OFF!

I must admit that my purchase of new music these days is rather minimal. I spend most of my time listening to older bands I love or older records I haven’t heard yet.

Mainly, it is down to the fact that I find a lot of new music, especially new independent music, to be insipid and uninspiring.

For someone who grew up on punk rock, post-punk and college/indie rock from the 1970s-1990s, when such music was actually situated in the underground and often represented something tangible in terms of a reproach to or pointed criticism of the music industry, social and political institutions or society more generally, I find it more than a little difficult to get into the newer bands championed by “indie” music critics. Bands that sing about sailing, spending time at Ivy League colleges or weekend retreats to summer homes on Cape Cod or hipsters that collect a bunch of computer noises and press a record simply don’t do it for me.

Nonetheless, I was brimming with excitement yesterday to head down to Hits and Misses to pick up the 7-inch set of OFF!’s First Four EPs, which was officially released on December 14.

OFF! is the latest project involving Keith Morris, former singer of Black Flag (he of Nervous Breakdown fame) and Circle Jerks. The band also includes Dimitri Coats of Burning Brides on guitar, Steven Shane McDonald of Redd Kross on bass and Mario Rubalcaba of Rocket From the Crypt on drums.

The set, as you would expect, includes four 7-inches, each with four tracks. Each of the 7-inches, and the box itself, features the iconic artwork of Raymond Pettibon, the younger brother of Greg Ginn who, amongst other notable achievements as an artist, did the occasionally controversial artwork on Black Flag’s records.

First EP

Second EP

Third EP

Fourth EP

These songs represent exactly what I think progressive, socially conscious music should be about these days. We live in a time of abject economic failure, precipitous declines in employment, increasing disparities of income and wealth between the rich and the poor and deepening social alienation. Keith Morris situates his writing in this context. He’s angry, frustrated, uncertain, discontented, unsatisfied and simply tired of those who continue to resist doing anything about it.

Listening to these songs I can’t help but say aloud, “It’s about fucking time!” We need Keith Morris and OFF! in a time like this. More than anything else, it’s impressive that someone over 50 years old can still imbue his music with this amount of energy and anger.