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Rating: In the '80s hardcore scene, Circle Jerks certainly didn't play the role of "coachmen," and not because they were irrelevant in the genre's development; on the contrary, their debut LP, Group Sex, stands alongside the likes of "(GI)," "Damaged," and "Fresh Fruit..." released in those years. The relevant fact about the Californian band is that after their explosive debut, they never quite managed to replicate that success. This is evident starting with "Wild In The Streets", released two years after their debut (1982).
The feeling that something has changed is already noticeable from a small detail: a full 25 minutes spread over 14 tracks, unlike the ONLY 15 minutes of the previous one with a similar number of tracks. This feeling is confirmed by the opening trio (title track, "Leave Me Alone," "Stars and Stripes"): my god, what monotony! It's almost inevitable to compare it with Group Sex; one can't help but notice a substantially different rhythm, a drum-bass-guitar complex lacking in bite and unable to dictate the pace, and a lackluster vocal performance by Keith Morris, who seems to be proceeding with the handbrake on. No more lightning-fast tempo changes, no more outbursts barely scratching a minute, and even that raw, dirty sound that pairs so well with hardcore is less noticeable. Further on, something changes, and it seems to return a bit to the glory days of the past with those frequent stop-and-go moments ("Meet The Press"), but it's just a flash in the pan; with a bass line, "Trapped" begins, which seems ready to explode at any moment with Morris's screams and the drums and guitar echoing him, but it returns to the usual bland rhythm. No other significant episodes, just a track hinting at metal ("Murder The Disturbed") and a ballad/mockery to close, complete with background "lalalala" and Morris's slow and sweet voice, which calling forced would be an understatement, finally ending in pure hardcore, the very thing lacking in this album.
Let it be clear, for me, it's still an album that almost reaches sufficiency, but the Circle Jerks worth knowing and having are the very first ones, then it's better to steer towards the safer shores of Germs, Minor Threat, Black Flag.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Wild in the Streets (02:35)
wild,wild,wild,wild,
wild in the streets
wild in the streets
wild in the streets
wild in the streets
in the heat of the summer
better call out a plumber
turn on the steam pipe
cool me off
with your big crime fighters
and your newspaper writers
still need a drugstore
to cure my buzz
wild in the streets,running,running,
wild in the streets,running,running,
wild in the streets,running,running,
wild in the streets
'64 valiant,hand full of valiums
couple of beers really do me right
you better believe us,better trust us ,
teenage jive,walking wreck
wild,wild,wild,running wild
wild in the streets,running,running,
wild in the streets,running,running,
wild in the streets,running,running,
wild in the streets
got a gang called the wolves
you have to choose
play with the boys
you're bound to lose
a bottle in one hand
a can in the other
don't fool around 'cause they're real
mean mothers
wild,wild,wild,wild,
wild running,running
wild
Mrs. America,how's your favorite son?
do you care just what he's done? no!
wild in the streets,running,running,
wild in the streets,running,running,
wild in the streets,running,running,
wild in the streets,running,running,
wild in the streets,we're running,running
wild in the streets,we're running,running
wild in the streets,we're running,running
wild in the streets
02 Leave Me Alone (01:20)
get off my back
out of my life
everything is building up
take the lid of the pot
before it blows up
chewed my fingernails to the bone
get off my back
just leave me alone
wake up tomorrow,do it again
yes sir,yes ma'am
no sir,no ma'am
get so fed up
with your fucking scams
chewed my fingernails to the bone
get off my back
just leave me alone
pressure,pressure,pressure
ahhhhhhhhhhh...
heavy weight on my mind
not enough beer
to erase the thought
work,money,bills,reality,
no spare time no sanity
03 Stars and Stripes (01:41)
what they did,past or present
got us in this situation
predicament
no where to run
everybody's building bombs
no more housewives;
"days of our lives",
television,disneyland,
basketball or stars and stripes
their chairman's on his death bed
our president's popularity is down
an epileptic called a colonel
presses a button
and its all knocked down
no more housewives;
"days of our lives",
television,disneyland,
basketball or stars and stripes
hahaha,
you're all gonna die,
and you voted for that guy
science,modern technology,
digs your grave
care of moscow and DC,
votes you never gave
no more housewives;
"days of our lives",
television,disneyland,
basketball or stars and stripes
or stars and stripes,
or stars and stripes,
or stars and stripes
my country 'tis of thee
sweet land of liberty...
