings. They album itself seems to be a neurotic experience. It's also the last Black Flag record with the mid-'80s lineup with Kira Roessler (bass) and Bill Stevenson (drums). A lot of earlier fans dislike this record, because it sounds so different. Some think it sounded like a bad attempt at heavy metal (an accusation that's been going on since the days of "My War"). Well, we'll see about that...

1. Paralyzed
Opens with two screams fading in. Medium tempo. The lyrics seem to be about paranoia, feelings of entrapment, and not being able to let go of negative feelings.

2. The Crazy Girl
Really weird beat in the verse section. The whole song (as well as the damn album) is filled with guitar-leads at every turn. The chorus section briefly speeds up to a more conventional tempo before slowing down again. "My Target Is Your Eyes" -- this song makes me want to have sex... ual intercourse.

3. Black Love This song is about "black love"... I guess it's a really twisted version of love. How is it so twisted? I guess we just have to make it up ourselves, 'er something. Hypnotizing lead-guitar swing about your ears and your mind like little ghosts floating around a room.

4. White Hot
The previous song was black, so this song is white, I guess. Gotta balance your colors out, children. Anyways, it's pretty slow, like most of the songs on the record so far. During the verses, the riff is awesome. The chorus section is even cooler with a very bass-and-lead driven section. Beautiful solo during the middle of the song. The lyrics suggest it as some sort of psycho love song (like the previous song, but more detailed). Best song on the record.

5. In My Head
Very complex lead-guitar. First thing I noticed on the track. Hell, you could say that about everything on this record. The lyrics are an extremely intricate description of insanity and paranoia. End of Side 1.

6. Drinking and Driving
A fast song. Lyrically similar to "Thirsty and Miserable" -- a song about a confused alcoholic who drinks his life away and convinces himself that he's living a good life. I heard similarities to "Black Coffee" as well, musically. They made a music video for this song.

7. Retired at 21
Another song on the album that I really like. Really fucking cool riff. This one is pretty fast, as well. Lyrics about some lucky kid with a gun who seems pretty content and gets retired at 21. Love the vocals on this song. One of the best Black Flag songs ever written.

8. Society's Tease
Great, literate lyrics about the flaws of society, the lies within it, and the problems it breeds. Fast tempo, once again. Longest song on the album.

9. It's All Up to You
The grand finale. One of the highlights of the record, alongside "Retired at 21" and "White Hot". Awesome riff. The lyrics are about a desire of freedom from civilization and society. Kira Roessler supplies the backing vocals, which all sound really good. Amazing guitar solos. I like to think of it as the final moment of contemplation in the Black Flag canon.

This was the last original LP that Black Flag released before they broke up. Their final performance was in July of 1986. Though they would continue to release a string of EPs after their breakup, at this point, they had already left behind an epic legacy. From the early punk of "Nervous Breakdown" to the raging hardcore of "Damaged" to the metal experimentation of "My War" to this, they really were one of the greatest hardcore bands ever. This LP is one of their most unique works. The first half is mostly made up of slow songs, and the second half is dominated by the faster stuff. The album has an avant-garde, schizophrenic feel to it. Fits the title (and the song that the title comes from). Many fans were and still are put off by this one, but personally, I love it.

MUSIC VIDEO FOR "DRINKING AND DRIVING"

Review #49: Black Flag - My War (1984)

MY WAR

Year: 1984
Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 9
Length: 40 Minutes (Long)
Style: Angry/Emotional
My Rating: 8/8

Henry Rollins's introduction to the world as the Black Flag frontman was with 1981's "Damaged". But to be completely honest, it wasn't really Henry's album. When the songs from My War were starting to be performed, THAT was when the true persona of Henry's music was finally revealed. And it scared old fans. This record is one of the last truly offensive moments in rock and roll. And it offended the PUNKS. A generation of music fans listening to fast, loud music -- and now one of their flagship bands was challenging them with slow, quiet music. Henry Rollins would come to concerts and be stabbed with pens and endure other forms of physical abuse from shallow fans for joining the band just before their more experimental songs became a regular thing for the band. And as dark as "Damaged" was compared to their earlier work, "My War" is a shade darker, and actually marks one of the most aesthetically dark moments of the band's music. This album spares no moment for any emotion or mood other than pure, unrefined rage, fury, and angst. This album makes all of the "brutal" angst portrayed by the corporate-sold 'screamo' groups of today look like a joke. It will scare a 13-year-old Avril Lavinge fan. If you've ever felt alone, pissed, angry (yes, those are the same things), or as some other person said "at odds with the world", this album will grab you and pull you into a section of your own brain in which their is a mirror of audio which plays "My War" back to your ears on your head which is also the location of your brain which is where you are when this hypothetical situation is taking place.

