...And here’s one of those iffy situations that can commonly occur during SXSW. Bands returning from decades of dormancy, only to find that the fire has long been extinguished—so you’ve wasted an hour of so in line and are forced to choke it down, cause you made this concious decision to cater to nostalgia (I’m looking at you New York Dolls). This year you’ve got Devo, the Sonics, Flower Travellin’ Band, Roky Erickson (who actually, though the oldest, still pulls it off), and one of my personal favorites, the Circle Jerks.

Along with Black Flag and the Germs, Keith Morris and company were the initial spark that ignited my pre-adolescent love-affair with punk via Decline of Western Civilization. Over the years their music has somewhat staled as goofy political commentary and by the numbers hardcore. But then again, they came up with those numbers, so I think I owe it to them to sing along (and possibly pogo) in the luxury of Emo’s outdoor stage. It would be a thrill to hear Group Sex front to back, but something tells me they’ve written “new” material since then. Still, the ever-present dreads of Morris prove he’s nowhere near close to growing out of this phase.

Here’s a clip from the film that started it all: