Black Flag - Family Man

What an adorable cover.

This album is somewhat of an anomaly in the Atonal Lobe library in that it is part instrumental (with "Armageddon Man" being the only exception) and part spoken word, with the first half consisting of a few of frontman Henry Rollins' spoken word pieces (by the way, expect some spoken word/comedy albums to be posted here sometime in the future) and the second half consisting of primal rock jams.

The spoken word, although not Rollins' best (he would improve considerably over the following years), is mildly disturbing ("Family Man", "No Deposit, No Return") and even absurd at times ("Salt On A Slug", "Shed Reading (Rattus Norvegicus)"). It's an interesting window into the mind of a troubled youngster (which is understandable if you've read/heard about the kind of hardships that Black Flag endured on the road). That having been said, spoken word generally doesn't have as much replay value as music does, so I tend to skip to the music for a while before listening to the spoken word again.

As a lot of jazz musicians would, the band play songs that are based around a central riff/mode/mood, but deviate regularly for improvisation. The key difference here between Black Flag and most jazz musicians is that the latter are generally more concerned with solid and professional playing and usually don't make music that is so chaotic and atonal (unless we speak of someone like John Zorn). Black Flag, on the other hand, clearly don't give a fuck and instead thrash out with reckless abandon, giving the impression of something that is intact but just on the verge of falling apart. "Long Lost Dog of It" sounds kind of meandering and pointless, but "Account for What?" and the nicely titled "I Won't Stick Any of You Unless and Until I Can Stick All of You" kick a lot of sloppy avant-garde rock ass and have delightfully catchy riffs. The second of these tracks even made me break out into the laughter the first few times I heard it, since its main pattern consists of an angry uptempo hardcore riff followed by a sudden stop-start happy riff.

Even if these guys aren't particularly professional or technically proficient musicians, they at least play with a kind of raw energy and exuberance and don't just shred as fast as they can. Greg Ginn shows himself to be a very innovative guitarist, creating very memorable and hooky riffs with unconventional chords and note patterns (as he would to an even greater extent with his group Gone). The rhythm section clearly have a lot of fun with what they do too.

Favorite spoken word track: "Salt On A Slug"
Least favorite spoken word track: "Let Your Fingers Do the Walking"

Favorite music track: "The Pups Are Doggin' It"
Least favorite music track: "Long Lost Dog of It"

Get it here