ABSTRACT

The first concert I saw out in L.A. was Black Flag1 at the Starwood. This band really deals in distortion. Their concerts are all potential riots. They are very imposing looking. Greg (guitar), Chuck (bass), Robo (drums), and Dez (vocals, succeeding Keith Morris and Ron Reyes) played all the songs off their two EPs. Their best song is ‘Depression,’ which can be found on Decline of the Western Civilization, a live compilation LP just released.2 Next I saw The Circle Jerks. They’re the best band in California as of now, which is amazing considering they just started less than a year ago. Their 14-song LP Group Sex, out this week, takes 15 minutes to play, but it’s 15 minutes of superb, lightningquick rock. (If you thought no one was as fast as The Bad Brains, check out “Red Tape” and “What’s Your Problem.”) I think they might even be better than The Dead Kennedys (see their “California Über Alles” single) and The Germs, whose singer, Darby Crash, just committed suicide last month. I saw many lesser known bands-Gears, China White, Fear, Adolescents, UXA, etc.—all very exciting. It’s super to see so many loud, fast bands in one city/area. Punk dead, indeed!