1. My War
Take-no-prisoners attitude. My definite favorite song on the first half of the album. Maybe on the whole album. One of the last songs of the band written by Chuck Dukowiski. Starts with an ominous intro, in which you're face-to-face with your inner fears, as you see that weird knife-wielding puppet character in the cover. Just look at him LAUGH at you when you're angry. He FEEDS OFF IT, MOTHERFUCKER. But that's only a few seconds. Seemed like awhile, didn't you? Brief half-second pause. You hear Henry scream with true defiance: "MY WAR! YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!" His high suddenly reaches an aggressive low when he hits "YOU SAY THAT YOU'RE MY FRIEND! BUT YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!" The riff is amazing. It makes me want to do... I don't even know what. I guess something really cool, though. This song is amazing. It's a fast song similar to a song from "Damaged", but the production on this song is a lot less refined than Damaged. On the final chorus, Henry SCREAMS it out.

2. Can't Decide
This song isn't quite as intense as the song before it, to make up for it, the subject matter is a lot more descriptive. In the viewpoint of a troubled everyman, he/she goes through the world searching for something they cannot find, unable to decide whether or not to bottle up their emotions or let them all out in a destructive fit of rage. Not as big on the music for this one (the main riff sounds similar to the intro riff for "Rise Above"), but it's still alright, and the lyrics are legit.

3. Beat My Head Against the Wall
This does the whole slow/fast/slow-type thing that was common in hardcore punk back then. Personally, I like the riff for the slow parts pretty much. The song describes feelings of entrapment pretty well. The chorus goes "Swimming in the mainstream is such a lame dream".

4. I Love You
On the first listen, the song comes off as a seemingly out-of-place innocent love song among a sea of musical anger. But this song has a dark side as well. If you ignore the seemingly friendly chorus, the song is really about the power of love to manipulate one's sanity, as the demons of suspicion and self-hatred get in the way, as we hear the tale of a lover who carries around his knife, preparing to get revenge on a woman who he suspects is hurting him.

5. Forever Time
Pretty dramatic, pounding intro, succeeded by a high-pitched scream. Not a ton I can say about this song -- I'm not quite sure what the lyrics mean, but I'm sure it means something very interesting that the writers understood clearly.

6. Swinging Man
This is where the album really starts to lose it. This is the buildup for the grim underside of the record on Side 2. It's a chaotic, noisy mess of a song from the lyrical viewpoint of a psycho. Really weird tempo, that alternates between kinda fast and very fast. The whole thing in the end gets really disorganized and out-of-sync in the end and the end really leaves you not knowing to expect next.

7. Nothing Left Inside
This is the beginning of a HALF of an album which was revolutionary in its time. Starts with a slow beat... okay... then, what's this? An ominous, droning, almost metal-ish riff. The music may be more downbeat, but this song along with the two after it have a hell of a lot more to say. You realize that the slowness is here to stay. You either like it or you don't. By the middle of the song, Henry's vocals become more urgent and less neat. The song echoes of feelings of overall emptiness and loneliness.

8. Three Nights
This is my favorite one from Side 2. Starts with simple, repeated beats of the drums. A down-tempo bass-line soon ensues. Henry can be heard mumbling things in the background. The lyrics seem to suggest someone is going insane from isolation, and can't shake the feelings which compel him to kill. Possibly one of the darkest lyrics on the entire album: "My life is a piece of shit that got caught on my shoe". When someone says something like that, they have to be for real. During the solo, Henry can be heard screaming and hissing in the background. Damn, he was MAD. In the end, he furiously proclaims "STICK ME", repeatedly, in voices that seem the closest to the audible embodiments of fury and hatred. In the very end, you can hear the springs in the furniture (bed?) Henry was sitting on creaking back and forth.

9. Scream
Something about the bass-line on this one. It seems to say something. We've already heard the two slow-ass pieces of raw poetry. By this point, they already know what they're doing. At this point, we're just looking back before we move onward once more. The opening line is "Supposed to act my age, Supposed to act mature... I've got better things to do than listen to you". The verses are punctuated by seas of screams. In this song, Henry refutes and rejects the ideas of "keeping it together" and acting mature. Why do that when it reeks of insecurity with your own emotions and societal pressure to put on a "safe face"? Henry knows this. The closing line of the entire album is "I might be a BIG BABY... But I'll SCREAM IN YOUR EAR... 'Till I find out... Just what it is I am doing here." -- the song concludes with a barrage of screams that don't seem to forgive. Ends pretty simply with a final repeated shredding of the same chord on Greg's guitar.

