Band Profile - Circle Jerks
 

I've been meaning to do this for a while now. But for some ghey reason, I can't find the album "VI" anywhere, so I thought I'd hold off until I found it to do the band justice....... F'uck it. I'll get it in the next few years I guess. This is the band that inspired me to join these forums, so everyone should have at least one good reason to hate them. :)


[CENTER][B]The Circle Jerks[/B][/CENTER]


[B]Current Members[/B]
Vocals: Keith Morris
Guitars: Greg Hetson
Bass: Zander "Snake" Schloss
Drums: Kevin Fitzgerald

[B]Past Members[/B]
Bass and Guitars: Roger Rogerson
Drums: Keith Clark
Drums: John Ingram
Drums: Keith "Lucky" Lehrer

[B]Record Labels[/B]
Frontier (1980-1982)
Avenue (1983-1984)
Combat Core/Relativity (1985-1994)
Mercury (1995-1996)
*Time periods are rough.



Late 1970's. Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown is one of the biggest and most influential punk records of the time period. Then seemingly out of nowhere, frontman Keith Morris leaves to form his own band. Looking back, which hardcore band do you see most of? Probably Black Flag more than Morris' second project. Look deeper into the band known as the Circle Jerks and you will probably never look back.

In 1979, Keith Morris joined former Red Kross guitarist Greg Hetson to form a new band called the Circle Jerks after the old frat house game (you should know what it means). The two soon recruited bassist Roger Rogerson and drummer "Lucky" Lehrer. Not long after their formation, the band released their debut album, Group Sex, in 1980. This album is considered by most hardcore purists to be an absolute essential album. I couldn't agree more. With the release of this album, the band completely changed the hardcore scene and sound. The songs on the album are fast, furious, and packed with raw energy. And none of them even reach the 2 minute mark. The Jerks made a name for themselves in the hardcore scene and ended up showing up in the movie, Decline Of The Western Civilization.

The band put out their second full-length album in 1982 entitled Wild In The Streets. The album was not received as well as their first album. This could be due to a number of reasons. One being that it wasn't nearly as revolutionary as the previous album. But now, you wouldn't be able to tell. A lot of people have heard the title track from this album first and fell in love with it, and then begin to like the Circle Jerks. The album is highly praised now, but for the time, it didn't fit well with people's expectations. "Lucky" Lehrer left the band shortly after release, because he thought the band would go downhill from there. The others stayed in the band and joined Avenue Records to release their third album.

John Ingram joined the band to record the next album, Golden Shower Of Hits. When this album was released, people knew the Jerks hadn't died. The band evolved into playing longer songs. They played songs more complex and heavier, but with the old Jerks humor. After the release of this album, the band took a two-year break. In the meantime a few noteable things happened. One being, Greg Hetson joined the well-known band Bad Religion. Two new members were added. Zander "Snake" Schloss on bass, and Keith Clark on drums. The band also joined Combat Core/Relativity Records.

After the break, the new lineup released their new metal influenced album, Wonderful. This album was received quite similar to Wild In The Streets. This album showed a new direction for the band. Some songs were slowed down replacing the old Circle Jerks signature loud, fast style. However, some songs were still played at the speed of previous albums. It was a turning point for the band, that unfortunately turned some people off. In 1987, the band released their next album on Combat, VI. VI acted in the same way Golden Shower did towards the backlash of Wild In The Streets. VI was highly praised and still is to this day. The album showed just where the borderline between punk and metal was. After the album's release, the Jerks became very low profile and did not do anything worthy of recognition until the early 1990's.

In 1992, the band released Gig, a live album. Then they sunk back into obscurity until 1995. That year the band released their last full-length album, Oddities, Abnormalities, and Curiosities. While not as highly praised as their earlier releases, it was appreciated as knowing the Jerks were still around and making their own brand of music. The band hasn't released anything since then, but they are not broken up. Instead health problems had since plagued Morris. He had back, stomach, and colon problems by 1996. And in 1999, he was diagnosed with onset diabetes. He had no health insurance, so the medical bills were enormous. When the punk community caught word of this, many bands began organizing fund-raisers to help out. After enough money was raised, he began a period of recuperating. The Jerks recently finished up a tour with G.B.H. Henry Rollins, a later lead singer of Black Flag, organized a benefit album featuring Black Flag songs. Keith Morris came full-circle as he was invited to perform the first song he recorded, Nervous Breakdown.


