Black Flag
Founded by Greg Ginn in 1976 as Panic, renamed Black Flag by 1978. They became the most influential American hardcore band. Ginn, a ham radio nerd who'd started Solid State Transmitters at twelve selling modified WWII surplus equipment, turned SST into a record label out of necessity—no one else would release their music. Black Flag pioneered the DIY ethic: relentless touring, sleeping in a van, playing over 300 shows between 1981 and 1982. Henry Rollins, who joined in 1981 after quitting a $3.75-an-hour job at a Häagen-Dazs in Georgetown, brought an intensity that bordered on self-destruction. As he told Rock Cellar, 'I packed my life into a duffel bag...and I never looked back.' Their sound evolved from raw punk to sludgy proto-grunge. My War's slow, heavy second side alienated some fans but influenced Nirvana, Mudhoney, Soundgarden. Kira Roessler joined on bass in 1983, bringing melodic precision to the chaos. The band's constant lineup changes—five singers, multiple bassists and drummers—became part of their mythology. They disbanded in 1986, exhausted and broke, but their influence only grew.
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Discography
Nervous Breakdown
Black Flag's debut EP and the first release on SST Records, establishing both the band and the label that would define 80s indie rock. Recorded in 1978, it's raw, aggressive, faster than anything else at the time. Greg Ginn's guitar is atonal, skronking—influenced by free jazz and Cleveland's Pere Ubu as much as by the Ramones. Keith Morris's vocals are desperate and dark, a blueprint for every hardcore singer after. Four songs, seven minutes. SST 001. The beginning of everything.
Damaged
Black Flag's first full-length with Henry Rollins, Damaged is the definitive early hardcore album—raw, uncompromising, angry. Released in 1981, it was the center of a legal battle with MCA, which had distributed SST but refused to release Damaged, deeming it 'anti-parent.' Greg Ginn sued. The album's cover—Rollins punching a mirror—became iconic. Ginn's guitar is ugly, detuned, atonal. Rollins screams more than sings, his voice a blunt instrument. Songs like 'Rise Above' and 'TV Party' became hardcore anthems. Damaged proved a band could fight a corporation and win, even if winning meant staying broke and underground.
My War
Black Flag's slowest, heaviest album, My War's sludge-metal second side alienated some fans but influenced grunge bands like Nirvana and Mudhoney. Released in 1984, it's a deliberate middle finger to expectations. The first side is fast hardcore. The second side: slow, heavy, almost unlistenable. Greg Ginn was listening to Black Sabbath and free jazz. Rollins was reading Dostoyevsky. The band was fragmenting. My War captured that fragmentation—raw, heavy, uncompromising. It proved Black Flag wouldn't be confined to one sound, even if it cost them fans.