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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Group Sex

Circle Jerks

1980

Buy At Rough Trade
Group Sex
Album Summary

Group Sex is the debut studio album by American hardcore punk band Circle Jerks. It was released on October 1, 1980, by Frontier Records. The album consists of 14 songs in 15 minutes and is considered to be a landmark album in hardcore punk. It was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.69

Votes

9930
Genres
Punk

Reviews

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Wed Jan 12 2022
3

I was 9 years old when I attended my first circle jerk. It was a lowly lit room at the Chelsea training ground. I was dressed in a tutu and had my hair in plaits, as was the fashion at the time. My brother shoved me to the middle of the room and then the lights flicked on. I was surrounded by the entire Chelsea first team and backroom staff. They all tugged away at themselves, making strong eye contact with me throughout. I got so swept up by the attention that I didn't realise I was wanking myself. My first time. It was such a turn on. Glenn Hoddle came on my back. Later, we all went out for milkshakes. Somebody bumped into me and I spilt mine all down my front. It was hard to tell what was milkshake and what was jizz. I was completely drenched in both.

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Sun May 08 2022
4

Let's normalize 15 minute albums. There's an argument to be made that if you can't get your point across in 0:31 (the length of the album's two shortest songs), then you should just pack up and go home.

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Thu Dec 16 2021
5

Classic hardcore punk. There's no pretension here. It's a great time and at 15 minutes, you feel inspired to just listen to it again, and then maybe a third time. Side note: I enjoy reading the negative reviews for this. Call it schadenfreude I suppose. I guess it's juvenile of me to feel that way, but I can't help it.

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Sun May 16 2021
1

I imagine this type of music is made for desperate teenagers, to fit in with an obnoxious anti-establishment crowd, pretending to enjoy a disgusting screamishly loud esthetic and inflect misery upon themselves. Luckily for my average score, I have not yet been graced with the opportunity to review heavy metal... The only redeeming quality about this record is that the tracks are very short, but there is no excuse for the abhorrent sound "Group Sex" contains. I am contemplating not giving this record a score, because I feel sad about it averaging out a perfect 5/5 to two 3/5's. However, to be fair to the 1001 albums project, this piece of garbage gets an absolute 1/5 from me.

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Fri Dec 10 2021
4

Excellent hardcore punk record. Stupid, bratty, loud. What more do you want?

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Wed Oct 06 2021
1

It felt like a load of 14-year-old edgelords wrote this because they thought it sounded cool. Punk just for the sake of it. The lyrics were juvenile with no real substance - hey, let's write a song about an orgy to piss off our parents, regardless of the fact that we're all virgins! Where's the rage against the machine, Kevin? Go to a protest or something.

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Sun Oct 24 2021
4

As crisp and snappy as an electrified mouse trap baited with Doritos. This is so tight it’s breathless. Fantastically pithy, filthy and fun.

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Thu Feb 25 2021
1

I LOATHE this The only thing that will justify one star is that the longest song is only 1:35 and the entire album is around 15 mins long.

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Wed Jan 27 2021
4

Classic punk album with a million songs packed into 30 minutes. Love it.

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Fri Oct 09 2020
5

In, punk, out. Love Keith Morris and Off! especially. Favorite tracks: "Group Sex", "Deny Everything", "Paid Vacation"

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Thu Jan 06 2022
4

I have a soft spot for hardcore punk. Had this one on cassette back in the day and they had the album 2xs back to back on side 1, and side 2 was just blank and you were encouraged to record what you wanted on it.

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Thu Jan 06 2022
3

Waffled between loving and hating this basically on a minute to minute basis throughout the album. The lyrics are so dumb but the concise punch-you-in-the-face punk sound is very appealing.

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Fri Dec 10 2021
5

Oh man this took me BACK. I hope I get to rate Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death because boy do I have a story. That album opened up the whole genre of late 70s/80s punk to me that, it seems, I still very much love. This is a great album. Took me back to The DPC (Downtown Performance Center) in Tucson and high school (and beyond) and angst and lyrics and band flyers and everything. Operation really hits differently today than it did in high school lol.

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Fri Oct 20 2023
3

There’s longer tool songs than this album. Great little spike of angst.

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Thu Jan 26 2023
5

Loud, fast, fun. More 15 minute albums please.

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Wed Jan 27 2021
4

Definitely not my favorite punk album but it’s a lot of fun.

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Tue May 24 2022
4

Nice early HC, loud and brash but full of actual melody, with a pretty damn good drummer. And at 15min it knows exactly what it is. 4/5.

