Black Flag is shorthand for hardcore punk excellence. For better or worse, they elevated an outsider art form to a visceral, full-contact experience for those that do not deal in subtleties. New York hardcore has always been good at marketing their scene, but Southern California’s Black Flag upped the game for every band that came after. Unsurprisingly, they would become simpatico with another misunderstood East Coast band synonymous with 80’s punk rock that have an iconic logo: the Misfits.
However, social cachet can only be stretched so far before it loses its ability to snap back. In the last few years, the name Black Flag has been sullied by questionable decisions and line-up changes. But, the band has decided to honor one of their classic offerings to the genre by touring for their album, “My War,” and doing a second set of audience favorites.
While the band has always had a rotating cast of characters, “My War” is an album made at a time when the stars aligned. The intensity and performances on the record are a perfect encapsulation of alienation and anger, personified. Frankly, the album, and specifically the tune “My War,” are a blunt instrument of destruction that is the auditory equivalent of taking shots to the head in a sweaty circle pit.
Black Flag 2022 by Rob Wallace
While some won’t understand a joyous release of intense anger, this record has become a rite of passage for teenage time bombs worldwide. While this line-up does not have anyone from that recording — other than the copyright purveyor of all things Black Flag, Greg Ginn — that doesn’t mean the music isn’t still a catharsis.
“My War” as a record, a song, and an ethos is always worth celebrating. While the new frontman Mike Vallely is a world-class skateboarding badass, he is not Henry Rollins, Keith Morris, Chavo Pederast or Dez Cadena. But the band’s live ethos has always been to translate the ideas of the record, not celebrate individual performances. And for that, we salute you, Black Flag!
Black Flag plays “My War” and a second set, 7:30pm Saturday, August 12 at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale. No opener. blackflagband.com ~ Tim Moffatt
