We're taking deep dives way back - back to 1976, if you can. For context, I can't, wasn't even a twinkle in my Dad's eye at this point - but I digress. Black Flag are noted as one of the most impactful rock bands of all times, inspiring bands across the rock and metal genre. The amount of times I've heard in interviews a band I like going 'I love Black Flag' is insane, so I reckoned it's time for me to get neck deep in some classic shit, and let you know how I feel about it. So, let's get into this deep dive for Black Flag.
(Photo by Glen Friedman)
Origins
Black Flag came to be in 1979, in California. Set up by legacy member Greg Ginn and singer Keith Morris, Black Flag is credited as one of, if not the first hardcore/punk bands. Known in the scene for their anti-authoritarian lyrics and messages, Black Flag scorched their own path in the alternative scene. The band started off being called 'Poison', with Ginn insisting on heavy rehearsal schedules - meaning that the revolving door of musicians in and out of Black Flag in it's early stages was pretty hefty.
After a short while, Chuck Dukowski from Wurm joined as their bassist, apparently liking their sound, and along with Brian Migdol they created the first quartet that would become Black Flag. They changed their name due to another band on the scene being called Panic, but still played one show under the moniker in 1977. Their logo was created by Ginn's brother, consisting of the four rectangles that make up a black flag, claiming 'If the white flag means surrender, the black flag represents anarchy'.
They began playing small shows across California, and were known about town to graffiti their logo and paste flyers wherever they went. After a few shows, Migdol was replaced with Robo, who's many bracelts he wore when recording became part of the Black Flag soundscape. In 1979, after the release of their debut EP 'Nervous Breakdown', due to substance abuse issues and creative differences with Ginn, Morris walked away from Black Flag, and would later form a band of his own.
They went on to recruit Rob Reyes and release a second EP 'Jealous Again'. Off the back of this, and their feature in a film, the band began to tour outside of the L.A area and across the west coast. However, this relationship ended quickly with Reyes, who walked out of Black Flag mid performance in 1980. Dez Cadena was recruited, and the band toured nationally, selling out shows, but Cadena had no singing training, and in 1981, had completely ruined his voice, and decided he wanted to play guitar instead.
As the band continued, they recruited Henry Rollins, who learnt their songs, and replaced Cadena as their vocalist. They continued to tour, and finally settled down to record their first full length record, which although caused many arguaments with their producer Spot, came out in 1981, named 'Damaged'. They toured the UK between late 1981 and 1982, and bought their music to a whole new audience, as well as the punk ideology. On their way back, drummer Robo was detained by UK customs control, and after a shirt break, the band recruited Chuck Biscuits from Canadian band D.O.A.
This was extremely short lived however, and he later went on to join Morris' new band Circle Jerk after a tense and shirt tour with the band. They eventually signed Bill Stevenson, and went on to work on material, even though their old label had made it so they couldn't release another full length record. In this time, both guitarist Cadena and bassist Dukowski left the band. This didn't stop the remaining members however, who went on to release 'My War' with Ginn filling in on bass under a pseudonym in 1984. This started one of their most prolific periods, and with the lift of the ban prohibiting them from releasing a record, they were re-energised.
They went on to release three full length albums in 1984, with 'Loose Nut' taking a more heavy metal approach to their previously slower punk/sludge style records. However, in 1896, the infighting between members and lack of commercial success began to grind on them, and with both their drummer and new bassist Kira Roessler calling it quits, live shows began to take a turn for the worst, often ending in violence. They released one more record, 'In My Head' which was grungier than their earlier work, which although praised for being their most cohesive follow up to date, still fell flat. The band finally called it quits in the same year.
In September of 2003, Black Flag reunited for three reunion shows. These included Caneda, Ginn, Robo and new member C'el Revuelta on bass. They went on to announce in 2013 with a new line-up Black Flag was to be reformed, and went on to release a brand new album 'What The...' which was received extremely poorly by both critics and fans. After a few more tours with yet more members leaving and returning, Black Flag is currently once again touring across the USA with a new line-up, to varying success and reviews. Many claim that Ginn is unable to just let the band go, even after leaving the band once before.
