One of the foundational hardcore bands to come out of the 1970s, Hermosa Beach's Circle Jerks birthed a new strain of punk rock by channeling the confrontational attitude of the Sex Pistols with the more physical elements of SoCal skater culture. In the many decades since their formation, Circle Jerks have inspired legions of follow-up acts, including Anti-Flag, Pennywise, the Offspring, Rancid, Green Day, Blink-182, and more.
Circle Jerks, originally called the Bedwetters, originally formed in 1979 in the Los Angeles metro area coastal city of Hermosa Beach. The initial lineup consisted of Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris, guitarist Greg Hetson, bassist Roger Rogerson, and drummer Lucky Lehrer. In the early days, the quartet recorded their 1980 debut album Group Sex, which featured 14 songs and totaled just slightly over 15 minutes. A few of the songs on Group Sex were tracks Morris had written while in Black Flag.
In 1981, Circle Jerks appeared in Penelope Spheeris' documentary about the L.A. punk-rock scene, The Decline of Western Civilization. The following year, Circle Jerks released their sophomore album, Wild in the Streets, which featured three cover songs: the title track, originally by Garland Jeffreys, "Just Like Me" (originally performed by Paul Revere & the Raiders), and "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" by Jackie DeShannon.
In 1983, the band released their third album, Golden Shower of Hits. The next year, Circle Jerks' visibility increased with a cameo in Alex Cox's Repo Man, which featured the band playing an acoustic version of "When the Sh*t Hits the Fan." This version of Circle Jerks featured new members, including Black Flag's Chuck Biscuits on drums and Earl Liberty on bass. Zander Schloss and Keith Clark later replaced Biscuits and Liberty, and the revamped group released two more albums: Wonderful (1985) and VI (1987).
Circle Jerks disbanded in 1990 after Hetson left to join Bad Religion. Live recordings from their final tour were collected and placed together for the live album Gig (1992).
Circle Jerks reunited in 1994 and recorded Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, which came out in June 1995. It featured a cover of the Soft Boys' "I Wanna Destroy You" with backing vocals from pop singer Debbie Gibson, who also performed with the band at CBGB.
The reunion was ultimately short-lived. Though they would perform together now and then in the late 1990s, the band's original bassist, Roger Rogerson, died of a drug overdose in 1996 at just 41. Morris also announced that he had been diagnosed with diabetes in 1999.
Still, Morris, Hetson, Schloss, and drummer Kevin Fitzgerald toured sporadically until 2011, playing their final show that year at the Bluebird Theater in Denver. In 2005, they released a live concert DVD, The Show Must Go Off!
Between 2011 and 2019, Circle Jerks were on hiatus due to internal conflict in the band. In 2019, however, it was announced that the band would reunite in 2020 for the 40th anniversary of their debut album, Group Sex. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to postpone and they instead reunited in 2021. That same year, Joey Castillo from Danzig and Queens of the Stone Age joined Circle Jerks on drums.
An anniversary tour is currently scheduled for 2022.
