Description
Black Flag – What The – Vinyl Record
What The… by Black Flag, released in 2013, is the band’s seventh studio album and their first in nearly three decades. It marked the return of guitarist and founding member Greg Ginn under the Black Flag name, featuring Ron Reyes (of the early Jealous Again era) on vocals. This record was meant to be a full-circle moment for the band—an opportunity to reassert their legacy in the punk world—but the result was met with considerable backlash and controversy, both critically and among fans.
What The… tries to revive the essence of early Black Flag—fast, minimalist punk with occasional dissonant detours and Ginn’s signature chaotic guitar work—but something feels off. The production is flat and strangely tinny, lacking the visceral punch that defined their seminal records like Damaged or My War. Reyes’ vocals, though aggressive, often sound strained or out of sync with the instrumentation, and the overall songwriting comes across as rushed or underdeveloped. Songs such as “My Heart’s Pumping” and “Down in the Dirt” have the rough outlines of classic hardcore, but they lack the intensity, lyrical depth, or innovation that once made Black Flag so vital.
One of the album’s most criticized aspects is its cover art—a garish, cartoonish design that completely disregards the iconic starkness associated with Black Flag’s original aesthetic. Designed by Ginn himself, it was widely mocked upon release and came to symbolize the general sense of creative misfire that haunts the entire project. The album was also overshadowed by internal turmoil, with Reyes quitting mid-tour in a very public dispute, and ongoing legal and personal conflicts between former band members—particularly the division between Greg Ginn’s version of Black Flag and Flag, a separate touring group featuring Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena, and others.
Despite its name and legacy, What The… doesn’t feel like a continuation of the Black Flag that helped define American hardcore in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Instead, it plays more like a contentious epilogue—one that never quite reconciles the band’s past with its present. Critics panned the album for lacking focus, energy, and the confrontational spirit that once made Black Flag such an incendiary force. To many listeners, it sounded more like a lo-fi side project than a triumphant return.
However, What The… is still a notable document in punk history, not because of its musical achievements, but because of what it reveals about legacy, authorship, and the complications of reuniting after decades of silence and fractured relationships. For completists or those curious about the band’s later years, it offers a strange, jarring coda to one of punk’s most influential discographies. But for most fans, the real heart of Black Flag remains in their earlier, ferocious catalog—Damaged, Slip It In, Everything Went Black—records that burned with a clarity and conviction What The… never quite recaptures.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
My Heart’s Pumping
Down In The Dirt
Blood And Ashes
Now Is The Time
Wallow In Despair
Slow Your Ass Down
It’s So Absurd
Shut Up
This Is Hell
Go Away
The Bitter End
The Chase
I’m Sick
It’s Not My Time To Go-Go
Lies
Get Out Of My Way
Outside
No Teeth
To Hell And Back
Give Me All Your Dough
You Gotta Be Joking
Off My Shoulders
