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Rating:
28 years after what would have been the Black Flag's swan song, that is "In My Head," here comes "What The...," released towards the end of 2013.
Greg Ginn, the historic founder, composer, and guitarist of the group, assembles a peculiar lineup for this album: he calls upon a certain Gregory Moore on drums and somehow resurrects Ron Reyes (aka Chavo Pederast) for vocals, who had already sung on the 1980 EP "Jealous Again." The bass parts will be handled by Ginn himself under the pseudonym "Dale Nixon," as he did on "My War."
Never was a title more fitting: "WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Was there really a need for this? I really don't think so. Probably Ginn was driven by jealousy towards the FLAG (former members Keith Morris and Chuck Dukowski), who began their journey by performing the same Black Flag songs. Hence, he ended up suing both FLAG and later also Henry Rollins.
Amidst all this uproar, the trio emerges with an excessive number of 22 tracks, thankfully most of which don’t exceed a minute and a half.
A wandering record, which has no direction.
Tracks of an absurd anonymity. Mediocre musical structures and incredibly banal lyrics (consequently, the titles too). One song is as good as the next, and so on.
The voice of Chavo Pederast offers nothing new, no interesting spark, drowning in its boring and rudimentary linearity. Gregory Moore does his completely ordinary duty as a Hardcore Punk drummer, trying to communicate with Ginn's guitar and bass but continuously and miserably failing. It's evident that the authoritarian character of the latter dominates throughout the album's course, almost forgetting about his colleagues, as if it were a solo album.
And this very sense of extreme authority later caused both Pederast and subsequently Moore to leave, replacing them with other musicians.
Rating 2, but it would be 1 and a half.
Oh, thank you Greg for besmirching the name of your own creation.
Tracklist
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