04 86'd (Good as Gone) (01:56)
I read the mail today
they're throwing me out of town
there isn't any way
i get to stick around
they took my stereo
when i turned the volume up
and when i gave them drugs
they couldn't get enough
turn the tourniquet
'till i'm sick of it
see the other side
always overdrawn
feeling like a pawn
somebody lied
somebody lied
i got the news today
they'll tear my appartment down
there isn't any way
i get to stick around
i never thought i'd see
new condos going up
and now i've gotta scream
that i've had enough
turn the tourniquet
i'm so sick if it
where's the other side
no more bills to pay
neighbors gone away
semebody died
somebody lied
turn the tourniquet
i'm so sick of it
where's the other side
no more bills to pay
somebody lied.
05 Meet the Press (01:21)
caught you in the camera
that's my tool
saw you take the money
you've been fooled
not a merchant-
not a disguise-
jurry will believe it-
when he testifies-
meet the press
all the papers want to know
why you ever stooped so low
as to take the phony bribe
from the feds
thank the rice dealer
dinners at le 'parcq
you're still good and greedy
but the bills were marked
forget about the entrapment
no defence
gonna leave office
when we commence
save the tears
how you've served and
been sincere
how you thought it was
a mirror
the high cost of campaigning
each two years
meet the press
sunday morning
face the nation
you've been HAD!
09 Question Authority (02:02)
question authority
have they the right to say how it should be?
should one man be able to write it all down?
when half the time he can't tell right from wrong
question authority
another mans law is not right for me
another lie to bleed my sympathy
another time there will be no pitty
is this what you wan to see?
is this the way you want things to be?
question authority
i'll pay the price the future belongs to me
this is the time
this is the hour
the worlds our dowery
the glory and the power
is this what you wan to see?
is this the way you want things to be?
things to be,things to be
question authority...
12 Forced Labor (01:18)
in a political state
carries no weight
no consideration
your future's at stake
yanked out of school
for a factory before you can read
once the world's shoven down your throat
you'll find that it's hard to breath
they'll march you to work
in sickness or in health
you're never paid what you're worth
no family wealth
soon your wages support
the state
support the party
then you'll scream
forget the C.W.P.
tell'em for me,
i'd kill to be free
tell'em for me
i'd kill to be free
no religion to comfort your mind
the communist manifesto will be read all the time
when consumer products cease to exists,
that's when the eastern blocks defects
tell'em for me
i'll kill to be free
tell'em for me
i'd kick ass to be free
resist'em communism
resist'em fascism
resist'em nazism
resist'em now
13 Political Stu (01:38)
can you grasp the situation?
or is it getting out of hand
riots,killing in the streets
over the color of a man
everybody looks the same
with their head stuck in the hand
every one looks the same
'til you see where they stand
reactionary politics
are the order of the day
it makes me really sick to
see the poor,treated this way
caviar and limousines
high finance and jelly beans
decorate the east wing california modern,
it' great to be the king
did you see the demonstrations in another land
over weapons annihillation care of uncle sam
the stock market does not reveal
the arms that they have sold
half the world can't get a meal
the war is getting cold
a bushel or a barrel
neither can be saved
you feed your beef with wasted wheat
to dominate your crave
can you hear the foreign voices
can you understand?
every great civilisation crumbles in the sand
organizations and their plans
i'm anti swa,anti klan
P.L.O.,J.D.L.,they can all burn in hell
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