Where to start with LA Punk (Early 80s)
LA Punk (Early 80s) is a music scene from Los Angeles, California, 1978–1984. Its principal artists include Black Flag, Germs and X. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 12 dated events.
Start here
- 1
Nervous Breakdown
Black Flag · 1978Original release: SST Records · SST 001 · Digital Media · Worldwide 1978Black Flag's debut EP launched SST Records and the raw, fast, aggressive sound that would define the whole scene.
- 2
Los Angeles
X · 1980Original release: Slash · SR-104 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1980X's debut captured Hollywood punk's art-damaged noir side and stands as one of the greatest punk albums ever made.
- 3
Damaged
Black Flag · 1981Original release: SST Records · 9502 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1981The definitive early hardcore album, raw and uncompromising, at the center of a legal battle over its content.
Go deeper
- 4
(GI)
Germs · 1979Original release: Slash · SR-103 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1979The Germs' only studio album, produced by Joan Jett, is a chaotic masterpiece of early LA hardcore, released in 1979, a year before Darby Crash's death.
- 5
Wild Gift
X · 1981Original release: Slash · SR-107 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1981X's follow-up to Los Angeles, released in 1981, leaned into faster, more stereotypically punk songs and later earned a place on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
- 6
Group Sex
Circle Jerks · 1980Original release: Frontier Records · FLP 1002 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1980Keith Morris's post-Black Flag band delivered fourteen songs in fifteen minutes, a hardcore manifesto built entirely on speed and brevity.
- 7
Under the Big Black Sun
X · 1982Original release: Elektra · 9 60150-1 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1982X's major label debut on Elektra, shadowed by the death of Exene Cervenka's sister in a car accident, merged punk with country and stands as the band's most emotionally raw work.
For the obsessed
- 8
My War
Black Flag · 1984Original release: SST Records · SST 023 · Vinyl · US 1984Black Flag's slowest, heaviest album, My War's sludge-metal second side alienated some fans but planted seeds for grunge bands like Nirvana and Mudhoney.
- 9
Double Nickels on the Dime
Minutemen · 1984Original release: SST Records · SST 028 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1984The Minutemen's sprawling, eclectic double album proved hardcore could be intellectual and experimental at once, blending punk with funk and jazz across a staggering tracklist.
- 10
Zen Arcade
Hüsker Dü · 1984Original release: Aggressive Rockproduktionen · 80-1639 · Vinyl · Germany 1984Though the band hailed from Minnesota, Hüsker Dü's SST double album Zen Arcade became a landmark of melodic hardcore that helped shape the label's whole sound and reach.
The stories behind every record are in LA Punk (Early 80s), a members' issue.