At 55 years-old, with Black Flag and the Circle Jerks in his rear-view mirror, Keith Morris certainly has nothing left to prove. But, then, that's not really the point with folks like Morris, is it? It isn't about measuring up to some external standard, or seeing yourself in comparison to some other, earlier, version of yourself. That kind of living, it seems to me, can't resonate in any meaningful way with a punk ethos, where every moment is a trial, and you've got to be reborn in each moment (really, give birth to yourself), or you find yourself forcefully sucked down into a prison-house of intellectual and spiritual unfreedom.
Having nothing to prove and making music outside that whole paradigm is part of what makes Morris's latest project, OFF!, so friggin' good. On CDH, I've played multiple tracks from the First Four EPs collection, which came out in November 2010, including "Panic Attack", "Black Thoughts", and (this week) "Crawl". Soundcloud offers links to two others from the album, "Darkness" and "Upsidedown".
These are driving, tightly condensed hurricanes of hardcore virtuosity. It only takes one or two listens, and you're quickly made to see why so much of what passes for punk rock today is ridiculous by comparison.
I offer up these tracks to anyone who feels prematurely old, to the 30-somethings and 40-somethings (like me), who catch themselves complaining too often about their aches and pains and their stupid, insipid weltschemrz. These songs pull listeners into what OFF! guitarist Dimitri Coats has called the band's "dark party", and they remind us (at any age) about what hardcore means and why hardcore matters.
OFF! have live dates this month and hit the road again for more shows in June. You should catch them (if you can).
Paste Magazine interview (03/2011) with Keith Morris
Punknews.org interview with Keith Morris (05/2010)
OFF! lineup: Keith morris (vocals), Dimitri Coats (guitar), Steven McDonald (bass) and Mario Rubalcaba (drums).
Not convinced? Exhibit A-Z:
Friday, April 8, 2011
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