BLACK FLAG – NERVOUS
BREAKDOWN EP (SST RECORDS)
This is a helpful
record to own when you are in your teens.
It is useful to know that there are other angry people out there,
respectable and successful ones, adults.
To feel a surge in emotion towards the people and places that batter you
is normal, indeed it can actually be healthy.
Black Flag was an
amazing band. When producing material
such as this legendary punk acts such as the Sex Pistols and the Ramones
couldn’t touch them on their best day.
Of course the longevity wasn’t there but for punk burning wasn’t a bad
thing, you can only be at your most intense for so long.
The Nervous Breakdown
EP was the first release on SST Records and thus it is a huge piece of punk
rock history. Few records have ever
started so strong.
The first case of an
actual nervous breakdown I ever encounter was that of a car mechanic called
Basil that lived down my street when growing up. He used to repair my car and put it through
MOT for me. Then one day during the week
before Christmas with the brakes grinding we asked him to check the pads. I swapped them over and said they were
OK. A day or so later I crashed my car
at a set of traffic lights on the way to Colchester . I just
ploughed into the back of a van that stopped when the lights were yellow. I vividly remember “Father
To A Sister Of Thought” being the track playing on my car stereo at the
time. The van in front was fine but the
front of my car was pancaked, a borderline write off. And with my tail between my legs I drove into
town to meet up with a girl called Jackie for a date who promptly did not
bother to show. It was a double whammy
that ruined the Christmas of 1995. Now
I’m not saying that my mechanic’s nervous breakdown was responsible, but he
was. Ever since the term “nervous
breakdown” has not been one to take lightly.
“Nervous Breakdown”
the song is an amazing piece of energised work.
It is one of the most direct songs ever anywhere in the history of
music. Talk about getting to the fucking
point. In the space of just over two
minutes rock music is changed forever.
Following up is the
even tighter “Fix Me” a track enabling a full on rant rallying against the punk
situation. With a focus on “some day”
the desire is to get good now neglecting the conventions apparently attempting
to be installed by third parties.
The jarring guitar
sound of Greg Ginn maintains with the angry “I’ve Had It” which effectively
exudes the emotions of a frustrated individual at the end of their tether about
to erupt. It all ends with the threat
“I’m going to explode….” sung in capital letters.
Finally “Wasted”
closes the EP with another perfectly formed track that fails to break the
minute mark. In an effort to be
offensive it delights in its declaration of being wilfully lazy and
inebriated. It plays into stereotypes
with its self description (self analysis) exuding poor self esteem and else
esteem. From this both the author and
the listener take strength.
In a matter of minutes
and just four songs the band squeezes in the equivalent content of another
band’s entire album.
Thesaurus moment:
neurasthenia.
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