Circle Jerks
"Group Sex"
1980, Frontier Records
While the Circle Jerks were one of the better known hardcore groups that emerged from LA in the late 70s/early 80s, nearly all of their recordings suffered from poor sound quality (this album is the best example) and none were good enough to make up for their 20-minute lengths. "Group Sex", the band's debut, is an unimpressive collection of minute-long punk tunes. While some bands used speed, killer riffs, and swear words galore in order to appeal to LA's troubled youth, the Circle Jerks used bathroom humor as their gimmick. It hardly worked on this release (and on subsequent efforts), but a few songs are actually funny on first listen ("Operation" is an ode to getting a vasectomy). However, don't waste your time with this record unless you're a punk fanatic. footnote: re-released by Epitaph in the late '90s.
RATING: 2.5
"Wild In The Streets"
1981, Frontier Records
The title track alone makes this release better than the first album. However, with the exception of "86'd" and "Letter Bomb", the rest of the album harkens back to the band's amateurish debut. Also, the novelty hardcore version of "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" didn't exactly rock my world.
RATING: 5
"Golden Shower Of Hits"
1983, Avenue/Rhino
The Circle Jerks have improved with every record thus far, but their appeal is still pretty much limited to punk rockers. I seriously doubt many record buyers would be thrilled to death to hear tunes about teenage substance abuse ("Red Blanket Room"), low-lifes on welfare ("When The Shit Hits The Fan"), and sheer despondency ("Rats Of Reality"). Although pop melodies and dark humor make this a good record, a good bit of space on this 25-minute record is filled by a medley of oldies songs, done in a not-quite-punk-enough style.
RATING: 7
"Circle Jerks VI"
1987, Relativity Records
Actually, this is the band's 5th album (i don't count the "Group Sex"/"Streets" compilation), but who gives a rat's ass? Anyway, this LA slacker ensemble is still putting out records that fall short of the 30-minute mark, although they ARE becoming more enjoyable from start to finish. Featuring a sound that is a bit slower and heavier, "XI" rocks with commanding authority on "Beat Me Senseless", "Patty's Killing Mel", and "Casualty Vampires". While there are some half-assed tunes on here (most of which resemble third-rate hard rock anthems or third-rate punk), this is still a pretty good record. However, I'm a metalhead-- NOT a punk-- so I hardly play it at all.
RATING: 7
"Gig"
1990(?), Relativity Records
22 slabs of reckless punk rock, performed live in a small LA club...contains some amusing rants by otherwise talentless singer, Keith Morris, but I hardly ever play the thing. Most punk is good on the first listen, but it wears thin really fast.
RATING: 6
"Oddities, Abnormalities, and Curiosities"
1995, Mercury Records
The jaded ones are back together for a one-time major label cash-in (This came in the wake of Green Day's success, so you can put 2 and 2 together...). While the Jerks sound much heavier (lots of treble AND bass), only the first side of the record is worth listening to. It contains some decent Green Day/Offspring reworkings on "Teenage Electric" and "22", as well as a killer cover of "I Wanna Destroy You" (originally recorded by Robyn Hitchcock's Soft Boys). After the avant/metal of "Sinking Ship", the remaining songs just become one pop/punk blur of bizarre lyrics and utterly simple melodies.
RATING: 7
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