BLACK FLAG – JEALOUS
AGAIN EP (SST RECORDS)
Females are difficult
people. You cannot predict them, it
seems impossible to please them and it takes a really schooled mind to persuade
them. And this is the cold truth being
addressed with “Jealous Again”.
The second Black Flag
EP (third SST Records release) is another four blast of energy and fury. It pretty much picks up where Nervous
Breakdown left off with the main change now being Ron Reyes handling vocals
instead of Keith Morris, not that their styles are million miles off from the
other.
“What can I do without
being yelled at?”
“Jealous Again”
accelerates with an immediate visceral lurch.
The conversation occurring is the accused turning into the accuser. It’s a common narrative, the kind of argument
that takes place weekly, occasionally daily, within certain pair dynamics. Here is the sound of stifled freedom coupled
with jealous wife syndrome in full execution.
By the time Ginn is soloing two thirds of the way in it all feels headed
towards some kind of resignation that this is just how it is going to be.
“It’s not my
imagination, I’ve got a gun in my back.”
Up next is the barely
minute long “Revenge” exhibiting hard reality crossed with wish fulfilment in
dealing with the authorities standing in the band’s way and busting up their
shows. Gangsta rap was seldom so
concise, precise and brutal in dealing with the cops.
“You’re an American.”
“White Minority” is
quite the song. I guess from one
stance/perspective it could be taken as their version of “White Man In
Hammersmith” but equally in a very brutal and dangerous way it sounds just
about as right wing as a song could get.
Of course its not what it appears to be on the surface. A band such as this could only ever be in a
position to apply pressure upwards.
“I don’t care what you
think.”
Increasing the
aggression the heavily dismissive “No Values” offers the listener pure
nihilistic representation, giving a set of lines and set of rules to spit in
the face of their supposed oppressors.
“We know you stole our
song.”
The extended play ends
with “You Bet We’ve Got Something Against You!”
This is a harsh instruction, a threat condensed into fifty two
seconds. It is slow, plodding and
pounding. In short it sounds like being
punched in the head. Fortunately it is
the band and the listener that is doing the swinging. With vocals now delivered by Chuck Dukowski
there seems an extra rub attached to the ceiling.
This is the sound of
being nagged at by those near and far.
Relations and society will always have opinions to throw at you. Don’t take them on board.
Thesaurus moment:
nark.
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