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Fri Sep 02 2022
4

This was dumb and fun...not to be taken too seriously, but perfect in its way

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Thu May 12 2022
3

Forget lean, this is a single short-twitch muscle fibre. As an aesthetic and/or statement of purpose, 'shorter and faster than everyone else' won't distinguish them all that much, but their brio and animus might. As will their jkz, which are obvious and the better for it. Henry Rollins should have paid attention.

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Fri Apr 08 2022
1

All yelling, no substance. Awful lyrics, awful musicality. The band title and album name are a little try-hard, too. We get it, you're edgelords. Thanks, I hate it.

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Wed Mar 31 2021
5

I was very surprised at how much I liked this.

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Wed Jan 12 2022
5

I was going to wax lyrical on this then I realised the band is called "Circle Jerks" and the album is called "Group Sex" so anything I write is going to pale into insignificance in comparison to whatever Nigel Spackman writes.

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Fri Nov 18 2022
5

Fitting 14 songs into 16 adrenaline fueled minutes Keith Morris and the boys make a punk classic still being emulated to this day. If you’ve never heard the origins of punk and hardcore the Jerks are a great introduction…as much as Morris’ former band is.

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Fri Aug 27 2021
4

Missing song on Spotify can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW6ykueIhX8 44- Circle Jerks - 21:01 - Deny Everything

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Thu Nov 25 2021
4

It's over in about 15 minutes so stop moaning. Best Tracks: Deny Everything!; Operation; Behind The Door

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Wed Jan 12 2022
4

Circle Jerks: Group Sex. What's not to like?

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Thu Oct 19 2023
4

Fun fact: I had to look up how this thing was formatted on a vinyl. Apparently it's split across two sides like normal? It would be cool if it all fit on one side and the other side was some design. Album #10. The tracks all sound the same. The refrains bounce off the walls. The vocalist clearly wants you to feel something. The subject matter resembles graffiti. The drums never stop. The cover art is sneering at you. The longest song is 1:35. The needle lifts by the time you've thought to think about it. It's timeless. No notes.

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Fri Oct 20 2023
3

I used to listen to Black Flag back in my younger days, which was Morris's first band, loved The Dead Kennedys as well, but never came across this lot. Right at the beginnings of what became known as US Hardcore, a genre which got wilder and more experimental with every passing year. However it has to start somewhere, so speed punk it is. Very well structured, tight playing and what I'd expect from California in the early 1980s. Very enjoyable and will listen again. A middle 3.

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Wed Nov 29 2023
3

Hardcore's a punch on the nose: simple messages understood immediately, so why come back? But I listened to Group Sex five times today - over an hour! - and I am listening to it now as I write this, which surprises me, as I suppose this means I like it. The cartoon nihilism is slapped on thick: “I don’t want to live to 34/I don’t to die in a nuclear war!” “Where’s the gun?/Here’s my head!” I'm just about old enough to have a faint memory of how glum a vibe was 1980 - nuclear dread, economic depression, terrorism and war on the news, fascism home and abroad. Like now, but at least we have iPhones - I just drafted some hardcore song content! Which is to say, the on-the-nose sardonicism, the aggressive drums-bass-guitar, and the swift passage from one bad topic to another feel appropriate. Where's the 2023 hardcore revival? Musically, it manages to vary stuff up, playing a sharp intro-then-leap game, and the track listing offers a triumphant retort to my own pre-assumption that I'd find the album repetitive. It's certainly catchy, both the instrument sounds and the vocal rhythm and content: during a work call just now, I was distracted by imaginary buzzsaw guitars and had the urge, fortunately resisted, to sing "I just want to/eat my own shit"; inspirational. Circle Jerks join Minor Threat and Void on my tiny list of hardcore bands I like. Void are my favourite, as they managed to be simultaneously fast, heavy and have a guitar sound like an out of control dragon.

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Fri Jan 05 2024
3

When you have someone coming over and you have to clean the entire house in 15 minutes, this is the album you put on.

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Fri Oct 20 2023
2

Wow. Not quite sure what happened there! Whilst I do enjoy a lot of punk influenced music, this was way too hardcore and extreme for me. It makes the Sex Pistols sound like a complete commercial sell out (which I guess it probably is considered to be by those that really love punk music). I understand it and can appreciate it as a piece of art, but it’s just not something I’d ever buy. Glad I listened but can’t rate too highly.

