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Circle Jerks | |
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 Circle Jerks c. 1987. L-R: Zander Schloss, Keith Clark, Keith Morris and Greg Hetson. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Hermosa Beach, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Hardcore punk[1] |
| Works | Discography |
| Years active |
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| Labels | |
| Members | Keith Morris Greg Hetson Zander Schloss Joey Castillo |
| Past members | Lucky Lehrer Roger Rogerson John Ingram Chuck Biscuits Earl Liberty Keith Clark Kevin Fitzgerald |
| Website | CircleJerks.net |
Circle Jerks (stylized asCiʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an Americanhardcore punk band, formed in 1979 inLos Angeles, California. The group was founded by formerBlack Flag vocalistKeith Morris andRedd Kross guitaristGreg Hetson. To date, Circle Jerks have released six studio albums, one compilation, a live album and a live DVD. Their debut album,Group Sex (1980), is considered a landmark of the hardcore genre.
The band has broken up and re-formed several times, sometimes with different bassists and/or drummers. They disbanded for the first time after the release of their fifth albumVI (1987), allowing Hetson to focus onBad Religion (which he joined in 1984 and stayed with until 2013) full-time. The Circle Jerks first reunited in 1994 and released their sixth and last studio album to date,Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, the following year before separating for the second time. The band reunited for the second time in 2001 and spent the next ten years performing live periodically; this reunion released only one new song, "I'm Gonna Live", which was posted on theirMySpace profile in 2007. Tensions among members and failed attempts to record the follow-up toOddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities resulted in the Circle Jerks breaking up yet again in 2011. However, the band announced in November 2019 that they would reunite in 2020 to celebrate the 40th anniversary ofGroup Sex with live shows.[2]
Many groups and artists have cited Circle Jerks as an influence, including theRed Hot Chili Peppers,[3][4]Pearl Jam,[3][4]Anti-Flag,[3][5][6]Dropkick Murphys,[3][7]the Offspring,[3][6]NOFX,[3] andPennywise.[6]
Lead vocalistKeith Morris was an original member ofBlack Flag, co-founding the band with guitaristGreg Ginn and recording theNervous Breakdown EP with them before suddenly departing the group in December 1979. Morris formed Circle Jerks as the Bedwetters[8] along with guitaristGreg Hetson, bassist Roger Rogerson (aclassically-trained guitarist) and drummerLucky Lehrer (a jazz-trained drummer). Lehrer did not like the name the Bedwetters, so Morris looked through a dictionary of slang words and renamed the band theCircle Jerks.[8][9]
The band's first recordings took place in spring 1980, including the original version of "Wild in the Streets", which appeared onPosh Boy's firstRodney on the ROQ compilation. In July of that year, the band recorded their debut studio album,Group Sex, which was released in October 1980 on theFrontier Records label; its 14 songs totaled just 15 minutes. The album featured several songs that Morris had written while in Black Flag. That same year, the group was one of several California punk bands to be immortalized in thePenelope Spheeris documentaryThe Decline of Western Civilization; live versions of five songs fromGroup Sex appeared on the movie's soundtrack.
In late 1980, the group signed withIRS Records subsidiaryFaulty Products and recorded their second album,Wild in the Streets, released in 1982. The title track was a cover version of a song byGarland Jeffreys. Faulty Products ceased operations several months after its release, forcing Circle Jerks to seek their third record deal in as many years. While they regained the copyright toWild in the Streets, the original stereo master tape was lost, forcing the band to remix it from the multi-track tapes when they reissued the album in 1988.
Lehrer and the Circle Jerks mutually parted ways afterWild in the Streets so Lehrer could pursue alaw degree.[10] He was replaced by John Ingram. The band signed a management deal withWar producer/managerJerry Goldstein's Far Out Productions, and recorded their third album,Golden Shower of Hits, in 1983. The album was released on Goldstein's LAX Records label. The title track was a medley of six cover versions (of artists as diverse and unexpected asthe Association,the Carpenters andTammy Wynette) strung together to create a storyline of two people who fall in love, have an unplanned pregnancy, rush into marriage and end up divorced. Another song from the album, "Coup d'État", was used in the soundtrack ofAlex Cox's 1984 filmRepo Man, which the band appeared in, playing an acoustic lounge version of "When the Shit Hits the Fan", featuring new membersChuck Biscuits (formerly of Black Flag andD.O.A.) on drums andEarl Liberty (formerly ofSaccharine Trust) on bass. Just prior to joining Circle Jerks at the suggestion of Biscuits, Liberty worked 10 weeks as a roadie for the Misfits as he became increasingly disillusioned with Saccharine Trust's lack of interest in developing new material, recalling in a 1983 interview that his former bandmates "were just getting too lazy."[11]
Biscuits and Liberty were eventually replaced by Keith Clark andZander Schloss (who also appeared inRepo Man), respectively. The band also changed labels for the fourth time, signing a deal withRelativity Records' metal imprintCombat Records, which had started a punk sub-label, Combat Core. The newly revamped group recordedWonderful, released in 1985. Their newfound stability allowed the lineup to record a second album for Relativity,VI, issued in 1987. One track fromVI, "Love Kills", had been commissioned by Cox for the soundtrack of the 1986 movieSid and Nancy, and was heard in the film.
