ARTIST: Off! 
TITLE: First Four EP’s
YEAR RELEASED: 2010
CHART ACTION: None
SINGLES: These were four EP’s, as the title says.
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: No
LINEUP: Dimitri Coats, Steven Shane McDonald, Keith Morris, Mario Rubalcaba
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Old punk (Morris) gathers up a band and makes a throwback punk rock record.
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Off! is a nostalgia trip for those of us who were around (or kind of around) during the first wave of punk rock in the States, especially the LA / Orange County variety.
Here we have 16 tracks in 18 minutes, with no song lasting longer than 1:33. Keith Morris, formerly of Black Flag and the Circle Jerks is the vocalist and his voice is unmistakable.
However, to my ears, the tracks sounded a bit perfunctory and rote at times. Sure, it’s great to hear some real-life punk rock in the vein of the early Circle Jerks (“Black Thoughts” brings you right back to 1979) and “Jeffrey Lee Pierce” is a nice eulogy for the former Gun Club leader. But it’s not going to replace your original SST record collection. I don’t think it was supposed to though.
NOTES & MINUTIAE: The Circle Jerks went on hiatus right before this material was recorded. It was done in two days – one in January and one in August.
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: Two extra tracks on various platforms.
GRADE: B: I like it enough to keep it, and it’s real punk rock.
