Sunday, September 16, 2007

White Flag - Thru the Trash Darkly 1982-1992 (1993)

Formed in 1982 as a parody, just as much as an afterthought of the Los Angeles punk scene that had recently burned itself out, White Flag were to a certain extent the punk equivalent of the Ruttles. And like the Ruttles, White Flag were actually quite adept at what they did. Their early singles and albums, like Third Strike and WFO play like quintessential artifacts of their era, providing the perfect soundtrack for the nascent So-Cali skateboard scene at the time. I don't think White Flag were necessarily trying to appeal to "the kids," and from my vantage point they didn't. It took more seasoned ears (and eyes) to appreciate White Flag's parodied album sleeves, aliases such as Pat Fear and Jello B. Afro, choice cover tunes, and of course the band's patented tongue-in-cheek sensibilities, that were if not outright funny, at least attention grabbing.

Many contributors, both famous and non-famous have passed through White Flag's revolving lineup, including but certainly not limited to: Kim Shattuck (Muffs), Steven McDonald (Redd Kross), and Tony Adolescent. Although this compilation revisits White Flag's halcyon era, the band in one form or another carried on sporadically. With a reborn sonic overhaul, White Flag carried their banner into the 21st century with the album Eternally Undone, featuring Ken Stringfellow from The Posies of all people.

Thru the Trash Darkly does an adequate job of cherry picking White Flag's complex discography, which would frustrate even the most anal of completists. You can read up on white flag here and here.

01. In the City

02. Don't Give It way

03. Face Down

04. I Need You

05. Beyond Hurt

06. In a Different Light

07. Suicide King

08. He's a Whore

09. Think 4 Yourself

10. Everything Means Nothing

11. Hot Rails to Hell

12. Fruit Loop Dreams

13. Glass Dagger

14. I'm Down

15. Instant Breakfas

16. Butterfly Revolution

17. Demolition Girl

18. Return of the King

19. Jungle

20. I'll be Back

21. Loaded

22. Suite Bobby Brady

23. Hot Bitch

24. Shattered Badge

25. Flipside

26. Wake Up Screaming

27. Over My Head

28. Celebrate

29. Mirror Mirror

30. Suzy Secret

31. Hoppity Hooper

32. Flaming Halos

33. Cheze

34. Why, Because?

http://rapidshare.com/files/162911178/whiteflag.rar

3 comments:

jeffen said...

Nice work (thanks for splitting the difference between he vinyl and the CD.)

'Face down' is one of the all-time best punk obscurities.

You're linked at

http://musicruinedmylife.blogspot.com/

shakey said...

Thank you so much for this! I've been looking to replace this ever since it was stolen out of my car almost ten years ago.

Maddie said...

Reupload PLEASE?