BLACK FLAG – SIX PACK 7˝ EP (SST Records 1981.), LOUIE LOUIE 7˝ SINGLE (POSH BOY Records, 1981.) & THREE COMP. TRACKS

 

First just a short intro, as you can see by the title of the post, this time I'm talking about few records and compilation tracks from Black Flag's 1980./81. period. There are few reasons for that, one is that these particluar releases don't have many songs, so I thought it would be a good idea to talk about all of these records and comp tracks in one post. Second reason is that all of these recordings and releases were recorded with Dez Cadena, the third Black Flag vocalist and the third reason is that I wanted to speed up all these reviews a little bit, so you don't have to wait for a few months to read my rant about two songs single, haha. So, here you have in one package: two 7˝ EP's and three compilation tracks by Black Flag, let's fuckin' go!

So, around Spring of 1980 after the final recording of Jealous Again EP and after Ron Reyes finally lef the band, Dez Cadena already joined Black Flag as their third vocalist. As I've said in the previous post, Dez also recorded some of the songs during the Jealous Again sessions, but they were shelved until these songs were released on a double compilation LP - Everything Went Black in 1982. Also, as the Reyes, Dez was another previous member of Red Kross where he played guitar, although Dez never recorded anything with the band. With Dez, the band started to play even more and toured all over US and Canada during the rest of the 1980. and half of 1981. While Dez was always more comfortable as being a guitar player than a vocalist frontman, still lots of people who saw the band live at the time claim that the period with Cadena on vocals was one of the best Black Flag periods. Vocals of Dez Cadena were totally different from both previous Black Flag vocalists - Keith Morris and Ron Reyes, Dez had a very distinctive gruff vocals unlike the two previous singers of the band which only added more aggresiveness to the already hard sound of the band because the songs structure also started to became a little different then the older songs. 

VA – CRACKS IN THE SIDEWALK 12˝ EP (NEW ALLIANCE Records 1980.)

Let's start with a compilation track „Clocked In“ that was relased on the Cracks In The Sidewalk 12˝ EP compilation on New Alliance Records at the end of 1980. New Alliance was a label founded by members of the Minutemen: Mike Watt and D. Bone with their friend Martin Tamburovich in 1980. The compilation was the first release of the label and beside Black Flag includes also: Minutemen, Saccharine Trust, Kindled Imagination, Artless Entaglements and Sharp Corners. Clocked In was one of the many early classic Black Flag songs and the band played it a lot during the first four years. The songs dates all the way to 1978 and you can hear different versions of the song with other singers on Everything Went Black compilation. This version was obviously recorded with Dez on vocals, Greg Ginn on guitar, Chuck Dukowski on bass and Robo on drums. The song was recordd at Media Art Studios in Hermosa Beach, Ca, sometimes between July and November 1980. That's the closest that I could find the recording data for this version, so I'm still not sure when the song was exactly recorded. Clocked In was written by Ginn and it's a typical early Black Flag gem. While the song is not in my top 20 Black Glag songs, it's a still pretty solid song. One more thing, while this wasn't the first Black Flag song that was released on a compilation record, it was the first never released before song by Black Flag on a compilation record, that's that. Also, this version of Clocked In was later re-released on The First Four Years compilation LP in 1983. 

SIX PACK 7˝ EP (SST Records 1981.)

Six Pack was the third Black Flag EP, recorded in April 1981 at Golden Age Recordings in Hollywood, Ca and it was released in June 1981 on SST Records. The EP was produced by Spot and Geza X. The EP was also later re-released on a CD format and on The First Four Years compilation LP. The band lineup is the same as on Cracks In The Sidewalk compilation. At this point things started to move faster with recording sessions and records releases. While officialy Black Flag released with Dez only two short EP's and a few compilation songs, the band was very productive with making news songs, tours, regular shows and recording sessions (not to mention working on the label non stop). At the time the band started to get even more hassle by the LA police and at that point Black Flag became a number one enemy punk band to LA police and even FBI. With all the shit happening with police harassment, shuting down the shows and stuff, the band managed to make some of their best songs at the time and the band played as much as they could. 

