The Witzard

OFF! - L-R: Dimitri Coats, Autry Fulbright, II, Keith Morris & Justin Brown (CREDIT: Jeff Forney) OFF! the Punk/Hardcore super-group, which, since its 2010 inception, has featured Circle Jerks & ex-Black Flag frontman Keith Morris, guitarist Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides, Ten Commandos,) bassist Steven McDonald (Redd Kross, Melvins/Dale Crover Band,) and drummer Mario Rubalcaba (ex-Rocket from The Crypt, Hot Snakes.) OFF! have been fairly quiet since the release of their 2014 EP, Wasted Years, but all that has changed as of yesterday afternoon: OFF! unleashed a frenzied cover of Metallica's "Holier Than Thou" from their upcoming expansive 53-song tribute to The Black Album fittingly dubbed The Metallica Blacklist. Along with it came a music video, a new band/press photo, an announcement they were signing to Fat Possum Records for re-issues and future releases, and news they were working on a new album, as well as a long-planned Sci-Fi feature film. Nestled...

The Attitude by WORDS HURT THE ATTITUDE EP is the latest release from ALASKA & Lang Vo 's group, WORDS HURT . Although, it consists of 9 tracks, the EP only clocks in at just under 11:30 with the longest track lasting a frantic minute and 55 seconds. As many of you may remember, Lang Vo , actually, mentioned WORDS HURT 's then-unnamed EP within The Witzard 's December 2017 interview with both ALASKA & Lang : "I think, this time around, we were mostly dealing with fresh-ish material, on both ends. We actually made a whole EP and were going to release it for fun, but scrapped it and started over and made SOUL MUSIC FOR THE SOULLESS . We are still going to release that EP for free soon..." As Lang Vo mentioned, WORDS HURT in fact, recorded THE ATTITUDE EP prior to their 2017 full-length, SOUL MUSIC FOR THE SOULLESS , and initially, intended to release it before or in place of the album. While you may not hear it right off the bat, THE ATTITUDE EP was...

It must be pretty hard to try to stay "Punk Rock," rebellious, and still keep food on the table these days; Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA V) was released last week and features a pretty awesome, broad-spanning in-game soundtrack. Rockstar uploaded an expansive 59-track 3 volume collection to iTunes: The Soundtrack, Original Music, and The Score (composed by Tangerine Dream ). Included within are tracks, both new and old, from the likes of Clams Casino , Tyler The Creator, Oh No , Yeasayer, Jai Paul , Lee "Scratch" Perry, Yellowman , WAVVES, and recently re-invigorated Hardcore super-group OFF! The Keith Morris -penned "What's Next?" was conjured up exclusively for GTA V and plays alongside Black Flag , Descendents, The Weirdos , and The Germs on a fictitious radio preset. Noisey reports that Morris, just off a stint with Black Flag off-shoot FLAG , should "head [in]to the studio soon to record a full-length of all new tracks." VICE R...

FLAG. Black Flag. FLAG. Black Flag . Flag Black. Flack Blag. It does get confusing, no? Well, not for me. Black Flag was a band that changed my life. It was like entering a portal and I would never be the same ever again afterwards. The band dominated over everything in my little universe. No matter how many line-up changes, no matter how many drummers, no matter whatever stylistic change the band went through, I liked ALL of it. And it wasn't until the very end of their career that I realized that something was wrong in my perceived Punk Rock paradise. Black Flag were the band that almost broke up in time. With a major emphasis on the word "almost." Also, I had decided that Black Flag founder Greg Ginn must have lost his marbles. And this was BEFORE he broke up his own band. Here is why: The month is January. The year is 1986. Black Flag are playing their first big show with yet another new line-up at The Stardust Ballroom in Los Angeles ... D. Boon of The Minut...

Forget about aging gracefully; Life-time Punk Rockers Greg Ginn, Ron Reyes, Gregory Moore , and Dale Nixon Dave Klein (Screeching Weasel) are still as angst-filled, rebellious, and aggressive as they were way back in 1979. Coincidentally and much to their dismay, another sect of former Black Flag members AKA FLAG fronted by Keith Morris are actively touring this summer, too. Greg Ginn & Black Flag are prepping a currently untitled 22-track "new Black Flag " album for release on SST Records later this summer; Track titles are rumored to include "Honey, I Shit My Pants (Again)," "Viagra Blues," "Hair Down The Drain," "A Little to The Left," etc. "Down In The Dirt" was quietly uploaded online late Friday afternoon, along with a tastefully honest note from the band: " SST Records is proud to announce a free download of the first new Black Flag song in many years, "Down In The Dirt" ... ***NOTE: ...

Re-assembling Black Flag without righteous frontman Henry Rollins (1981-86) is like if Ford just suddenly decided to release their 50th anniversary Mustang sans that iconic, silver-plated pony emblem. But I'm sure founding guitarist Greg Ginn thinks differently, which is probably why Rollins isn't being included in EITHER Black Flag reunion . Whether or not Ginn realizes it, Henry Rollins is basically the sheer genesis of Black Flag ! ... It was announced late Friday afternoon that 6 of Black Flag 's 16+ assorted members are planning to re-form and tour the nation/across the pond as part of 2 separate groups. Greg Ginn , Ron Reyes , "Dale Nixon," and drummer Gregory Moore are playing 3 summer festival dates @ the moment, supposedly putting the "finishing touches on a new album," and are plotting a " BLACK FLAG US Tour Fall 2013." FLAG , on the other hand, includes Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Bill Stevenson , and Stephen Egerton (...

[First Four EP's] makes me want to rip my arm off and beat myself in the head with it. It makes me want to destroy my teeth and replace them with live sharks. Keith Morris (Black Flag- Circle Jerks ) on vocals, Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides) on guitar and Goldilocks -gone-wrong hair, Steve McDonald (Redd Kross!!! wow) on bass with super awesome style, and Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket from The Crypt) on drums - He beats the shit out of them elegantly) ... This is a band from LA and they are on their own trip. Fast, furious, no bullshit Hardcore . As much as I loved the Circle Jerks this is the brass ring. It's Keith at his best and as a band they literally make me want to get the fuck up and go. Listen - these songs are tiny nuclear bombs for your brains. They take less than a minute and half each to destroy your humility. If you ever get a chance to see them live you will either restore your faith in the power of Rock "N" Roll or convert you to some form of evange...