Album review: Off! 'First Four EPs'
Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 4)
his concentrated dose of Los Angeles hardcore comes courtesy of scene veterans Keith Morris (Black Flag/Circle Jerks) and Steven McDonald (Red Kross), with help from Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket from the Crypt) and Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides). The 16 songs on "First Four EPs" (Vice) evoke a freeway pileup, coming one after the other with fast, furious violence. It’s all over in 18 minutes, the band in a desperate race to say what needs to be said and not a second or a note more. Whether shouting, “I don’t belong,” eulogizing the Gun Club’s “Jeffrey Lee Pierce” or chronicling a druggie’s misadventures, the dread-locked veteran rabble-rouser Morris keeps pace, not giving an inch even as he's being battered by a band that has no respect for its elders.
greg@gregkot.com