Circle Jerks
The Reissue Section – April 2022
Hey fellas, have ya heard the news? CDs are back! If Rolling Stone, Vice, The Guardian all said so, then it must be gospel, right? If you’re a reader of this section you’re well aware that we’ve always been advocates of the compact disc. Fads come and go, but a passion for owning the music you purchase lastss forever. And with that said, we give you our picks for the best archival titles of this first quarter of 2022. The LemonheadsIt’s A Shame About Ray: 30th Anniversary Edition (Fire Records) The Lemonheads hit 1992 like a beam of sunshine, piercing the dark veil of grunge with their fifth LP It’s A Shame About Ray. And where their early TAANG! Records whirlwinds felt like an expensive J. Crew sweater dragged across the floor of CBGB, Ray is that very shirt after being washed and worn by...
Circle Jerks Span Multiple Generations as Punk Rock’s Grandpas
Hours before the reunited Circle Jerks began a February run of West Coast concert dates, drummer Joey Castillo heard again from a San Diego skater kid. The DMs on Instagram were piling up from 12-year-old Desmond Chavez, who was attending his very first big concert that night: Hey, I’m coming down tonight! What time are you on? Castillo had never met the kid, but clicked on his name to see a young skate-punk in a Black Flag T-shirt, spikey leather bracelet and a denim battle vest covered in patches. He knew what he was looking at: the latest generation of hardcore commandos to rise up around the Circle Jerks, four decades after the SoCal punk rock originators began. “He’s just skating and listening to music. I remember that’s how it was for me,” Castillo says. The drummer embraced the firs...
