I Circle Jerks appartengono a quella cerchia di gruppi punk sulla cui carriera grava l’ombra ingombrante del primo album. Maledetti da un esordio talmente iconico e perfetto, queste band non riusciranno mai più non soltanto a raggiungerne i vertici, ma neanche ad andarci vicino. Pensate agli Adolescents, ai Bad Brains, ai nostri Raw Power. Tutte band che hanno avuto una carriera dignitosa, ma sempre sottotono rispetto al capolavoro partorito al primo colpo. I Jerks, dopo il fondamentale “Group Sex”, pubblicheranno album per altri quindici anni, sempre meno gradevoli, sempre più dimenticabili, sempre più impietosi rispetto a quei quindici incredibili minuti che da soli valgono discografie intere. “Golden Shower Of Hits”, datato 1983, è l’ultimo album degno di nota, nonché l’ultimo della formazione storica.
Questo terzo lavoro di Morris e soci prosegue sulla strada presa nel precedente “Wild In The Streets”: canzoni sempre travolgenti ma meno veloci, più cadenzate, di maggiore durata rispetto ai frammenti incandescenti dell’esordio. L’unica scheggia hardcore vecchio stile è l’iniziale In Your Eyes, dopodichè si passa ad un punk rock grintoso e accattivante nei brani più veloci e orecchiabile e un po’ ruffiano nei brani più cadenzati, che dimostrano il crescente interesse della band verso le sonorità power pop, sempre più dominanti negli album successivi. Tuttavia, non sono molti i brani che si lasciano ricordare: abbiamo When The Shit Hits The Fan e Coup d’Etat, che finiranno nella colonna sonora di “Repo Man” l’anno successivo e rimarranno nelle scalette dei concerti a venire; Parade Of The Horribles, Product Of My Environment e Red Blanket Room, essenziali e melodiche come nella miglior tradizione californiana, confermano che i Circle Jerks danno il meglio con il punk stradaiolo e riottoso. Quando svaccano, invece, è nei pezzi più lunghi: Bad Words ricorda una brutta imitazione di uno scarto degli Stooges di “Fun House”, Under The Gun fosse durata la metà si sarebbe salvata e Rats Of Reality rasenta addirittura la noia. Stupisce, invece, la title-track finale, un medley di cover di brani romantici che vanno a formare una sorta di operetta pop punk oscillante fra il divertente e l’imbarazzante.
In sostanza, è un album non certo imprescindibile, ma che tuttavia si lascia ascoltare volentieri: consigliato ai completisti del punk californiano.
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01 In Your Eyes (00:41)
When it first happened
It was nice It was sweet
Now it's getting older
And were finding that it's not so sweet
Smiles growing cold
Perfumes getting stale
I can see it in your eyes
All the lies
And alibis
I can see it in your eyes
All the lies
And alibis
Happiness together honey
There's just no way
Our love has seen much better days
It's over now
Yes it's gone
No one's at fault
No one's wrong
I can see it in your eyes
All the lies
And alibis
I can see it in your eyes
All the lies
And alibis
04 When the Shit Hits the Fan (02:34)
In a sluggish Economy
Inflation, Recession
Hits the land of the free
Standing in unemployment lines
blame the government
for hard times
we just get by
however we can
we all gotta duck when the shit hits the fan
10 kids in a cadillac
stand in line for welfare checks
let's all leach off the state
gee! the money is really great!
soup lines
free loaves of bread
5lb blocks of cheese
bags of groceries
social security
has run out on you and me
we do whatever we can
gotta duck when the shit hits the fan
07 High Price on Our Heads (02:51)
won't fit,can't conform
i'll allways be the same
hateful eyes glate to say
I refuse to be tame
no way to get ahead
in a losers' race
where no one wins
they draft no master plan
just punishing pain
from the damned
no options
to accept
we've got opinions
we wanna express
no way to get ahead
in a losers' race
where no one wins
they draft no master plan
just punishing pain
from the damned
outlaws,renegades
with nothing left to save
there's no tomorrow
there's no today
no reward stands in our way
gotta high price on our heads
08 Coup d'Etat (01:59)
coup d'éat [x4]
the government gets overthrown
a sudden force,a major blow
over out,the new comes in
coup d'éat
give me a bomb
a molotov
it's a coup d'état!
the generalisimo sets up shop
step out of line
your neck's on the block
armies marching through the streets
dressed so sharp,dressed so neat
coup d'état [twice]
a push from the left and a shove from the right
it's all plaaned up,we'll do it tonight
first the president then his wife
we'll take them for ranson
or take their lives
attack their embassy
they are our enemies
el presidente smokes cigars
whoever he does not like
he shoots or put behind bars
coup d'état [twice]
kill all
09 Product of My Environment (01:47)
overheard drunks
sitting in bars
talking 'bout sex
talking 'bout cars
talking 'bout football
women at lunch
they just keep talking
but don't say much
i'm a product of my environment
my vocabularies like licking the gutter
words that cut so sharp
cuts like a hot knife through butter
not my fault
but then again
schools and teachers were never my friends
nothing's wrong with a little education
but i don't need a new vocation
i'm a product of my environment
things that occur
events take place
that will wipe
the smile right off your face
freeways,trafic,smog,
movies,theatres,
lines of people,
markets and banks
who the hell i'm i supposed to thank??
i'm a product of my environment
11 Junk Mail (01:21)
where did they get my name?
It's allways just the same
junk mail junk mail
i think i'll change address
i'm not a resident,i'm not an occupant
junk mail junk mail <i>[twice]
guess what i got today?
envelopes i'll throw away
pamphlets,nrochures on clothes
samples,tampons,nylon hose
junk mail junk mail
send it back from where it was send,
they must take me for an idiot
thay can have it i don't want it
they can keep it,i don't need a
junk mail junk mail
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