There are only three songs on the Six Pack EP, but what hell of a great songs. I'm not sure if many people know this, but these songs were actually taken from the first Damaged session which is also known as Damaged Demos. At the time, the band was trying to record their first album (again), this time with Dez and they already wanted to release the album titled Damaged, way before Henry Rollins joined the band. Back to EP, the cover art is again done by Raymond Pettibon and it's just simply great, there are even hand written lyrics at the back sleeve of the record. While so far Ginn was mostly the main song writter for the band, Six Pack EP was the breaking point for the Chuck Dukowski who wrote one song and co-wrote another one with Ginn. This definitely made the sound of the band more dynamic and diverse, let alone the vocals of Dez being totally different than the previous two vocalists and the the time the band became a lot faster and started to sound more pissed off than ever before. All of these things makes Six Pack a great EP no matter the fact that it clocks in less than 6 minutes. 

A side is opened by the title song Six Pack which is probably one of the most well known Black Flag classic songs and it's indeed a classic. To this day, it's one of the bands most recognizable songs and the bass intro of Six Pack is such an iconic intro, you just can't be not amazed how good it is. Six Pack song was written by Ginn and lyrically it's more on the satirical critical point about drinking „six pack“ beer mentallity which is definitely a mock of the American white suburban culture. „My girlfriend ask which one I like better, I hope the answer don't upset her“, I love this line, it's such a witty comment which was a typical Ginns sarcastic attitude in the early days of the band. The songs builds up first with a bass intro and then also with a guitar after that it bursts into a frenzy and catchy singalong anthem. What to say else, than that this is a great song that is stuck in my head forever. Six Pack song was also re-recorded later on the classic first LP by Black Flag – Damaged with Henry Rollins on vocals.

B side opens with I've Hear It Before song written by Dukowski and Ginn. It begins with a wailing guitar noise and spoken word by Dez and then goes into a catchy awesome hardore punk song that makes you slam dance and bounce against the walls. Lyrically it's a sort of fuck you song which at that point was nothing new for the band, but still a theme that we can all identify with when people tell you what you should or shouldn't do. Pretty cool song that somehow don't get mention a lot which is a shame. American Waste is the third and the last song on the EP and it was written by Dukowski. It starts with a melodic guitar intro and soon enough goes into a similar style as the previous song, catchy but pissed off hardcore punk tune with a critical look on American culture. In a way, whole EP has a a common theme which is a heavy critical look on American society with a sarcastic touch. American Waste is also a great song and again one of the songs that you don't hear much about but these two songs on the B side are as good as the title song of the EP and as any other Black Flag classic early song. So, this is Six Pack EP, on of those short and perfect hardcore punk classic records that you just can't miss it. 

VA – CHUNKS LP (NEW ALLIANCE Records 1981.)

We're continuing with a compilation track „Machine“ from Chunks compilation LP released on New Alliance Records sometime in 1981. Other bands on the compilation are: Descendents, Chiefs, Minutemen, Stains, Peer Group, Vox Pop, Ken Starkey, Slivers, Saccharine Trust, Artless Entaglements and Nig-Heist. The band lineup is the same as on Six Pack EP. Machine song was from the same sessions as songs from Six Pack EP also known as the Damaged Demos recorded in April and May 1981. Machine was not a typical Black Flag song and it's hard to describe it. It was written by Dukowski and Cadena and the song sounds improvised which wasn't the case of course but it sounds like that.  While the song is not in the same league as some of the bands early classic songs, it's an definitely interesting tune and the band played it live regularly while Dez was in the band. Machine song was also re-released on The First Four Years compilation LP. 

LOUIE LOUIE/DAMAGED I – 7˝ EP (POSH BOY Records 1981.)

