State of Alert
No Policy EP

Ok, this is the EP where Henry Rollins sings when he wasn't yet Henry Rollins and when Black Flag weren't yet those Black Flag - those of the broken mirror, if you know what I mean. And yes, it’s the second record released by Dischord after "Minor Disturbance" (The Teen Idles) by boss Ian MacKaye, when his label was throwing out spitballs of scarcely 9 minutes. And there's also Michael Hampton, a guitarist who will know how to navigate the vast sea of Washington, since he'll end up playing in the fundamental Embrace of the head honcho (he had previously met his brother Alec in The Faith) and then he'll meet Guy Picciotto and Brendan Canty (Rites of Spring and Fugazi) in One Last Wish - yes, there was a certain scene. And there’s much more. But "No Policy" is first and foremost, and perhaps only, the genuine desire to get angry. To scream. To kick ass. It's fucking primal hardcore confined in 500 very dense seconds.

Henry Rollins, as mentioned. Who here is still called Henry Garfield, begins to shred his vocal cords (not as much here, but he's well on his way) and in that same 1981 will take his ass to California to appear in one of punk's timeless masterpieces, to which he was introduced by his friend Ian.

Black Flag, as mentioned. Well, udìo, without exaggerating: here Ginn's guitar masturbations aren’t there, and the only experimental aspect of the group consisted, during the concerts, in spending more time messing around haranguing the crowd than playing. However, however... on closer inspection, there’s a bit of Black Flag in the making: the non-idyllic relationship with the pigs, the rebellion, and that sense I'd define as asymptotic impotence that frustrates any ambition of concrete change ("Every day seems the same, I might as well die...I can't get what I want, what's the fucking point?", from "Blackout") which, though in different forms, in the opinion of the writer is also found in bands that have now gone beyond hardcore, like Rites of Spring and Hüsker Dü. Not to mention anarchism - the title says it all. But there are also straight edge hints and so much, so much fury that tastes of blood and street.

And so 5. Because there's Henry, and Henry is cool. Because there's Henry, and Henry calls the bassist crazy. Because Hampton is delightfully filthy. Because I like it more with every listen. Because at the beginning there's the "onetwothreefour". Because these guys, within nine months, have in their own way created what is essentially a small essential compendium of classic hardcore. Chapeau.