So Black Flag is back. More accurately, there are two Black
Flags running around right now. Unsurprisingly, they’re feuding already, and it’s
difficult to decide which version of the group is more promising. Original
Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris is heading up FLAG, which also features Bill
Stevenson and Chuck Dukowski, both of whom played with Black Flag during the
band’s original run. Descendants guitarist Stephen Egerton is filling in for
Black Flag’s founding and only constant member Greg Ginn, and Black Flag guitarist/third
vocalist Dez Cadena recently joined FLAG as well. Ginn, who owns the name Black
Flag, announced the band’s reformation soon after FLAG booked their first
shows, is working at a clear disadvantage. First off, Black Flag currently has
fewer original members than FLAG, with only Ginn and the band’s second vocalist
Ron Reyes returning for this endeavor. Still, Ginn has taken aim at FLAG for “currently
covering the songs of Black Flag in an embarrassingly weak 'mailing it in'
fashion”—a claim that can probably also be levied at the current incarnation of
Black Flag since there is only one 7” EP worth of material with Reyes on
vocals, so their shows are going to inevitably sound like the work of a cover
band too. [1]
There are a few more red flags with Ginn and Reyes’ group. First, nearly every
musical project Ginn has done over the last twenty years has ranged in quality
from pretty bad to terrible, and his long succession of vanity projects basically
tanked SST Records. Second, Reyes was Black Flag’s third best vocalist. He was
still good (as was Cadena, who comes in at number four out of four), but having
Morris (the band’s second best singer)[2]
on vocals clearly gives FLAG an edge. Also, having two of Black Flag’s four
vocalists gives FLAG three EPs to draw non-cover material from (the incredible Nervous Breakdown, the very good Six Pack, and the excellent “Louie,
Louie” single) to Ginn/Reyes’ one.
