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Circle Jerks

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About

One of the foundational hardcore bands to come out of the 1970s, Hermosa Beach's Circle Jerks birthed a new strain of punk rock by channeling the confrontational attitude of the Sex Pistols with the more physical elements of SoCal skater culture. In the many decades since their formation, Circle Jerks have inspired legions of follow-up acts, including Anti-Flag, Pennywise, the Offspring, Rancid, Green Day, Blink-182, and more.

Circle Jerks, originally called the Bedwetters, originally formed in 1979 in the Los Angeles metro area coastal city of Hermosa Beach. The initial lineup consisted of Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris, guitarist Greg Hetson, bassist Roger Rogerson, and drummer Lucky Lehrer. In the early days, the quartet recorded their 1980 debut album Group Sex, which featured 14 songs and totaled just slightly over 15 minutes. A few of the songs on Group Sex were tracks Morris had written while in Black Flag.

In 1981, Circle Jerks appeared in Penelope Spheeris' documentary about the L.A. punk-rock scene, The Decline of Western Civilization. The following year, Circle Jerks released their sophomore album, Wild in the Streets, which featured three cover songs: the title track, originally by Garland Jeffreys, "Just Like Me" (originally performed by Paul Revere & the Raiders), and "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" by Jackie DeShannon.

In 1983, the band released their third album, Golden Shower of Hits. The next year, Circle Jerks' visibility increased with a cameo in Alex Cox's Repo Man, which featured the band playing an acoustic version of "When the Sh*t Hits the Fan." This version of Circle Jerks featured new members, including Black Flag's Chuck Biscuits on drums and Earl Liberty on bass. Zander Schloss and Keith Clark later replaced Biscuits and Liberty, and the revamped group released two more albums: Wonderful (1985) and VI (1987). 

Circle Jerks disbanded in 1990 after Hetson left to join Bad Religion. Live recordings from their final tour were collected and placed together for the live album Gig (1992). 

Circle Jerks reunited in 1994 and recorded Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, which came out in June 1995. It featured a cover of the Soft Boys' "I Wanna Destroy You" with backing vocals from pop singer Debbie Gibson, who also performed with the band at CBGB.

The reunion was ultimately short-lived. Though they would perform together now and then in the late 1990s, the band's original bassist, Roger Rogerson, died of a drug overdose in 1996 at just 41. Morris also announced that he had been diagnosed with diabetes in 1999. 

Still, Morris, Hetson, Schloss, and drummer Kevin Fitzgerald toured sporadically until 2011, playing their final show that year at the Bluebird Theater in Denver. In 2005, they released a live concert DVD, The Show Must Go Off!

Between 2011 and 2019, Circle Jerks were on hiatus due to internal conflict in the band. In 2019, however, it was announced that the band would reunite in 2020 for the 40th anniversary of their debut album, Group Sex. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to postpone and they instead reunited in 2021. That same year, Joey Castillo from Danzig and Queens of the Stone Age joined Circle Jerks on drums. 

An anniversary tour is currently scheduled for 2022.

Reviews

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 71 reviews
  • Rating: 5 out of 5

    Great music with great company

    by GearMo on 3/23/24House of Blues Houston - Houston

    Arrived during first few songs and the merch line was extremely long. It stayed that way the entire night. Way over the top merch line security grabbing people and shoving them around. Find a better easier non being yelled at way for us to spend money on merch. That side the bands were freaking great! Bring them back often please!

  • Rating: 5 out of 5

    Amazing Show - Minus the Merch Line

    by Old Man on 3/22/24House of Blues Houston - Houston

    All 3 bands were amazing and put on an incredible show. This is why I would give it 5 stars. The only complaint I have was that the merch lines were incredibly long and extremely slow. I know of several people who just gave up on it all together (self-included). I saw a few people in the line when I first arrived at Door Opening who were still in line at the end of the show.

  • Rating: 5 out of 5

    For my kids

    by Serena on 3/22/24House of Blues Houston - Houston

    Personally, I liked the venue's size. It was small and intimate. Everyone working the show was nice and seemed genuinely excited for us all. The ONLY thing I did not enjoy was the shoving. Which isn't something the venue could control. I was there with my kids, who LOVED each of the artists, and it seemed like every time we would be getting into a song, someone was shoving us all around to get out of the crowd and then come back. Over and over again. My son is 12, and short. So we kept having to shift a few steps so he could even see over all the taller people. That part almost made it unenjoyable. But the music was great. And everything else was wonderful.

  • Rating: 4 out of 5

    Great concert/oversold

    by MITCH3SIXTEEN on 11/6/23Ace of Spades - Sacramento

    This was a great spot to see a concert. Beers were cheap and it was a good sized space that made for an intimate experience. My only gripe is that the concert was way over sold. There was no standing room anywhere. They had lanes marked where you could stand and kept coming buy and telling us we were in the lanes but it was obviously over sold. Don't even get me started on the smoking section. But all in all the bands were amazing and I had a blast.

  • Rating: 5 out of 5

    SoCal Punk

    by Podge on 11/6/23Ace of Spades - Sacramento

    Circle Jerks and Descendents, both bands I grew up to did not disappoint me!

  • Rating: 5 out of 5

    These guys still got it!!!!

    by Ileana on 11/6/23Ace of Spades - Sacramento

    Super fun concert. We really enjoyed every single song, from each band.

  • Rating: 5 out of 5

    Circles Jerks Rip!

    by JB96 on 11/5/23Ace of Spades - Sacramento

    Joey C on drums has really added new life to Circle Jerks. He’s one of the best punk drummers and absolutely plays fast with lots of power. The guitar tone and bass are perfect. So fun to watch them live. Will go be go to more shows when they come around. A classic!

  • Rating: 5 out of 5

    Epic

    by Matt B on 11/5/23Ace of Spades - Sacramento

    Stoked they are still getting after it, won't be many more times left to see em. Sick show.

  • Rating: 5 out of 5

    feelin 7up

    by superomegabacon on 9/28/23The Underground - Charlotte

    feelin 7up im feeling 7up crisp cool refreshing a taste that feels just right americas drinkin 7 up cause it just feels right

  • Rating: 2 out of 5

    Poor sound at Bogarts

    by C7 on 9/25/23Bogart's - Cincinnati

    This was one of the worst mixes/sound quality overall at any show I have been to in a large club like this.... The guitar was buried for all bands even after the band's requesting the Knicks be fixed, and the vocals were always too loud as well as the overwhelming base resonance from the kick drum and toms... Even after a band stopped playing mid-song to tell the sound guy to fix the horrible sound mixing, it still sounded horrible. Bands were AWESOME despite the poor mix.