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Wed Nov 29 2023
2

Started off sounding like every kid's cartoon cliched older brother bad punk garage band. However, this ersatz Löded Diper rapidly evolved into something more like The Damned (indeed, I was humming "Love Song" to most of the tracks), and was quite enjoyable by the end. Can't give it more than a 2, but that's kind-of a compliment. Lasts about as long as it should. Highlights: "Live Fast Die Young" and, of course, "World Up My Ass"

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Fri Feb 02 2024
1

1. deny everything - 0 2. zome zkank - 0 3. beverly hillz - 0 4. operation - 0 5. back againzt the uuall - 0 6. uuazted - 0 7. behind the door - 0 8. uuorld up my azz - 0 9. paid vacation - 0 10. dont care - 0 11. live fazt die young - 1 12. uuhatz your problem - 0 13. group zez - 0 14. red tape - 0

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Wed Jun 30 2021
5

Mierda clásica no hecha bajo los influjos de la cocaína.

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Fri Aug 27 2021
5

I can see how this band influenced modern punk/hardcore bands. Pretty solid!

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Mon Jan 03 2022
5

What can I say, I'm a sucker for classic punk.

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Thu Jan 20 2022
5

Cram 14 songs into 15-16 minutes of pure energy. This is a great punk album and doesn't need to be longer!

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Thu Jan 20 2022
5

All speed. All energy. A great way to start the day.

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Wed Feb 16 2022
5

I remember this band from old Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games. I'm a fan of punk rock so this was a great album.

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Sun Mar 13 2022
5

5/5. Kickass early hardcore man 😎🤙

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Wed Jan 19 2022
5

One of my favorite records of all time. And one of my favorite bands to see live. Anger, wit, social commentary - all at breakneck speed.

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Thu Apr 14 2022
5

Great energy, and for once I can actually hear the lyrics in a punk album

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Thu May 12 2022
5

Punk a tope. 19 canciones en 23 minutos. Vinilo.

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Fri Jun 17 2022
5

One of the best punk albums EVER! 15 mins is all it needed!

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Thu Jun 30 2022
5

So short! I didn't even make it to work before it ended

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Wed Aug 03 2022
5

Great album. They get in and out of songs at a record speed but still manage to pack a punch.

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Mon Aug 15 2022
5

Fuck, my ADHD brain loves a short goddamn album. My Tony Hawk heart is also enjoying the hell out of this. Good on you Circle Jerks.

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Thu Nov 03 2022
5

Group Sex is the debut studio album by American hardcore punk band Circle Jerks. It was released on October 1, 1980, by Frontier Records. The album consists of 14 songs in 15 minutes and is considered to be a landmark album in hardcore punk. Four songs on the album – "Wasted", "Don't Care", "Behind the Door" and "Red Tape" – were originally co-written and performed by vocalist Keith Morris with his previous band Black Flag. I liked the mood of this album, extreme and fast songs & lyrics. Also I like to read & listen how people not into the underground music rate this album & music in this genre. (17/02/2023).

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Mon Dec 26 2022
5

You know what. If you're only ever going to record one worthwhile album, 14 Gonzo party punk classics in 15 minutes is as good an idea as any. Go in, get out, leave everyone without eyebrows. Yes.

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Mon Apr 10 2023
5

Fun and straight to the point. I love it.

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Fri Jul 14 2023
5

14 songs in 15 minutes. This is punk rock. They weren’t the first ones to do it but they may be the best.

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Thu Jul 20 2023
5

Yes! Heard of the circle jerks but don't think I've actually listened to them before. This was great and I'm sure it inspired lots of bands I liked growing up. Nofx and pennywise spring to mind but must be many more. Short and energetic. Proper punk. After the album finished Spotify played some great tracks too, bonus. We've had a great ska album and a great punk album this week, they make up my first musical love, ska punk! I have to give this a 5

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Thu Jul 20 2023
5

Never heard of these but it turns out the lead singer was in Black Flag who I vaguely know of and are a hugely influential hardcore punk band. 14 songs, 15 minutes, bosh. To start with I thought 'yep, way ahead of its time, not sure it's great in its own right', then by the end I was putting it on again. Loved it, ludicrous that it came out over 40 years ago.

