Circle Jerks Collection

Circle Jerks was formed by Greg Hetson (Redd Kross guitarist) and Keith Morris (Black Flag vocalist) in 1979. Roger Rogerson and Lucky Lehrer completed the group. The band’s music is a mixture of the aggressive athletic elements of the Hermosa Beach skateboarder/surfer crowd and the rebelliousness of the Ramones and the Sex Pistols.

Group Sex, the band’s debut album, was released in 1980 by Frontier Records. Their live performances and an appearance in The Decline of Western Civilization, a documentary about Los Angeles punk, helped the Circle Jerks establish their stature in the then budding hardcore community.

Wild in the Streets, their second LP, was released in 1982. The group added a humorous slant to the album by combining slam dancing aggression with two popular 60s hits, Just Like Me and Put A Little Love in Your Heart. Their third album, Golden Shower of Hits, was released a year later.

After the release of Golden Shower, the band took a two-year hiatus. In 1985, the group released Wonderful, a metal album. They also introduced two new members, bassist Zander Schloss and drummer Keith Clark. Golden Shower highlighted the band’s transition to hard rock thump and it was received with mixed reviews.

The same sound was evident in their 1987 releases, VI. While they kept a low profile into the 90s, they still released Gig, an anthology of their concert performances. In 1995, they released Oddities, Abnormalities, and Curiosities, their first studio album in eight years. One of the album’s highlights is a cover of I Wanna Destroy You.

The band went on a hiatus again in 1996 after Morris had serious health problems. In 2003, Morris returned to playing live gigs and went on a tour with Circle Jerks and the Rollins Band. Morris also recorded a performance of Nervous Breakdown for the album Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three.