TV Party

Black Flag: Dez Cadena (vocals, guitar); Henry Rollins (vocals); Greg Ginn (guitar); Chuck Dukowski (bass); Bill Stevenson, Emil (drums).
Hindsight usually emphasizes the more strident, aggressive aspects of Black Flag's career. The image of Henry Rollins' muscular, tattooed physique and glowering face as he stalked the stage screaming and spitting defiant and often angry lyrics, backed by Greg Ginn's screaming, almost violent, metal-edged guitar, is the first thing that usually comes to mind. And so sometimes we forget that especially in the early days, Black Flag could be pretty damn goofy. Many of the band's early songs were silly/satiric sketches of suburban California life, but none were more ridiculous than the Ramones-meet-the-Dictators 1981 single "TV Party." Ginn's odes to cheap beer, potato chips, and a remote control--complete with shouted backing vocals calling out the names of favorite shows--are simultaneously celebratory and sardonic, and the band's playing is as light and poppy as ever. The two remaining tracks are more standard hardcore-era Black Flag tunes.