Whatever you think you know about Hardcore is wrong.
With a nod (not a subtle one) to his previous life in Black Flag, Keith Morris puts together a band and a blistering sound that recalls the best of what was great about Hardcore with OFF!: First Four EPs.
Keith Morris has had some rough times post-Black Flag/Circle Jerks. Popping up in interviews from time to time, battling diabetes and dim job prospects (I remember an LA Weekly interview with him talking about his work in a restaurant), life has not been a bed of roses for him. But a little perseverance and a lot of help from Dimitri Coats (from Burning Brides, google "Poor House" and "Heart Full of Black" for a look at his brand of stoner rock), Steve McDonald (from underrated pop punkers Redd Kross), and drummer Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket From The Crypt, Black Heart Procession, Pinback, and my favorite reference of all, Battalion of Saints), OFF!: First Four EPs is a surprisingly restrained, completely authentic document of early 80s Hardcore that is less a nostalgia trip and more a contemporary reaction to the time we live in.
When I say restrained, I'm not referring necessarily to the music - Sixteen songs pummel you for seventeen minutes in what sounds refreshingly like one-take. It's more about the lack of finger wagging or any of that "if you weren't there you'll never understand" bullshit history lesson- just a raging set of songs that capture the fury of a time past in amber for anyone who wonders what it was really all about. Tastefully packaged with art from Raymond Pettibon (the vinyl EPs come with a booklet, complete with notes and illustrations by Mr. Pettibon that recall his best work with SST), this project is a musical, artistic and anthropological triumph.
