Tag: "When the Shit Hits the Fan" (Circle Jerks song)

Keith Morris opened the Circle Jerks set with a statement about why they were playing Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass over the sound system before the show. He explained that one of the guys that started A&M Records wanted to sign the Jerks but they ended up not doing so but that maybe Herb Albert heard the band while recording Group Sex or Wild in the Streets and commented on what he was hearing. After this impromptu bit of history as anecdote Morris mentioned how they were here to celebrate the reissue of two albums that came out some forty years ago and then the band went headlong into the set as a reminder of how Circle Jerks’ music has retained its power and relevancy because we’re in the grips of another right wing wave of conservative culture but one more virulent.

The music was a bracing reminder of how powerful the Jerks were from the beginning but even Morris and guitarist Greg Hetson wore t-shirts of a couple of the Los Angeles area punk bands that were perhaps an influence on their own trajectory with Morris in a Weirdos shirt and Hetson in one of Bags with Alice Bag’s face prominent. The image of the Circle Jerks from the name of the band to their presentation is of conscious middle and working class angst and rebellion against the conformity and bland and safe mediocrity that ensured a level of comfort that made insipid and destructive groups like the Moral Majority (and thus the title of the song) possible and the mentality that lead to it something easy to critique with the spirited irreverence of the band’s music. Maybe there wasn’t as much acrobatic performance as in the early 80s but the intensity was still there and maybe Morris sings better than he has before with ample commentary on the crowd and the situations we’re in in his inimitable incisive yet slackery and self-deprecating wit, the kind it’s impossible to not find a little charming.

But throughout the show it was stunning and a little alarming to realize the subjects of so many of the songs have aged well because America has simple regressed and because our country and the world has failed to address the issues that inspired those songs back then we’re dealing with them all over again. “Live Fast Die Young” has Morris singing about how he doesn’t want to die in a nuclear war and didn’t we think that was mostly over a remote possibility at best once the USSR fell? But instead of working to dismantle all of them the temptation to retain that power “just in case” has certain world leaders threatening nuclear destruction all over again. No real attempt to reign in the influence and power of unchecked economic influence and power? Seems “When the Shit Hits the Fan” has some choice, sardonic commentary on how people are going to have to do the best they can. Pitting the powerless against each other and then things go awry when various factions in society take things too far? “Coup D’etat” is far too real in more ways than would be fun to discuss and while not an exact analog it seems fairly poignant considering the imperial wars America engaged in beyond overthrowing democratic leaders in Latin America and the Middle East to full on occupation.

Across thirty-three songs (who counted, Morris just made some comment to this effect) the Jerks not only put forth an engaging and ferocious punk show but also demonstrated how the form of music is still a vehicle for having fun while making some of the most astute and relatable commentary on social issues and events in a way accessible and inclusive.

Partial set list at best and not in order:
Live Fast Die Young
Back Against the Wall
Moral Majority
Coup D’etat
World Up My Ass
When The Shit Hits the Fan
Beverly Hills
Wasted
Wild In the Streets
Junk Mail
In Your Eyes