The Misfits - Static Age

 

This record has a truly convoluted legacy, which is explained fully on Wikipedia, with the album not released in its entirety until 1996 despite being recorded in 1978! Many of the songs had appeared in one form or another over the years though and this sound is likely what most people think of when they think of the Misfits.

Led by Glenn Danzig, of course, here he is joined by Jerry Only (bass) with Franche Coma on guitar and drummer Mr. Jim, for a stripped down, punk rock look at pop culture, media and horror movies, done with catchy hooks and Glenn's powerful vocals. While the sound quality/mix is pretty mediocre - 17 songs were recorded in 30 hours - the songs are well written, melodic punk rockers. "Static Age", "TV Casualty", and "Some Kinda Hate" are basic sing-along punkers but then we get the sublime "One Last Caress", a minimalist masterpiece with an impossibly memorable melody driving lines like "I got something to say, I killed your baby today". Truly one of Glenn's best! "Return of the Fly" is based on the B-movie, of course, "Hybrid Moments" is highly melodic, "We Are 138" is a cryptic anthem while "Teenagers From Mars" is a true B-Movie anthem, "Come Back" is a bit more drone-y and probably the longest song here, and then there's "AngelFuck", another incredibly memorable, incredibly offensive, amazing song!  

Kinda obvious where he got the title "Hollywood Babylon" and it's another stompin' punk singalong, "Attitude" is more minimalistic punk making the Ramones sound proficient by comparison, followed by one of their most infamous, "Bullet", about the JFK assassination, which suddenly shifts lyrical gears with a chorus of "you gotta suck, suck Jackie suck" and more sexual references, which seems like a strange juxtaposition to me, but then I'm not Glenn! He adds some electric piano for a more moody/garage feel in "Theme For a Jackal" but "She" goes back to primitive punk, "Spinal Remains" is practically early thrash, and the closer, "In the Doorway" is pretty basic punk rock. There's a hidden track with another version of "Hollywood Babylon", among others, with some studio chatter and some false starts'n'stops for a behind-the-scenes "look" at the sessions.

As I say, the sound quality is pretty iffy - it wasn't until the band Danzig that Glenn finally got good studio sound courtesy of Rick Ruben - but the songs are true classics, confirming the Misfits rightful place in punk rock hierarchy.