
Glorious Pettibon art
RATING: 7.7/10
‘Hardcore’ is a vile, nigh-meaningless term anymore. When we hear it, we can usually count on either getting some hilariously awful; pastel-haired scenecore nancies with synthesizers and 20-word album titles, or some huge sweaty dude with face tats for whom the music is just a sideshow for beatdowns. Seems like a lot of people (Double Negative is excused) forget that ‘hardcore’ used to be ‘hardcore punk’ – all the fun of the regular stuff, but stripped bare and sped up. Listening to the original Redd Kross EP, or Nervous Breakdown, it’s amazing to see that they’re actually sorta funny once in a while – not just breakdown/second breakdown/third breakdown/big cheestastic quadruple harmony chorus/fourth breakdown. Fortunately, Keith Morris is back with a vengeance after some mediocre flailings with late CIRCLE JERKS to remind everyone who did it first and best.
What is there left to say about a living legend like Morris? He’s nearly as old as my father, and still puts on a better, more energetic show than both of the aforementioned pretenders. His cohorts from REDD KROSS and Earthless are top notch musicians – even though Morris is center stage, the playing here, specifically the drumming, really is spectacular. He’s still got the white-hot, vinegar-and-broken-glass shriek down pat. He really does sound like he’s about to have a nervous breakdown here; without doubt, Off! remain one of the most exciting live acts I’ve seen in a while.
As for this record in particular, there’s also not much to say. This is bare-bones, high-speed punk rock. The 16 songs fly by scarcely before you blink; it’s highly similar to Morris’ work in his previous bands, but it’s not necessarily a re-tread – that would imply that it was diminished in some sense. Maybe it will be to some ears; to me, this album is 16 tracks of pure energy, which is what Circle Jerks were always about for me anyways. There’s moments of genuinely snarky and clever critique – as when Morris takes on his own scene in “I Got New For You” – it really does have a sense of a returning king. They’re not all great, but they’re all pretty good – the musicianship here is strong enough to carry less lyrically interesting songs along, and besides, they’re all barely 1 minute, so it’s hard to even dislike something that’s over before you can really form a thought about it. It’s true that this record breaks very little ground, but castigating a hardcore band for lacking musical depth and development is like criticizing the wind for blowing – that’s just the nature of the beast. It’s not the greatest album of 2012, but it’s a solid, workmanlike release that’s worth listening to; there’s really just not that much to dislike here. Morris and Co. are masters of this sound, and realistically, criticism of this album will inevitably end up being “bah humbugs” and “back when I was a young lads” from the fusty old punker-than-thou crowd. If it’s cool enough for Keith Morris to take up, it’s cool enough for you.
LISTEN: Off! Official Website
BUY: Off! at MerchLackey
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