2020 was going to be a great year. My concert calendar was pretty much full for the year by the end of February. One of the most exciting things for me was that Bikini Kill and Circle Jerks, two of bands from my most formative music experiencing years, were going to grace the world with full tours for the first time in decades. Circle Jerks were due to play their debut record, Group Sex, in it’s entirety on this tour. Sadly, I sold my CD of this long ago, back in my most broke days. So, to celebrate, I found myself using Spotify (I know…) to get amped for this tour, as well as introduce my 18 month old kid to this music. Which did make for epic dance parties throughout the house during the early days of “Shelter In Place,” while awaiting for us to get our act together and stop transmission of the virus so we could enjoy our Summer.
Sadly, as the pandemic progressed, hopes were dimming for that tour to come to fruition. THEN- THE WORST THING HAPPENED!!! Group Sex abruptly disappeared from streaming services. Sure, there are other fine Circle Jerks records, and a live album from the 80’s that features many of these tracks, but it wasn’t the same. (Thank god we can still listen to their Debbie Gibson collaboration!) There was a giant, gaping hole in my child’s hardcore education. But, fear not- it’s coming back! (Also, the band WILL BE TOURING IN 2021! US Dates, including, hopefully, a proper rescheduling of their Oakland show will be coming)
On October 30th, just in time for Halloween and the even more frightening holiday, Election Day, Trust Records, a brand new label whose focus is reissuing long out of print punk and hardcore records, is re-issuing Group Sex! Not only do we get all glorious 15 minutes and 25 seconds of pure hardcore punk, we also will be treated to five tracks recorded in rehearsal. And, since the original record is so short, the deluxe edition is STILL ON ONE DISC!!! You can preorder the record here!
Here is the “trailer” for the reissue:
And to take you back to where my teenage ears first learned of the joy of this band, here is Circle Jerks segment from the great film, Decline Of Western Civilization, filmed at the same time this classic record was recorded:
