circle jerks Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Circle Jerks “Wild in the Streets”

sfilzen — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 18:57:19 +0000

Circle Jerks “Wild in the Streets” 1982/2022. Limited deluxe edition on orange and white striped vinyl. Trust Records. This past weekend was Keith Morris’ birthday (b. 1955) and I’m finally getting around to writing about Wild in the Streets which celebrated its 40th anniversary this past March. The special reissue comes with a super-high quality booklet and live bonus tracks which were recorded at The Elite Club in San Francisco in April ’82. The band recorded the studio tracks in one day (in a room next to another studio where Mötley Crüe were recording) and mixed it in three “in Herb Alpert’s private studio, Studio D. It was his private room.” “I was setting up the drums and this guy comes up to me and starts asking, ‘Where did you start to play?’ It was like, ‘Buddy, we’re gonna be here for a few hours and then we’re done. I really haven’t got so much patience to answer all these questions.’ Later on one of the techs says, ‘You know, that was Herb Alpert you were talking to.’ It was ironic because I was a huge fan of Nick Ceroli who was Herb’s drummer.” (Lucky, CJ’s drummer, from the LP booklet)

The lead/title track, one of CJ’s best-known songs and an 80’s punk anthem, “Wild in the Streets” is a cover of a ’73 single by Garland Jeffereys. CJ first recorded it in ’80 for Posh Boy Records and it appeared on the comp Rodney on the ROQ. There are two other cover songs on Wild in the Streets: “Just Like Me” (Paul Revere & the Raiders – one of my favorite 60’s songs ever) and Jackie DeShannon‘s “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” which is kinda hilarious as a hardcore punk song. Other notable tracks from the original album are, for me, “Question Authority” and “Moral Majority.” The bonus live tracks include fast and raw versions of “Letter Bomb,” “Wild in the Streets” and “Stars and Stripes.”

I finally got a chance to see Circle Jerks last year in Las Vegas where they headlined the second night of Punk Rock Bowling. Their performance of “Wild in the Streets” was a definite highlight of the weekend.

The post Circle Jerks “Wild in the Streets” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Circle Jerks “Group Sex”

sfilzen — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 20:21:02 +0000

Circle Jerks “Group Sex” released 40 years ago today, October 1st, 1980. Frontier Records. Fast and short (14 songs, about 15 minutes) classic hardcore punk, Keith Morris’ first release since leaving Black Flag in ‘79. Circle Jerks included four tracks that Morris had co-written and recorded while in Black Flag: “Wasted” (one of my favorites), “Don’t Care” (another great one), “Red Tape” and “Behind the Door.” Former Red Kross guitarist (then later for Bad Religion) Greg Hetson also brought a track from his old band that Circle Jerks reworked for Group Sex: “Live Fast Die Young” (yet another fave). I also really like “I Just Want Some Skank,” “Operation,” “Back Against the Wall,” and “Paid Vacation” though all the songs are so quick that if you blink, you’ll miss them. I find this review from Allmusic hilarious: “As such things go, it’s tight, reasonably well played, the songs kinda sorta have hooks, and Keith Morris is a pretty good frontman, but if you’re looking for nuance, you’re pretty much out of luck. Then again, if you were looking for nuance in a Circle Jerks album, you’ve obviously been misinformed as to how this punk rock stuff works.”

The post Circle Jerks “Group Sex” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Circle Jerks “Golden Shower of Hits”

sfilzen — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:21:23 +0000

Circle Jerks “Golden Shower of Hits” 1983. Allegiance Records. I don’t care if the news reports are true or not, but links to this record showed up in many of my feeds yesterday – I laughed – so figured I’d take it out for a spin. Golden Shower of Hits is the Circle Jerks’ third studio record and is neither a comp nor technically hit-containing, though “Coup d’Etat” and “When the Shit Hits the Fan” both showed up on the Repo Man soundtrack in ‘84, and “Golden Shower of Hits (Jerks on 45)” is a spoof on the gawd-awful “Stars on 45 Medley” #1 hit by Stars on 45, a Dutch novelty group, in ‘81. Overall the LP is exactly what was fun about 80′s west coast punk: obnoxious, loud and fast. I’m also finding that 80′s punk is increasingly relevant again today: angry, often whip-smart and culturally critical, hurled in hurried bite-size pieces to gnaw on, like “High Price on Our Heads” and “Parade of the Deplorables Horribles.”

Dark warnings fill the air
Some conform, others spell the
Parade of the horribles
Parade of the horribles
Parade of the horribles
And you’re life’s just so fucking miserable
Something’s screams’ fill the skies
Men spell…
Parade of the horribles
Parade of the horribles
Parade of the horribles
Just so fucking wonderful
The sea will overflow
The seeds you plant will grow
The livestock of the yo
The fresh water will distill
OVERTHROW!

The post Circle Jerks “Golden Shower of Hits” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.