Review Summary: A most excellent first half spoiled by a disappointing second half. A fans-only release.
People had been expecting it at this point for some time now. After all, the jump from
Damaged to
My War was a big step. You had a rough punk record that took the underground to musical bliss and you had a completely different record that borders on metal more than hardcore. It was only a matter of time till Black Flag completely came out their punk roots as they certainly weren’t your typical hardcore band. The band took the final dive with
Loose Nut, an album with some bitchin’ riffs and a complete hard rock approach. The band’s leader Greg Ginn had only wrote the first three songs (and co-write one with Rollins) for the record while the rest of the band catch up with the songwriting.
It’s sad to say that the ones Ginn wrote are the preeminent ones. The other songs are interesting enough but not nearly as excellent as the first four. “Loose Nut” is the worst of Ginn’s songs and does exactly what it’s suppose to do, open the album. The first shimmer of brilliance shines on “Bastard In Love”. It’s up-beat, catchy and still has the customary sound. A song to stick in your head for hours on end and starts raping your brain with the awesome hooks Greg Ginn has delightfully set up for us. “Annihilate This Week” isn’t as brilliant as the previous track but still holds up well on it’s own. The chorus consists of ‘Annihilate…all week long!’ and is another brain-raper. Very predictable but is enjoyable for a short time. The fourth track ‘Best One Yet’ was written by both Rollins and Ginn. The strongest out the first portion of the album, Greg’s dissonant guitar work suits this track a lot and is again catchy. Sadly after this song, everything just seems to go downhill and none of the other tracks keep my attention.
After hearing the disappointing second half, it’s still a relief to hear that Black Flag can still play their instruments amazingly. Greg Ginn is seriously the Ornette Coleman of punk rock, Kira is a tight bassist but can’t quite hold a candle up to Chuck Dukowski. Not too mention Bill Stevenson is completely solid. He doesn’t do anything jaw-dropping but he also knows how to not bore the listener. Henry Rollins is still the same black shorts wearing mad man he was. His vocals add a personal touch to the songs and he knows how to put a lot of force into the songs. The production on the songs are a lot more well done than other Black Flag releases and it fends off the normal rough punk sound. This is clear sounding and sounds like a normal hard rock release but obviously with the Black Flag persona.
This is no where near the best release from the band but certainly stands on it’s own in their catalogue. A bad starting point but this is might seem cool to fans of the band that can get passed their ‘punk’ sound. The majority of people will only get a kick out of the first half but it’s overall pleasant.
