Black Flag
is an American
Punk Rock Band
formed in 1976
in Hermosa
Beach, California.
Initially called
Panic,
the band was
established by
Greg Ginn,
the guitarist,
primary songwriter,
and
sole continuous member,
and singer
Keith Morris.
They are widely considered
to be one
of the first
hardcore punk bands,
as well as one of
the pioneers of
post-hardcore.
After breaking up
in 1986,
Black Flag
reunited in 2003
and again in 2013.
The second reunion
lasted well over a year,
during which they
released their
first studio album
in nearly three decades,
What The...
(2013).
The band announced
their third reunion
in January 2019.
Black Flag's
sound mixed
the raw
simplicity of
the Ramones
with a style of
atonal guitar
soloing compared
to that of
the New York Dolls’
lead guitarist
Johnny Thunders,
and,
in later years,
frequent tempo shifts.
The lyrics were written
mostly
by Ginn,
and like
other punk bands
of the late 1970s
and early 1980s,
Black Flag
voiced an
anti-authoritarian
and
nonconformist message,
in songs
punctuated with
descriptions of
social isolation,
neurosis,
poverty,
and paranoia.
These themes were
explored further
when
Henry Rollins
joined the band
as lead singer
in 1981.
Most of the
band's material
was released on
Ginn's independent
record label
SST Records.
Over the course
of the 1980s,
Black Flag's sound,
as well as their
notoriety,
evolved.
In addition to
being central
to the creation of
hardcore punk,
they were innovators
in the first wave of
American West Coast
punk rock
and are considered
a key influence on
punk subculture
in the
United States
and abroad
