Black Flag - What The...

Written by Karl Bakla.

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When Black Flag used to say dumb shit like, "We are giving you what you need, not what you want", they were talking about people like me who wanted to hear fast shit! That Stoner shit was just like Cream, but worse! Yeah I stole that last line, so what?
 
I got this album the day it came out & went into listening to it assuming it would suck, but I tried to keep an open mind! From the time I got this album, listened to it, & reviewed it, Black Flag has replaced singer Ron Reyes with Mike Vallely & I can’t help but think, "Wouldn't it be better to do another Mike V & The Ratz record instead?" Fuck, I loved that song Never Give Up!

When I heard the first track My Hearts Pumping, I thought, "Not bad, this album might be good." The song was fast paced punk that reminded me of bands that wear their love for Black Flag on their sleeve & under their sleeve with a Black Flag bars tattoo. By the second song I was already getting bored and found most of my attention focusing on an article about jelly fish taking over the ocean. By the third song I was ready to turn it off, the fourth song reconfirmed this, by the fifth song I was cruising xHamster for Allanah Starr videos.

I have listened to this album about ten times, & overall it's not as bad as I expected. If this album was chopped down to 12 songs instead of 22 it would have been better, there are some decent songs on this disc but they are lost in a sea of shit & the only hope is for some khat chewing Somali pirates to come aboard and take some hostages. Overall the music sounds like a mush of early & later Black Flag. I’m sure there is someone out there that will like this, but what do I know? I got into Punk right around the time Black Flag broke up & I am a raging alcoholic!

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Available from the SST Records Superstore, which you can go to by clicking here. Like the Black Flag Facebook page by clicking here.

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