It seems that Louie Louie/Damaged I 7˝ EP was released few months after Six Pack EP, although I'm not really sure when exactly was released, but I'm guessing sometime around Fall of 1981. The fourth Black Flag EP was the first and only ever record that wasn't released originally on SST Records. There were some other Black Flag records that were collabs with other labels, but Louie Louie single was originally released on Posh Boy Records from Southern California which was a very known punk label in the late 70's and early 80's. Later, the single was re-released on SST Records on vinyl and CD format. The band lineup is the same as on Six Pack EP and the previous mentioned compilations. It's interesting that the single doesn't have the cover art done by Pettibone but instead it's a photo of Dez smoking a cigarette in some dark alley. The recording sessions for the single are a little bit complicated because the songs were recorded on a totally different recording sessions and before Damaged Demos. Damaged I was recorded „live“ at Target Video in San Francisco, August 1980. Louie Louie was recorded at Media Art Studios in January 1981. There are so much of these early Black Flag sessions and it's easy to get confused by all the data and info, so I hope you're keeping the track. The EP was produced by Spot and the band. 

Louie Louie is a cover of the classic rock'n'roll song written by Richard Berry in the early 60's. The lyrics were slightly re-written by Dez Cadena. In the early 80's, Louie Louie was one of the most common cover songs from the 60's that was covered by many hardcore punk and post punk bands. While I love the original song and some other covers and versions of the song, Black Flag version of Louie Louie is definitely one of my favorite versions. The band shortened the song and it's interesting to hear the band playing something more loose and less frenetic and raw. Damaged I was written by Ginn and Dez and it's one of the most brutal Black Flag songs ever in my opinion. Damaged I is a slow and heavy noisy outburst sounding like the band and the equipment will fall apart in any second but the song still keeps going. I would argue that this song is one of the first noise rock songs because you can just hear the influences on some classic noise rock bands from the late 80's and the 90's. Damaged I was also re-recorded on the bands classic first LP - Damaged with Henry Rollins on vocals, but more about that in the next post. Anyway, this is a great single and it's interesting how on one side you get the light rocking tune and on the other side something completely different and more dark.

VA – LET THEM EAT JELLYBEANS! LP (ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES 1981.)

We're finishing the Dez Black Flag era with another compilation track – „Police Story“ that was released on Let Them Eat Jellybeans! Compilation LP on Alternative Tentacles Records released in October 1981. I don't think that I have to introduce Alternative Tentacles label much which is a legendary punk label from San Francisco, Ca that was founded by Jello Biafra. Other bands on the compilation are: Flipper, D. O. A., Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, Really Red, The Feederz, The Subhumans (Canada), Geza X, Bpeople, Wounds, The Offs, Anonymous, 1/2 Japanese, Christian Lunch and Voice Farm. The band lineup is the same as on all the previous few records and compilations. Police Story song was written by Ginn and it's definitely one of the early Black Flag classic songs with a strong anti police repression message. This version was also from the Damaged Demos sessions, recorded in April/May 1981 and it's interesting that this version wasn't re-released neither on Everything Went Black compilation or The First Four Years compilation. It's definitely a strong version of the song and it's worth tracking it down if you somehow missed this one. Police Story song was also re-recorded on the bands classic first LP Damaged that was recorded with Henry Rollins on vocals but that's the story for the upcoming post. 

That's the Dez as a vocalist era of Black Flag which was definitely an interesting and very prolific era of the band. Before Dez joining as the vocalist of the band, Ginn was mostly the main song writter so this period of the band brought more dynamics to the sound of the band because both Dez and Dukowski had a lot of impact in the song writting proccess and during this period the band wrote and recorded some of its best material. It's also interesting to speculate about what turn the band would get after if the Damaged album was released with Dez on vocals like it was originally itended in April and May of 1981. So, there's still a lot to discuss about this period of the band which makes me being still excited about Black Flag after all these years of listening the band. 

Hopefully some of you enjoyed this rant and if you want to comment and discuss anything concerning this post or Black Flag generally, you're very welcomed! All the photos and flyers were found online from various sources so if anyone wants a credit mentioned of their photo, let me know. Also, you can find me on Instagram: @deadly_138

The next post is a review of Damaged LP, so stay tuned!

I am The Snake