The Only Performance That Makes It: Circle Jerks battle The Red River Home Owners Association Tuesday night

We interrupt our 3-part Clash luv fest for this report from the front lines in Austin, as the Wild In the Streets 40th Anniversary Tour butts heads with the gentrification of Red River.

Circle Jerks: Joey Castillio, Keith Morris and Greg Hetson onstage at The Mohawk, 09/07/2022 (pic: Lori Dodson)

Circle Jerks, 7 Seconds and Negative Approach

The Mohawk, Austin, TX

09/07/2022

“Make enough noise to piss off those people in those ugly fucking condos across the street!” raged Keith Morris, one of punk rock’s greatest frontmen, midway through the second of two nights the Wild In The Streets 40th Anniversary Tour set down in Austin.

Mind you, these may not have been the once-and-forever Circle Jerks leader’s exact words. But  they are the gist of his message.

“Those ugly boxes and ugly people are the reason this once genius city is no longer so genius!’ he continued, gathering steam and egging the rowdy crowd to a fever pitch.

“Look at that guy up there, watching the ball game or something on his flat screen,” he railed, pointing at the exact window displaying this ridiculous tableau.

Circle Jerks: (L-R) Zander Schloss, Joey Castillo, Keith Morris, and Greg Hetson rock Red River at The Mohawk on Tuesday. (Pic: Tim Couch)

If said homeowner wasn’t already having a difficult time hearing the game over the 300,000 megawatt triple dose of Loud Fast Rules across the street at The Mohawk, Red River’s prime outdoor punk and alternarock venue, he or she certainly was now. But The Homeowner could stuff it. The Circle Jerks swam several burning lakes to play these shows.

This date was originally booked for the spring of 2020, to celebrate their brilliant debut album Group Sex’s 40th anniversary. Then COVID happened.

The entire tour was obviously postponed, until it celebrated Wild In The Streets’ ruby anniversary. Then Morris got COVID.

Now the sole Austin date in April 2022 morphed into two in September, 12 days before Morris turns 67.

What converted The Mohawk’s entire floor into a Guinness World Record mosh pit was a lot more than a full-on reprise of Wild In The Streets. The prime meat was torn off the bones of all six Circle Jerks studio LPs, performed with maximum precision and aggression. Which would have been impossible had they not drafted Queens Of The Stone Age/The Bronx/Danzig/Wasted Youth/Eagles Of Death Metal drummer Joey Castillo. He stated his goal was to “make them sound like they did when I was a kid,” and he is.  He’s pushing them to 1981 energy and brutality levels. He is the best Circle Jerks drummer since Lucky Lehrer and Chuck Biscuits combined.

Joey Castillo puts a boot into the Circle Jerks’ carburetor Tuesday night. (Pic: Tim Couch)

As you hear Morris, Castillo, guitarist Greg Hetson and bassist Zander Schloss detonate these blister bombs – “Red Tape,” “Wild In The Streets,” “I Just Want Some Skank”/”Beverly Hills," “Coup D’Etat,” ‘When The Shit Hits The Fans” – you really understand what a great band this is. There’s not a speck of slop, not one bum note, no sloth in the system. The Circle Jerks hit hard and loud, with ultimate precision. And honestly, Castillo most of the time is driving them even faster than the original recordings. His foot isn’t flooring the gas pedal – it’s in the goddamned carburetor! It’s exactly the kick in the ass these guys need.

Greg Hetson and his Nick Lowe t-shirt show his SG who’s boss. (Pic: Tim Couch)

Not that the guitarist and bassist are slouches. Schloss has been hanging in the engine room since shortly after completing his role in Alex Cox’s Repo Man, proving himself to be as solid and driving a four-stringer as they come. He kept his eye on Castillo most of the night, locking in and putting this music under a pressure drop. And Hetson? One of the pioneering hardcore guitarists, pure and simple. His right hand chops out some of the most whiplash-sharp powerchords in the business, but he values melody above shredding as a lead player. He’s crucial to the singsong blitzkrieg that is the Circle Jerks.

Keith Morris fixin’ to put a cap in the ass of the rude jerk watching the ball game across the street. (Pic: Tim Couch)

And Keith Morris? Still as vital and wondrous a frontman as punk has seen. He does not flail about as he did even ten years ago. But he still generates enough charisma to power The Mohawk’s P.A. and lights all on his own, even standing stock still. He also howls in pitch better than anyone this side of John Lennon. But what ultimately sells any music he makes, from early Black Flag to his latter day main gig OFF!, is the absolute conviction and commitment with which he delivers the lyrics. He means every word. If anyone ever builds a hall of fame for punk rock front men, they will need to erect a wing dedicated to Keith Morris, if not name the entire goddamned building after him. 

Negative Approach will STILL fuck you up! (L-R) Ron Sakowski, John Lehl, John Brannon, and Harold Richardson.

As for the rest of the bill? 7 Seconds, though wildly popular and undeniably good at their Skeeno straight edge singalong thrash, never made much of an impression on me. They sounded good last night, but I remain unimpressed. But Negative Approach? Holy fuck! “Relentless, I believe, is the word,” remarked Morris, and he wasn’t kidding. They always played like Andre The Giant holding you down and pummeling your face into hamburger, really fucking fast. They still do. John Brannon remains the single angriest singer in punk rock, looking like a really pissed-off gargoyle about to tear your head off and eat it for a snack. And Harold Richardson is the first guitarist I’ve seen play his cable! He unplugged and waved it in front of his 4x12 speaker cabinet, coaxing theremin-like shrieks wildly varying in pitch! He clearly plays his amp as much as his guitar, in the tradition of every Detroit guitar great. Brannon got Fear shut down and punk rock banned from Saturday Night Live in 1981, when he shouted over Lee Ving’s mic, “Negative Approach will fuck you up!” The threat remains valid.

Thank you for indulging this account of the eternal vitality of prime, explosive, high-speed punk/core in action. We’ll begin a multi-part interview with Keith Morris next week, and wrap up the story of Combat Rock this weekend. Thank you for boosting The Tim “Napalm” Stegall Substack subscription rolls to 116 subscribers this past week – 27 paid! This publication is nothing without your support. Dare I hope to bring that number up to 150 subscribers this week? Perhaps 50 paid? If you’re digging what you’re reading and haven’t subscribed yet, please consider doing so.

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