Five (hardcore) bands that before last week I only knew a few singles from
Black Flag: The primary reason they spawned a scene was their guitar sound: dense, aggressive, dissonant. Then Greg Ginn discovered that free jazz could be dense, aggressive, and dissonant, so why not adopt free jazz technique. Which was a mistake only as much as hiring Henry Rollins was a mistake. Great songs: “TV Party”, “Six Pack”, “Louie Louie”, “Annihilate This Week”.
Dead Kennedys: Jello Biafra is full of shit, which arguably sharpened his satire of others who are full of shit, like yuppies and Jerry Brown. Unfortunately he soon convinced his band to be full of it as well. Great songs: “California Uber Alles”, “Holiday in Cambodia”.
Minor Threat: Ian MacKaye is certainly not full of shit, which his band could only put up with for so long. Eventually he formed a better, shit-free band, so happy ending. Great songs: “Think Again”, “In My Eyes”.
Bad Brains: The only one of the bands considered here whose palette expansion paid off. not a coincidence that they had the soundest rhythm section. The trick is to start from jazz, not finish there. Great songs: “Pay to Cum”, “Joshua’s Song”, “I Against I”.
Flipper: Generic enough for a whole bunch of punks (e.g. one Cobain, K.) to follow them toward metal. That metallers didn’t flock to punk in turn is regretted by no one. Great songs: “Sex Bomb”, “Ha Ha Ha”, “The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”, “Life”, “Way of the World”.