[B]Discography[/B]
Group Sex - 1980
Wild In The Streets - 1982
Golden Shower Of Hits - 1983
Wonderful - 1985
VI - 1987
Gig - 1992
Teenage Electric 7" - 1995
I Wanna Destroy You 7" - 1995
Oddities, Abnormalities, and Curiosities - 1995


[B]Related Bands[/B]
Black Flag (Keith Morris was the original lead singer)
Red Kross (Greg Hetson played guitar for them)
Bad Religion (Greg Hetson plays guitar for them)


[B]Opinionated Things[/B]
There is a statement that every other Circle Jerks album is good. I don't necessarily find this true. They are all good I think. Some just are more risk-taking than others. If the statement was true however, the next Circle Jerks album is going to kick ***. The following are favorites of mine you all should check out.


[B]Recommended Downloads[/B]
What's Your Problem?
Red Tape
Wild In The Streets
Question Authority
Under The Gun
Coup D'Etat
Dude
The Crowd
Patty's Killing Mel
Fortunate Son
Casualty Vampires



Many people in these forums are fans of this band, and if you haven't checked them out yet, you do not know what you are missing. Most fans of the old hardcore sound will love this band. Check 'em out.

if you don't add casualty vampires to recommended downloads, so help me, i will have to kill you.

*reads half and gets bored*

*assumes its really good anyway*

*+rep*

well, im gonna go listen to some Circle Jerks now. Because they are awesome. Good Job on the profile :thumb:

I do what I want dammit. But I will just for you. I didn't want too many downloads, but since you are so special to me, that will be the only song I add.

other than that, great job on teh profile.

rep++ when i spread some around.

Great profile. Rep if I could give it to you right now.

one of my favorite punk bands. didnt read the profile. i bet it was sweet though.

It was. Trust me. A definite rep-worthy post if I do say so myself.

How did i know this was coming anyway hawt review shizzy

Great profile as always. I'd rep you but I can't as I spread so little rep around, but I'll do as soon as I can. And I have the album VI so if you want you can download it from me.

Kick a'ss profile.



One of my favorite bands.


Rep ++ for sure.

[QUOTE=albert_bass]Great profile as always. I'd rep you but I can't as I spread so little rep around, but I'll do as soon as I can. And I have the album VI so if you want you can download it from me.[/QUOTE]
I've had most of it downloaded. I mean that I don't have it on actual CD format.

Yeah I supposed you meant that, but I wanted to help if I could.

They're a good band, but I don't like them as much as I like the other bands suring their time. Black Flag etc.

I've been looking for Red Kross mp3s for the longest time, I can't find any. Nor could I find a CD of them in a store.

Circle Jerks are one of my favorite bands.

i only have about five or six songs, but all of them are pretty kick ***. every time i go to the cd store i check to see if they have "group sex" but they never have any of their cds. :upset:

and nice profile. i had no idea they were still around. rep + (as soon as i can, i must spread some around first)

[QUOTE=albert_bass]Yeah I supposed you meant that, but I wanted to help if I could.[/QUOTE]
Thanks anyways.

Yeah the guys are still around. During their tour with G.B.H., Morris said in an interview that a new album should be out by 2008. It's a while yet, but it's good to know that one is in the works.

[QUOTE=El_Shizzy]Thanks anyways.

Yeah the guys are still around. During their tour with G.B.H., Morris said in an interview that a new album should be out by 2008. It's a while yet, but it's good to know that one is in the works.[/QUOTE]



2008??


He must be joking.


If he isn't well...



That's way too f'uckin' long.



I want it NOW!

I wasn't sure if it was a joke or not. I've heard that it was serious. And I've heard that it was a joke. It probably won't be sooner from what I can tell though.

But give the man a break. He's older than my mom.

[QUOTE]He's older than my mom.[/QUOTE]



Good point.



At least they don't put out s'hitty live albums every other year as filler, like most big name rock bands are wont to do.



Seriously, they're the same songs, we don't need to hear 8 f'ucking versions on a different live album every couple of years.


It's bulls'hit.

Love the Circle Jerks, great profile.

Nice job with the profile.

Are you sure the album you're looking for is VI, and not IV? I think I've come across a IV before.

Edit: Most likely the one I found was a typo. It was on [url]http://www.gemm.com[/url], but it seemed kind of overpriced.

Why are there so many band profiles now?

Anyways good read.

****i_ng awesome

no censorship

dammit i tried ^

did you think of actually putting the _ on the word itself?

Great work, i recently acquired Group Sex and it's an amazing album :thumb:

Out of all the popular early American hardcore bands, Circle Jerks seem to be the least liked. Good profile