Style
In an early interview, Ginn claimed 'We were influenced by the Stooges and then the Ramones; they inspired us. Keith and myself saw the Ramones when they first toured LA in 1976. After we saw them, I said if they could do it we could do it. I thought Keith would be a good singer and after seeing the Ramones, it made him think that he doesn't have to be some classical operatic singer.' Their style has been described as hardcore-punk, and the band have been noted as one of the first pioneers of the genre. However, they also incorporate styles of sludge, heavy metal, math rock and blues to their later music.
Current Lineup/Kit
Greg Ginn - Guitar - (Ampeg Armstrong Plexi/Modulus Black Knife Strat) (1976- present)
Mike Valley - Lead Vocals (2003/2013-present)
Charles Wiley - Drums (kit unknown) (2022 - present)
Austin Sears - Bass (bass unknown) (2023-present)
Discography - First Listen
'Damaged' has real early Iron Maiden vibes, but also reeks of Misfits in it's opening track 'Rise Above'. The instruments are al crunchy, the guitars are distorted, the gang vocals punchy and the lyrics cutting. Even the solo, although a touch grating hits hard. Tracks like 'Spray Paint' are brilliant little burners that only go for thirty or so seconds. Fan favourite 'Six Pack' has such a punchy bass sound that sits in such a dominant place in the mix. The way the track builds is although easy to predict really cool, and the insane pace changes keep you violently on your toes. This dominating bass tone really adds to their music, and keeps that low end grunt coming throughout their other tracks. Vocals are very scratchy, and adds that punk edge to these tracks that really ties it all together. They're pretty reminiscent of Sex Pistols too coming to think of it.
The sound from the last album has entirely changed on this one. With some clear influences from more instrumental music, this one really relishes in simple but razor sharp instrumentation. Although a touch simple in some places, it retains that same anarchistic vibe to it. The opening track is dominated by guitar in the mix, and although that's a good thing it does drown out some more of the grunty low end that I enjoyed in the last one. However I like the more groove based drums, the toms slamming around is a really nice addition that adds that little bit of texture. Across this record the pace remains blistering, always underlined by insanely fast picked bass or guitar and then a short drum intro before hitting the main body of the track. The vibe is definitely more threatening however, there's a real animosity to the vocals, and the lyrics are punchy, even if a little shaky at times. After a while however, the openers to the tracks get a little repetitive, it wouldn't hurt to just slam into a song or change up the recipe a little. Tempo changes are also rife in this record, and are really cool when done right, especially in tracks like 'Beat My Head Against the Wall'.
Family man is a record of entirely jazz based instrumental and spoken word tracks. It's an odd change up if I'm honest, but contains some poetry and passages that are quite provocative and reflective of the society they existed within, and when it's mixed with the odd jazz/punk fusion, you get a bit of an odd result. You get some flavours of their old sound in 'Armageddon Man' which although is more about the lyrics than the mildly basic instrumental, it still hits pretty hard, with that angry thick bass tone back in the forefront of the mix. The songs that are just instrumentals are cool too, and have some really cool elements of them, some different approaches to instruments - like the tapped drums and prominent basslines. Tracks like 'I Won't Stick Any of You Unless and Until I Can Stick All of You!' show off that insane pace once more, and are really cool to hear without lyrics. Nothing crazy or anything that's going to stick with me, but it's a fun new side to the band.