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Tue Aug 15 2023
5

I make no apologies for liking this. I'm a punk kid and always have been. Circle Jerks isn't even a guilty pleasure for me. It's just a pleasure. Hardcore punk is its own thing distinct from mainstream punk and has its own job to do. Circle Jerks understands the assignment and delivers with "Group Sex". It takes the joyful abandon of punk and adds in a hard, ragged edge of anger and, as a kid, that really spoke to me. I mean, damn... as an adult in today's sociopolitical hellscape, that STILL speaks to me. Bands like Circle Jerks, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and Minor Threat feel even more relevant now than they did then. I mean, how can you NOT identify with a song like "World Up My Ass"? That's actual life succinctly summed up in just over a minute. Yeah, no apologies. This is hella great.

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Wed Oct 18 2023
5

Easy 5 for me, Keith Morris is one of my all time favourite musical people. The word blistering is used often but has never been more accurate. 16 minutes of insanity. LFDY is still one of my favourite songs of all time. Gets unfairly compared to Black Flag at times but up there for me.

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Fri Dec 15 2023
5

Punk a tope. 19 canciones en 23 minutos. Vinilo.

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Thu Jan 11 2024
5

Omg! Beautiful sweet punk!!!! Short songs!! Fast angry tracks!!! I’m in love

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Sun Jan 28 2024
5

Some overserious pencil dick tried to disparage this album in their review by calling it "music made by teenagers" or something like that. Fuck you, dude, not everything needs to sound like Yes to be important. This is the perfect album to put on when you want to break stuff. In fact, I always have at least three copies of Group Sex at all times just in case one gets broken in the course of listening. Essential.

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Wed Feb 14 2024
5

Bracingly fast, cathartic and non pretentious early hardcore punk. I personally enjoy this more then black flag.

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Fri Feb 23 2024
5

Dunno how I never listened to this, but it rules. It's up there with Minor Threat and Bad Brains. Mad that I missed out on this at that time when it would have been more impactful on me. Great album. 4.5/5 (with room to grow)

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Fri Feb 23 2024
5

Circle Jerks might be the first punk band I was ever into, though I got into them starting with the last album Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, and worked my way back. This album is great; short and to the point. I love Keith Morris' voice and the drumming is super tight for how fast it is; never knew their drummer was jazz trained, so that makes sense. At only 15 minutes long, I played through this multiple times and loved it more with each listen; 4.5/5 for me.

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Fri Feb 23 2024
5

absolutely love it. kind of bands me and my mom go see. i adore a band that can fit so much in a hurry. don’t waste both our times when you can do this. iconic.

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Wed Feb 28 2024
5

it was fun, i liked listening to it. what more is there to say?

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Fri Mar 01 2024
5

A classic. lol @ the reviews

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Fri Mar 08 2024
5

Gritty, short songs. I liked “Operation” and the drum rhythm on “Back Against the Wall” was very interesting. “Live Fast Die Young” was awesome.

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Wed Jan 27 2021
4

Super short album with songs that last just over a minute on average. Super political and in your face.

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Fri Jun 25 2021
4

birth of hXc. can't beat it, feel 16 again listening to it. I did NOT know this was recorded in 1980!! So early

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Wed Jan 27 2021
4

It's loud and gritty. Punk isn't my favorite genre but I can appreciate this album.

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Wed Jun 30 2021
4

Un disco rapidito, lo cual se agradece, sobre todo también por el género. Me gusta, caótico, muy "raw", mucha energía acá, como que si provoca una acelaración. Quizá lo único que juega en contra es que la duración de las canciones y su abundancia hace que parezca que de repente es un único track largooooo con variaciones. Mis favoritas "I Just Want Some Skank", "World Up My Ass", "Live Fast Die Young" y la canción titular. 8/10

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Wed Jun 30 2021
4

A este punto ya creo que con un disco de punk en toda la lista hubiera estado bien, lol. Pero bueno... sí me gustó, no puedo decir qué canción me gustó más, parecen todas la misma :v. En su conjunto estuvo chido, pero nada memorable como pa volver a escucharlo.

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Wed Jun 02 2021
4

Fun album. I'm not a huge fan of bands that do purposely short songs, but they do it so well it is still enjoyable.

