First Four EPs

Keith Morris is 55 years-old, a fact that’s hard to process when listening to Off!’s explosive punk rock. It’s been over three decades since he sang on the first recordings by L.A. hardcore’s founding band Black Flag, and years since anyone paid attention to his own thrash warhorse Circle Jerks, but his deranged vocal attack remains pure. This collection of 2010 EPs by his most recent band perfectly recapitulates Flag’s searing attack, from the scabrous riffs and distortion to the cover drawing by SST Records artist Raymond Pettibon. If titles like “Fuck People” and “Full of Shit” skirt self-parody, the frothing-wombat energy Morris brings to them is serious as a skateboard upside the head.

Listen to “Black Thoughts”:

Gallery: Random Notes, Rock’s Hottest Photos