Hermosa Beach, CA · hardcore-punk

Circle Jerks

1 upcoming festival

First-wave California hardcore played at absurd speed — Keith Morris's sneer is the whole genre in one voice, 'Group Sex' still a fourteen-minute masterclass.

Circle Jerks formed in 1979 in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, when singer Keith Morris left Black Flag and joined guitarist Greg Hetson, previously of Redd Kross. Their 1980 debut Group Sex compressed fourteen songs into roughly fifteen minutes and became one of the defining documents of Californian hardcore, followed by Wild in the Streets and Golden Shower of Hits.

Their approach mixed extreme speed with sardonic humour and a knack for hooks, and Morris's clipped, sneering delivery is among the most recognisable voices of the era. The band has broken up and reformed several times, with Morris and Hetson at the centre throughout.

hardcore-punk