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Fri Aug 27 2021
4

fucking jerks! was definitely good

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Fri Aug 27 2021
4

Nice find, it's funny how it takes less than 20 minutes to play all 15 songs

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Wed Oct 27 2021
4

10/27 Raw essence of Punk. Standout Tracks: Deny Everything, I Just Want Some Skank, Beverly Hills, Back Against the Wall, Paid Vacation, Don't Care, Group Sex

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Mon Jan 10 2022
4

Just what I needed on a bright Sunday morning - 14 hard core punk tracks totalling 15 minutes, so quite bearable, like 1 shot of tequila to perk you up. It's like they couldn't be arsed to extend 14 hooks into 4 minutes songs, so listenable! 4/5

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Mon Jan 31 2022
4

that was surprisingly enjoyable, and such a quick listen at only 16 minutes it also has a really fresh, classic sound for 1980, I think I’ll give it an 8/10

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Wed Feb 02 2022
4

While overall I don't consider myself - in the broad sense - a fan of punk, I am a huge fan of this album. Keith Morris really embodies the snarling 'fuck you' attitude of punk. There's a sense of irreverence to this album that doesn't swirl out of control like later California punk albums but keeps it from becoming overly sanctimonious like some of the more political-minded punk albums of the time. It's fast, blunt, primitive, and doesn't overstay its welcome. While the band's best track - the cleverly ordered medley Golden Shower of Hits - isn't on this album, this is the most focused burst of overall quality from the band.

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Wed Feb 16 2022
4

14 songs in 15 minutes. What's not to like?

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Thu Feb 17 2022
4

Banda norte-americana de hardcore punk. O álbum tem 14 músicas e 16 minutos. Sim! Pelo o que li, é uma característica da banda. Temas como sexo e política são recorrentes em todas as faixas.

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Wed Mar 30 2022
4

El epítome del punk! 14 canciones en 15 minutos, lo cual me parece una dosis adecuada porque no es mi género favorito, sólo me gustaría que fuera en 10 o 9 canciones, porque canciones de 35 o 43 segundos como que pierden el sentido para mi, aunque entiendo que es el punto del punk. 3.5 que suben a 4.

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Wed Jan 19 2022
4

Full throttle old skool west coast punk/hardcore. Just a fun band.

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Fri Apr 22 2022
4

Nice sample of hardcore. Short and sweated songs.

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Thu May 19 2022
4

Classic punk. Short, fast, and angry. What more could you want?

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Fri May 20 2022
4

4/5 Very interesting album. Very short but that makes it more palatable for the genre

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Thu May 26 2022
4

Vite fait bien fait Prefs: Operation, Back Against The Wall, Wasted, World Up My Ass, Live Fast Die Young, Group Sex Moins pref: I Just Want Some Skank

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Fri Jul 01 2022
4

If there is a single word that I could pick to describe hardcore punk, it would be efficient. I've been listening to this album for 2 minutes and 45 seconds, and I'm already done with three songs. This album gets through 14 songs in less than 16 minutes. Like I said, efficient This is a fun early example of hardcore and the style of the developing west coast punk scene. I feel like hardcore punk is a bit limited as a genre, but I also know that I would have fucking loved seeing this band when I was a teenager. As I get older, raw power in music appeals to me less and less, but when you're young and full of hormones and anger, it makes you feel like someone else gets it. This album is perfectly that. It's high energy everyday boredom and disaffection. And if you don't like it, it's over in 15 minutes 4/5

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Mon Jul 04 2022
4

Very fast, very loud, very funny, and very short. Kind of good, but I'm not sure "good" is what they were aiming for anyway.

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Thu Jul 14 2022
4

Classic punk at it's best, while not a massive fan of punk, it's bands like these that make me wonder why they weren't anywhere near as famous as the Sex Pistols, whilst being way more talented. Raw energy and fast riffs for 15 minutes straight, what more do you want?!

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Wed Jul 20 2022
4

First things first, what a lovely band and album name. I could tell I was in for some rowdy punk music from that alone, and boy was I right. I actually really enjoyed this one. Apparently it's a vocalist from Black Flag, who I also enjoy sometimes. I love the energy on this project, and the fact that it averages just over a minute per track is a welcome oddity compared to some long ones we've had. Guitars are fuzzy but strong, and the drumming is very clear. Just about everything punk-wise is done right here. Among all the punk projects we've had on the list so far, this one is near the top. Not Stooges level for me, but an excellent angsty-garage-music vibe that flowed throughout. Quite a few highlights for me too. Extra points for efficiency of time. Favorite tracks: Operation, Back Against the Wall, Live Fast Die Young, What's Your Problem. Album art: Excellent picture here, love the splashes of color throughout an otherwise monochromatic picture. Great bold, messy font too. What more could you ask for? 4/5

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Wed Jul 20 2022
4

Its simplicity is its appeal. All over too quickly

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Thu Jul 28 2022
4

James would love the song Operation

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