Today I’m going to discuss two pioneering California punk bands debut releases that were that were also the first and second releases on SST records.
Nervous Breakdown by Black Flag
5 tracks that run a total of 5:13.
*Arguably the first ever hardcore punk release.
*Greg Ginn’s guitar playing is straight ahead Johnny Ramone style down strokes and not the exploratory and ultimately Ornette influenced style it would become
*Keith Morris sounds a lot like Johnny Rotten
*Raymond Pettibon’s album cover art shows a scene from a dysfunctional classroom
Paranoid Time by the Minutemen.
7 tracks run 6:39.
*Very in your face short and direct punk rock songs.
*Pushed a different syncopation.
*Strong leftist political content.
*Closer to the Sex Pistols than the Ramones imo.
*Raymond Pettibon’s cover art shows Reagan coping a cheap feel on a movie set.