Customer Reviews

Group Sex

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1981 I was lets see..Hmmm... 11 years old,a budding (no pun intended) guitarist myself. I was invited by my uncle and older siblings(2 sisters,1 brother) to spend the evening at L.A.s
Whisky A Go Go to see the Circle Jerks. I'd heard their debut
record,'Group Sex' blaring out of my sister's room and really
hated it. I was heavily into The Who and Led Zeppelin at the time
and we rocker type kids were split against these weird punker types in our weird suburban schools. Anyways, as I stood in line outside the Whiskey(all of 11 years old with my hip uncle) I heard the end of their first show. I recognized the song as
'Behind The Door' with the little feedback guitar part and
some kind of adreneline rush shot through me. I later saw their
show and was mesmerized the whole time. I was quickly
converted.
'Group Sex' is probably among the five best punk albums
recorded by any group. You'll laugh, you'll scream, you might
even cry. And you'll laugh knowingly because you have discovered
a record and a sound that mocks stupidity and boredom as all great humorous art does. Dare I say art? Naaahh! Let's leave that to the snobs. This record will I believe, help give you a fresh, healthy, funny outlook on a world gone mad...

Prophetic line from "Paid Vacation": It's not Viet Nam, Just Another Oil Company Scam. Salute the Flag of Uncle Sam, Get Your Money Out, Place Your Bets...
It's Afghanistan.
Amazing how a punk rock band called the Circle Jerks could understand current foreign policy better 20 YEARS AGO than most Americans do now. They must have had a time machine or something. Plus the whole album does kick some proverbial ARSE!

Clocking in at barely 16 minutes (not counting the album repeating ) this is a slice of punk rock history and hails as one of the all time classic punk albums. Opening with the 24 second "Deny Everything" makes you wanna slam dance and destroy valuable furniture. Includes also the strangely relevant "Paid Vaction"(9-11) a song written 20 years before the incident.Own this punk rockers!

keith morris is probably the most underrated punk vocalist ever, he is the voice of punk as far as i am concerned. i mean if aliens came to earth, having to prior knowledge of what punk music was, and you could only show them one band, think about it, the circle jerks are the one. anybody who said black flag, better have been talking about when keith morris did vocals. if you played henry rollins to aliens, you might accidently start a war.

You may hesitate spending 15 or so bucks on a 20 minute album, but 20 minutes of 'Group Sex' beats 720 minutes of what passes for 'hardcore' these days. Keith Morris in his day was one of the best, most outrageous/underrated punk vocalists. The lyrics manage to accurately reflect the Southern California middle-class punk angst thing, and don't really sound dated to today's ears. And the music is punk at it's best, razor sharp riffs, and amazing drumming. If you like punk rock, you own this album already, you just don't know it yet.

Clocking at a length of 19 to 20 minutes, this album is a true gem. I saw the Circle Jerks in 1988 and it was the most fun show that I have ever been to. Picture an ex VFW hall in Green Bay with an open bar and an eight dollar cover. Now add to this that the stage was open to all stage divers: I jumped off of there about twelve times. I'm starting to ramble, but my point is that this record is a classic. Every song is a piece of art.

Loud , fast , and short. The way punk was made to be. After leaving Black Flag , Keith Morris formed the mighty Circle Jerks. With a few of the songs he did with Black Flag " Wasted " , " Don't Care " , and " What's Your Problem" this album deserves way more than just five stars.

This is classic Circle Jerks all the way. Every song is in your face and full of spit and broken glass. It is loud, angry and fast. It is also one of the first punk records I ever heard. I was lucky enough to see them live at The Jockey Club in Newport, Kentucky and they blew the place away. If you like punk rock, you gotta add this to your collection.

The Jerks took the whole punk rock thang and sped it up, made it propulsive and percussive(great drumming, by the way)and basically ended up with a classic disc. Keith Morris really upped the ante for hardcore vocalists, shouting, screeching, warbling, and spitting his way through this scant 30 minutes of non-stop mania. Group Sex is an infectious ride. A super musical quickie.

See you there!

Another group which epitomized the punk movement/culture. "Red Tape" is one of the fastest recordings ever. Unbelievable energy! I never caught the group live, but thank the gods for recorded music.