Chris Poland played bass with Circle Jerks briefly circa 1989 after being fired as guitarist forMegadeth (Schloss had left the band by that point).[12]
Circle Jerks dissolved in 1990 after Hetson left the band to continue recording with Bad Religion. Live recordings made during what would be their final tour at the time were immortalized in the live albumGig in 1992, their third and last release for Relativity.
During the hiatus, Hetson would continue playing in Bad Religion; Schloss played guitar and bass with various acts; Clark initially retired from music; Morris worked menial jobs and battled health problems (he had kicked a longtime dependence on drugs and alcohol in 1988).[13]
A long period of inactivity for Circle Jerks ended in 1994, when theWonderful-era lineup reunited and signed a major label deal withMercury Records, a move that had a few business complications: Hetson was still with Bad Religion, who had signed a long-term contract withAtlantic Records, while Schloss had been part of a band contracted toInterscope Records. After ironing out these difficulties, the band recorded their final studio album to date,Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, released June 20, 1995. One track on the album, a cover ofthe Soft Boys' "I Wanna Destroy You", featured backing vocals from pop singer/songwriterDebbie Gibson, who had just finished a solo album with the same producer that Circle Jerks were using. Gibson later made a surprise appearance at Circle Jerks' performance at punk meccaCBGB to perform "I Wanna Destroy You" with the band. Despite such media attention, the group suddenly imploded three weeks into a tour behind the album. The breakup would not be totally permanent, with the Jerks playing sporadically throughout the late 1990s, but Clark left music for good afterward. Original bassist Rogerson died in 1996 of a drug overdose. He was 41 years old.
Further Circle Jerks activity was suddenly held up when Morris announced that he had been diagnosed with adult onsetdiabetes in 1999.[14] A multitude of punk bands held benefits on his behalf.
The core of Morris, Hetson and Schloss, with drummer Kevin Fitzgerald, continued to tour until 2011, in between other commitments — Hetson was still a full-time member of Bad Religion, Schloss played bass for the reformed first-generation LA punk bandthe Weirdos, and Morris was an A&R director forV2 Records until the label was suddenly shuttered by its owners in 2007.
In 2004, the Circle Jerks shot a live concert DVD as part ofKung-Fu Records' live DVD seriesThe Show Must Go Off!, in which the band played songs from all six of their studio albums, plus – in nods to Schloss' other current band and Morris' first band, respectively – covers of the Weirdos' "Solitary Confinement" and Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown". In 2005, Hetson formed another band,Black President.
For several years, a rumored Circle Jerks album featuring new material was said to be imminent, although no further formal announcement was made. In late February 2007, the band released their first new song since 1995 on theirMyspace page, titled "I'm Gonna Live", adding more anticipation to the possibility of a new album emerging. However, in an April 2008 interview, guitarist Hetson admitted that Circle Jerks would not release any new studio material, saying that he does not know what will happen in the future, "but in the near future, no Circle Jerks stuff will come out".[15]
Circle Jerks were featured on a television commercial forXM Satellite Radio (they were the first band played in the commercial, which included "Operation" from the albumGroup Sex), and the band also posted a cover ofGerms song "The Slave" on their Myspace page.
The Circle Jerks played their final show for nearly a decade at theBluebird Theater inDenver on January 27, 2011.[16][17]
From 2011 to 2019, the Circle Jerks were on hiatus due to a dispute between Morris and the rest of the band. The conflict was over songs that were written by Morris andDimitri Coats. Coats (fromBurning Brides), who was supposed to produce a new Circle Jerks album, decided that the songs Hetson had written were not up to par with Circle Jerks' catalog. Morris agreed, and both he and Coats wrote multiple songs intended for the new album. The other members of Circle Jerks believed Coats to be "arrogant, overbearing, egotistical" and called for him to be fired from producing the new record. Morris disagreed, and he and Coats recruitedSteven Shane McDonald (from Redd Kross) andMario Rubalcaba (Rocket from the Crypt,Hot Snakes, 411, Clikatat Ikatowi,Earthless) to start a new band calledOff!.[18]
On November 22, 2019, the Circle Jerks announced that they were going to reunite in 2020 for a number of shows to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their debut albumGroup Sex, including that year's Punk Rock Bowling. However, theCOVID-19 pandemic caused performances to be postponed until 2021.[19] Three-fourths of the final lineup —Keith Morris, guitaristGreg Hetson, bassistZander Schloss — were involved in the reunion.
On July 15, 2021 it was announced that formerQueens of the Stone Age andDanzig drummerJoey Castillo would be joining the band on drums.[20]
In April 2022, six dates on the anniversary tour were postponed after Morris tested positive for theCOVID-19 virus.[21] The band continued touring with theDescendents throughout North & South America in 2023 and 2024 and Europe in 2025.[22][23][24]
Studio albums
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