OFF!
OFF!, the trailblazing supergroup helmed by Keith Morris (Circle Jerks, ex-Black Flag) and Dimitri Coats (ex-Burning Brides) that evolved from barnstorming hardcore traditionalists to an expansive multimedia psychedelic punk institution over the course of its 14 year existence, have announced they will take an indefinite hiatus following a trio of shows this July in New York, Chicago, and their hometown of Los Angeles. Each city will also play host to an advance screening of the freshly finished Free LSD feature film that was written and directed by Coats in parallel with the 2022 album of the same name – find full info on the shows and screenings below. The band will be joined by founding drummer Mario
Rubalcaba (Earthless) for the final trio of shows, in addition to a distinguished curation of support acts for each city including Fucked Up (New York), Shellac (Chicago), and Surfbort (Los Angeles). The advance screenings of the film will be followed by a worldwide digital release from distributor Buffalo 8 later this year (more info soon).
Renowned for their ferocious, unyielding live performances, the band came out swinging on their 2010 debut First Four EPs – a full length that distilled 30 years of punk vitriol into 18 bracing minutes and, in retrospect, served as the opening salvo of an unfolding hardcore revival that continues to build momentum to this day. Over the course of three more albums the band continued to expand on that template without ever letting up on the intensity, culminating in their 2022 masterpiece Free LSD. As mentioned above, the album was written and recorded in parallel with the film of the same name. The multimedia approach provided impetus for Morris and Coats to diversify the band’s trademark incendiary sound, bolstered on the album by the virtuosic talents of drummer Justin Brown (Thundercat, Flying Lotus, Herbie Hancock) and bassist Autry Fulbright II (…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead), to include forays into psychedelia, free jazz, and noise in perfect balance with their trademarked hardcore snarl.
The filmic counterpart to the album, which closed the 2023 Slamdance Film Festival, is a punk rock, sci-fi midnight movie that follows the story of Keith (played by Keith Morris) as he embarks on an inter-dimensional journey after using an experimental drug that provides a glimpse into a parallel universe where he is the singer for (a fictionalized version of) the band OFF! and also the target of an advanced alien species that will stop at nothing to prevent the group from making a (fictionalized version of the namesake) album that holds the key to elevating human consciousness. The film was written and directed by OFF!’s Dimitri Coats and also features performances by Jack Black, Autry Fulbright II, D.H. Peligro (Dead Kennedys), David Yow (Jesus Lizard), Chelsea Debo, James Duval, Dana Gould, Barry Del Sherman, Davey Havok (AFI), Angelo Moore (Fishbone), Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks), Chloe Dykstra, Chris D. (The Flesh Eaters), Don Bolles (Germs), Don Nguyen, and more. That the film came accompanied by an album of the same name places the band in the rarified company of such artists as Pink Floyd, The Who, Prince, and a small handful of other ambitious polymaths.
School Drugs
Gnarcissists