The crushing bass is back in 'Slip It In'! As a sound that underpins their music, I like how it's always a repeated staple of their sound. The mix is a little muddy in this record, and the beats and guitar parts are usually pretty repetitive, but the music is still good, and branches out again into new genres they hadn't already explored. Plus, I like that their songs are being given a bit more time, in physical runtime, to grow and develop more. They can have more substance to them, and so you feel they can develop more. However, the title track is a little bit of a crazy one...and I'm not sure if it's all too appropriate in modern society. There's a grungier edge to this one which I really enjoy, the drum sound is crisp, and the vocals, although in a few tracks sounds a little janky and badly recorded, it's got a decent vibe to it, if not entirely mind blowing and at times a bit repetitive.
The heavier side of Black Flag is shown more in 'Loose Nut'. All parts as wild and speedy as their previous discography. The title track is classic Black Flag, full of repeated lyrics, crunchy guitar and tempo changes a plenty. They're again going with the longer runtime for the tracks, and they really get going in a lot of these songs. However, a lot of songs, like 'Bastard in Love' tend to show their proverbial bones in the opening minutes, and sometimes don't change up as much. That isn't to say however, that this record isn't hitting some great points, like the chugging 'Annihilate This Week' which has a really grunty low end sound and again crunchy muted guitars. There are definitely newer influences on this record, with 'Best One Yet' on a much different approach, with higher guitar tones and a four on the floor drum beat. However, again I'm finding myself getting a little bored at the consistent repetitive features of most of these tracks. As a full cohesive record, although the sound is good and more developed, it does drag on, even in it's relatively short 35 minute runtime.
'In My Head' is another impressive display of the band's progress in terms of their sound. The heavy metal influences are rife in this one, with booming bass, brilliant drum fills and more pained vocals from lead singer Rolllins. There are flavours of Black Sabbath in this record, with wailing guitar riffs more reminiscent of Iron Man than of Black Flag. But, there's still that same blistering pace in their instrumentation, that really keeps that close to the bone anti-authoritarian vibe present throughout. Songs like 'White Hot' are discordant at times, but brilliant in their makeup, so much so that the insane layers of instruments somehow merge into a conducive whole. The mixing isn't wonderful, sometimes I can't make out the vocals, but it is what it is, I wasn't expecting anything as crystal clear, and again they're stringing out that runtime, so I can't say anything is too brief. A decent record, and a better build on their sound, with those same low end grunts and impressive vocals placed in at decent times.
In sharp contrast however, 'What the...' makes you ask that exact question as soon as the music hits. What the fuck am I listening to? And, what is that album cover? The tempo feels sluggish, and the heft bass sound although fun, is mainly lost in the mixes against the insanely off drum sound. New vocalist Ron Reyes is by no means a Rollins, and his vocals really feel whiney in comparison, lacking the heaviness and emotive tones Rollins incorporated in his range. Instrumentation is muddy and badly mastered, and every track bleeds into one insanely dull and incoherent feature. It's a definite black mark on Black Flag's discography. Lazy is the word to describe it, it just feels like everything that was once great about this band has been dissected out of itself, and those things have been harshly replaced with half baked ideas. The quality has dips and troughs, and to be brutally honest, I listened to a few songs, and decided I didn't have the strength to go on.
My Opinion
I think Black Flag are a brilliant example of the rising punk/hardcore stylings, and in their earlier efforts seemed to be the voice of a generation. Their harsh and bulky sound along with cutting vocals and great guitar sounds placed them above other artists at the time. It's really not hard to see why they had such a cult following - however, their golden era seemed to end quite abruptly. It would have been better, in my opinion, if they had left it at 'In My Head' as a final effort, and didn't think another record, with a whole new line-up was the way to go. I can see why so many people see these guys as an influence to their music - for all intents and purposes, this is the infraction point of a genre and it's growth, and when Black Flag were in their prime, they really were pioneers of the genre. However, in a day and age where this genre has moved on to newer and cleaner approaches, there isn't really a place, in my taste at least, for Black Flag to enter in.
Playlist Additions: N/A
Overall Rating: 6/10
Sources Used:
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Flag_(band)
Equipboard - equipboard.com
Comments