Even after listening to this more than a few times, part of me still says "WOW..." after listening to even that final song. Such sincerity and true emotion hasn't quite been shown by any other band since this record. Even Black Flag couldn't top it (if they'd even bothered trying). An interesting thing about it is that there's the mysterious "Dale Nixon" playing the guitar. Well, that was actually just Greg Ginn. This record was recorded during a time in the band's history in which Chuck Dukowiski had just left, and Kira Roessler (she was hot back then) had not yet joined. The first half of the album is comprised of fast, hardcore stuff similar to "Damaged", but with a more introspective mood. The second half is something entirely new (at the time), and was said to inspire numerous sub-genres of rock music, some of which even went mainstream (such as grunge). This album is completely solid from start-to-finish. Isn't my "perfect" album, but for what it is, it's perfect in its own right. It doesn't miss anything. If you want to really FEEL something through the music, listen to this.

Review #29: Black Flag - I Can See You (EP) (1989)

I CAN SEE YOU (EP)

Year: 1989

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Post-Punk
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 4
Length: 10 Minutes (Short)
Style: Angry
My Rating: 7/8

"I Can See You" was the last Black Flag record to be released. Three years after the band broke up, in 1989, they released this little dgfgdfgdf! It has four songs on it, taken from parts of the "In My Head" Sessions that didn't make it on that album. The album is about ten minutes long. The cover art was NOT done by Raymond Pettibon, who had a falling-out with SST a few years prior.

1. I Can See You
This is a scary one. Basically the same beat done over and over again with the lines "I can see you, you can see me, I can see you, you can see me..." over and over. For some reason the lead guitar riff makes me think of some unsettlingly joyous house with a big happy family in it with some bizarre undertones of fear of the unknown. The song almost sounds TOO happy, but to me, the lyrics imply something sinister. The song's chorus is "Don't... stab me in the back" repeated.

2. Kickin' and Stickin'
Shortest track on the EP. Kickin' and stickin'... smokin' and a-drinking... just sitting here laughing (a-ha-ha)... as the blood keeps spillin'. Basically little limericks like that to a slow-ish beat and Henry's laughing.

3. Out of This World
My favorite song on the record. It's adventurous, it's packed with energy, there's a sense of danger... it's a good song. Well, it's the fastest song on the album and it's about a guy who's gone mad and is leaving everything behind. The part where Henry goes "I LOVE I LOVE I LOVE I LOVE I LOVE I LOVE I LOVE I LOVE I NEVER LOVE I NEVER LOVE I NEVER LOVE I NEVER NEVER NEVER!" has so much flow to it.

4. You Let Me Down
Longest song on the album. The song's lyrics seem to be about a guy who feels like he's being abandoned by his own friends. The vocals are spoken rather than sung.

The contents of this EP can now be found on the CD reissue of "In My Head" (as these tracks were probably originally left out because there wasn't enough space on the LP). Because of this, it's regarded as a throwaway by many. I see something else in this EP. It's amazing what story can be told in just 10 minutes. You see, everything released by Black Flag before this -- it all painted the picture of the loner, the reject, the alien, the outsider, just waiting to snap... as the last Black Flag record, I think this album concludes that tale. In "I Can See You", that troubled little man DOES SNAP. In "I Can See You", he seeks out his victim in cold blood. In "Kickin' and Stickin'", the protagonist KILLS. In "Out of This World", he's on the run. "You Let Me Down" is a somewhat deluded retrospective. I believe that this EP is the proper end of the tale that Black Flag was telling.

Review #25: Black Flag - Damaged (1981)

DAMAGED

Year: 1981

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Noise
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 17
Length: 32 Minutes (Medium-Length)
Style: Angry, Emotional
My Rating: 7/8

Few bands had ever captured the feeling of TRUE RAGE before this album was released. In 1981, this was considered scary. With 15 songs about revolution, vandalism, alcoholism, police brutality, and inner torment, this was one of the most controversial records of its time. The band shaved their heads to resemble skinheads during this period and were harassed by the police more than any of their peers during this period.

