Black Flag formed around guitarist Greg Ginn in Hermosa Beach, California in 1976 and toured harder than anyone in American hardcore. Damaged (1981) is still the definitive statement — with My War (1984) opening the sludgier later era — and the SST label Ginn built shaped the whole '80s underground. Find Black Flag vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Black Flag formed in Hermosa Beach, California in 1976 around guitarist Greg Ginn. The band's relentless touring schedule and uncompromising approach made them foundational figures in American hardcore punk. The vocalist seat rotated through Keith Morris (later of the Circle Jerks), Chavo Pederast (Ron Reyes), and Dez Cadena before Henry Rollins joined in 1981. Damaged (1981) is widely regarded as a defining hardcore album. The band dissolved in 1986; Greg Ginn revived the Black Flag name with various lineups in 2003 and again in 2013, with significant controversy and parallel groups (FLAG, featuring other original members) operating concurrently.
Black Flag's early work defined American hardcore punk - fast, dense, abrasive, and politically engaged. From My War (1984) onward, the band increasingly incorporated metal, free jazz, and noise rock influences, slowing tempos and introducing dissonant, sludgy passages that influenced the development of post-hardcore, noise rock, and grunge.
Original SST pressings of the Black Flag catalog are foundational items in punk and hardcore collecting. The catalog has been extensively reissued by SST and through later catalog deals, with multiple anniversary editions of Damaged in particular.
Listeners new to Black Flag typically start with Damaged (1981) or the early EPs collected on The First Four Years. My War (1984) is a common entry point for their later sound.
