Black Flag – What The…

Written by: Max Szyc

No, your eyes are not deceiving you; that album artwork is real and it does rival some of the finest drunken artwork ever made in Microsoft Paint. Oh, and yes, What The… is a new studio album by pioneering LA punks Black Flag. Yes, that Black Flag.

For those who need to be brought up to speed, Black Flag is a pioneering American band whose brand of intense, speedy-as-hell rock n’ roll laid the foundation for hardcore punk and influenced countless bands in the process. Although the band had critical acclaim and a loyal cult following throughout their initial existence from 1976 to 86′, Black Flag was always plagued by inner turmoil. The group went through nearly 20 band members with guitarist and founder Greg Ginn being the sole constant in every lineup. However, interviews with just about any former member reveals that they all tended to quit for the same reason: Greg Ginn.

Despite Ginn’s talents as a guitarist and entrepreneur – he founded the band’s label SST Records, which was the independent label for alternative music in the early 80’s – he is reportedly stubborn, socially awkward, and takes the band very seriously. Former drummer Chuck Biscuits quit the group over disagreements regarding their rigorous rehearsal schedule, which was often six days a week, eight hours per day. Additionally, former singer Henry Rollins once described him as being like “Patton on steroids”. Throw in decade’s worth of unpaid royalties to former band members and you have a lot of people that really don’t like Greg Ginn.

Ginn has always been a pretty killer guitar player… when playing punk. At some point in the 80’s, Ginn somehow got it in his head that he could make decent instrumental music and began recording a myriad of awful jazz-rock side projects. While his atonal schizophrenic guitar style worked well for Black Flag, it often sounded amateurish for anything else. Need proof? Look up Ginn performing at Coachella 2012 and try not to laugh – only watch the entire 40 minute set if you’re into sadism.

After various former Black Flag members reformed as FLAG to huge fanfare, Ginn apparently decided that he wanted back in the limelight. He quickly formed a new “official” version of Black Flag… with hardly any former members. In contrast: FLAG has two originals in its lineup, but Ginn’s band only has himself and former singer Ron Reyes, who only sang on the band’s 1980 EP Jealous Again. Accompanying them is new drummer Gregory Moore – a former member of Gone, one of Ginn’s aforementioned jazz projects. After booking new tour dates and quickly recording a new album, we’re finally able to hear Ginn’s take on hardcore punk in the 21st century. The results generally do not sound pretty.

Even though the lineup might seem a little strange, What The… still manages to sound like a legitimate Black Flag record, mostly thanks to Ginn’s classic guitar tone and Reyes’ virtually-unchanged vocals. Seriously, a quick comparison between 1980’s “Revenge” and 2013’s “My Heart’s Pumping” reveals a vocalist that seemingly has not aged. Reyes was always one of Black Flag’s better singers, so it’s great to finally hear him sing on an entire album.

As for Ginn, his atonal playing style still sounds great. The later Black Flag albums, particularly Loose Nut and In My Head, showed Ginn moving towards a noisier and more dissonant style, and his playing on What The… continues this trend. Tracks like “This Is Hell” are built entirely on Ginn’s repetitive, droning riffs that manage to successfully mesmerize the listener over time. His claustrophobia-inducing guitar leads also make a welcome return on the album, making songs like “Go Away” more memorable.

Although the quality of Reyes’ vocals and Ginn’s guitars sound exceptional, their current song writing skills are anything but. The majority of the 22 tracks on the way-too-long What The… sound identical to others, with numerous songs such as “Shut Up” and “Slow Your Ass Down” featuring virtually-identical riffs.  Even with such short songs, listening to the album eventually becomes a chore as it feels like the same song is playing over and over.

It doesn’t help that What The… is poorly produced and sounds cheaply made, with Ginn’s guitars dominating the mix and the drums sounding like tin cans. This isn’t completely surprising considering how short the amount of time between the album’s announcement and eventual release date was. However, the poor production isn’t enough to prevent listeners from noticing how mediocre Moore’s drumming is. Despite holding good rhythm, he rarely deviates from simplistic beats and ends up making potentially great songs like “The Chase” and “Outside” sound blander than they should be.

It also needs to be pointed out just childish the whole thing sounds; to hear the 53-year old Reyes shout lyrics like “Shut up, just shut the fuck up” and “I’m Sick! Yeah, I’m sick” ad nauseam gives the impression that these songs were written rather quickly. While plenty of modern punk bands sing about anger, the lyrics feel incredibly forced and are rather laughable.

What The… is even more disappointing in that with some major retooling, it could have been a decent album. Had Ginn and co. hired a better drummer, cut the amount of songs in half, taken more time to improve them, and properly recorded and mixed them, the end result could have been much more listenable.After all, Reyes and Ginn, unoriginal lyrics and occasionally-repetitive guitar playing aside, still sound great after all these years. However, these facts don’t excuse the album from being the awfully-produced rush job that it is.

What makes the situation even worse is the fact that Reyes has already been booted from the band. He has has since acknowledged Moore’s poor playing, along with the quality of the overall “reunion”. Ginn may not be entirely to blame for the album’s faults, but the fact that he replaced Reyes with skateboarder-singer Mike Vallely does not bode well for Black Flag’s future. If Ginn wants to preserve his band’s impressive legacy, he needs to either drop the name or seriously up his game for any future studio outings. A legendary band’s reputation may depend on it.