Just a few months before this album came out, Greg Ginn and the rest finally found the true, angry, enraged new singer that would become the voice of the band for the rest of its existence: Henry Rollins. As an ice-cream man and previous frontman of his own band, State Of Alert, Henry was already a huge fan of Black Flag who wrote letters to the band. Just a few notches more brutal than Dez's singing style, Henry's voice was like no other at the time. He could scream, he could roar, he could growl, he could yell, he could shout (Dez was still in the band for quite some time as a second guitarist until he left in 1983).The music in general fits the mood of the album as well, though.

1. Rise Above
Arguably the band's most famous song. Basically a song about a punk revolution against those who had oppressed them and looked down upon them. My favorite part is the chorus.

2. Spray Paint (the Walls)
Shortest song on the album. Well, it's about basically the fact that it feels good to act crazy when you're doing what you really wanna do. Awesome group-shouts!

3. Six Pack
This is a re-recorded version of the song that was the title-sake of the single released earlier in 1981. With Henry on the vocals, the song sounds more sincere and aggressive than ever before, though Henry Rollins has always treated alcohol with contempt.

4. What I See
The song is about feelings of jaded suicidalness, and feeling that life is pointless. Henry really goes out on a limb with those vocals, here!

5. T.V. Party
Another song that has tasted a bit of mainstream popularity. Basically a satire on people who waste their time doing nothing but watching television all day and drinking beer. This version isn't quite as good as the re-recorded 7" version from '82, but it's still pretty good! This version is a little less polished.

6. Thirsy and Miserable
This is another one I love. It's about the emotions of a group of people who are addicted to alcohol, and it musically describes the fear and intensity of the craving quite well. Great riff, and I love how he says "store closes at 2:00, there's not enough to last us!!" so intensely.

7. Police Story
This one's about police brutality and how the protagonist of the song out of spite flipped off a police officer and was beaten with a billy-club. Also describes feelings of hopelessness about the situtation ("I understand we're fighting a war we can't win...").

8. Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
A song about a drug addict who is contemplating suicide to solve his problems. The lyrics are real deep here. End of Side 1.

9. Depression
A song about a person who is feeling a very bad case of depression. Not my favorite song on the album, but the lyrics are great.

10. Room 13
Didn't the Circle Jerks do a song called "Room 13" as well? Well, anyway, this song isn't really very much like their "Room 13" anyways. The lyrics are about the human will to survive. Awesome riffs from Greg Ginn!

11. Damaged II
Kinda strange that they'd put Part 2 before Part 1, eh? Well, this one is a lot more up-beat than "Damaged I". It's faster too, and it has a great riff. The song's about confusion.

12. No More
This song starts with a single repeated droning bass note, which slowly gets faster and is eventually accompanied by a single repeated drum beat. Very ominous feeling. The rumbling buildup explodes into a fast thrasher about the protagonist's dissatisfaction and frustration with his life.

13. Padded Cell
Awesome opening riff. The song is about how the protagonist feels that Earth is like a padded cell with deceptive lies and allures of paradise, when in reality it is simply full of "straightjacket minds" which have been "defanged and declawed", and that it needs more maniacs. Powerful chorus chants, here.

14. Life of Pain
Starts with an ominous lead-riff, where Henry yells and screams "pain!" repeatedly. It explodes into a fast, dark song about the pain and feelings of those who watch their own friends desire to end their lives and commit suicide. The verse riff here is really gorgeous and when I originally wrote this review I don't think I realized that like I do now.

15. Damaged I
I like Dez Cadena's version on the "Louie, Louie" single better, since I felt like I could kinda relate to it, but this one is good, too. It opens with the line, "My name is Henry... and you're here with me, now." As the final track on the album, it's very slow, and it's easily the angriest, most dark piece on the whole album. The pained screams are too sincere to describe. What I love about both versions of "Damaged" are the stream-of-consciousness improvised ramblings in which the singer expresses his true feelings as hard as possible. That's ze end.

This album is kind of like the "mid-point" or transitional period of Black Flag's existence. Henry had just joined the band, so he didn't take much of a part in writing the songs, and a lot of these songs were on previous releases with Dez Cadena, but at the same time, Henry's introduction lead to the truly introspective, dark work that their later releases were known for. It's simultaneously the end of the more accessible hardcore punk that the band was famous for, and the beginning of the more experimental art-punk that caused the posers to turn away from the band and physically abuse Henry on-stage. Any fan of hard rock can appreciate some aspect of this. Noise-punk, sludge-metal, thrash metal, and grunge music were heavily influenced by this piece. With all of the wannabe "brutal" music today... nothing seems as real, as insane, or as honest as this. Along with "My War", I consider this album to be the musical embodiment of anger.

MUSIC VIDEOS