Black Flag: Dez Cadena (vocals, guitar); Chuck Dukowski (vocals, bass); Keith Morris, Chavo (Ron Reyes) (vocals); Greg Ginn (guitar); Brian Migdol, Robo (drums). 1983's THE FIRST FOUR YEARS is a handy compilation of Black Flag's first three seven-inch EPs, 1978's NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, 1980's JEALOUS AGAIN, and 1981's SIX PACK, along with two tracks from compilations and both sides of 1981's "Louie Louie"/Damaged I" single. All told, it contains the band's entire output from its pre-Henry Rollins era, though this has not stopped SST Records from reissuing the three EPs in a seemingly endless stream of formats and combinations. Before Rollins brought his more serious and political concerns to the band, Black Flag was a sometimes-goofy punk band in the tradition of the Dictators. Keith Morris and Dez Cadena, who (separately) sing most of this material, later spent time with the Circle Jerks and Redd Kross, respectively, and the sometimes pop-tinged punk of those bands is a good comparison for these unpretentious, speedy proto-hardcore nuggets. An essential L.A. punk release.

• Format: Vinyl
• Label: SST Records
• Genre: Punk

As described in our Privacy Policy, we collect personal information from your interactions with us and our website, including through cookies and similar technologies. We may also share this personal information with third parties, including advertising partners. We do this in order to show you ads on other websites that are more relevant to your interests and for other reasons outlined in our privacy policy.

Sharing of personal information for targeted advertising based on your interaction on different websites may be considered "sales", "sharing", or "targeted advertising" under certain U.S. state privacy laws. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to opt out of these activities. If you would like to exercise this opt-out right, please follow the instructions below.

If you visit our website with the Global Privacy Control opt-out preference signal enabled, depending on where you are, we will treat this as a request to opt-out of activity that may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information or other uses that may be considered targeted advertising for the device and browser you used to visit our website.