Black Flag
Jealous Again

THE REVIEW

You might say: "Come on, kid, there's not much to review on this E.P, after all, it's just stuff that rocks, 5 minutes of adrenaline, nothing more". And I assure you guys that these 5 hardcore minutes of Black Flag are worth the entire career of "John Doe" (any jerk that annoys you).

A lightning bolt. A shock that hits you right in the cerebellum, that stops your self-control and leaves room only for anger. "Jealous Again" is the second work by Black Flag. It dates back to 1980, following the E.P. "Nervous Breakdown" that introduced them to the Californian underground scene filled with Los Angeles hardcore; these are the post-punk and early eighties years.

The title track, which opens this brief but intense moment in the Flag's career, starts with a lacerating, destructive riff and follows the voice of Pederast (it was during the band's temporary lineup phase). Here, it’s Ginn who plays his part; I've never heard him so mean and pumped on the guitars. His Dan Armstrong burns everything, and the brain only responds to his notes. "It's not my imagination"; are Pederast’s words that launch the lightning-fast "Revenge", a bomb that explodes in an instant and spares no one. "White Minority", a manifesto against the sick American society, is a typical punk by Black Flag, which will later compose the band's supreme work. In "No Values" I really liked Pederast; I must say that in those ironies with screams and spit on the microphone, there’s a hint of genuine commitment. The Black Flag, as they have always done, act tough but have a lot of fun. This mini-opera closes with those barely two minutes of "You Bet We've Got Something Against You!" and the title says it all. The substance is always the same. Adrenaline and anger, the basic ingredients of the hardcore recipe.

Know that this is a rather negligible E.P., because the dish is ready and fully served in "Damaged", which, as I've already said, is the band's true supreme work, but here we’re facing the first strokes, the first splashes (and also the first smears) of the Flag's career; the first screams, the first laughs, the first violent strumming by Ginn.

Jealous Again is the "scourge of God". And as Attila (or rather I) said, under the hoof of Ginn’s horse, grass will grow no more.