History Music / BlackFlag

* {{Jerkass}}: Rollins once said to Ginn "Why don't we make a record that was like the last one so people won't always be trying to catch up with what we're doing?". As revenge, Ginn buried his vocals in the mix of their last album ''In My Head''.

** "You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You!" was a blatant one against Keith Morris after he'd left the band. Much later, Morris' project Off! recorded a TakeThat to Greg Ginn called "I've Got News For You", which included the lyric "You bet I got something against you too".

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-Black_Flag_logo_9583.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:...kills ants!]]

* DoubleMeaningTitle: ''The Process of Weeding Out'' is both a reference to marijuana and the idea that an instrumental, avant garde and jazz-rock influenced release would "weed out" fans who were only interested in hearing the band play conventional hardcore punk.

* LongTitle: "I Won't Stick Any of You Unless and Until I Can Stick All of You" off of ''Family Man''
* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles: They came from Hermosa Beach!

** On ''My War'', Greg Ginn used his own name for guitar, songwriting and production, but credited his bass playing to Dale Nixon - this was meant to hide the fact that they went into the studio without a full-time bassist. Unrelated punk bands subsequently started putting Dale Nixon in their liner notes as a ShoutOut, usually because they couldn't list the real name of a performer for contractual reasons.

** "You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You!" was a blatant one against Keith Morris after he'd left the band.

In 2013, Black Flag reunited with Ron Reyes after over twenty years of not performing to mixed reviews from the punk community, with their newest album ''What The...'' being widely hated by fans. Another group emerged in 2013, consisting of ex-Black Flag members, simply titled ''FLAG''. Greg Ginn sued almost immediately, however the courts ruled in FLAG's favor, citing the fact that people ''can'' distinguish between Ginn's band and the band led by people Greg had kicked out as the reason why they ruled in their favor. Regardless, Ginn continues to tour with Black Flag to this day, with several hired guns performing on bass and drums, and pro skateborder Mike Vallely (who literally fired Reyes ''onstage'') on vocals.

* SlutShaming: Played with (in a way) in "Slip it In". The song takes multiple shots at an woman who is regretful for [[ReallyGetsAround "what [she] did the night before"]], [[YourCheatingHeart hitting on (and sleeping with, if the spoken word intro is anything to go by) other guys when she claims to have a boyfriend]], and blaming her actions on having too much to drink, among other things - however the song later states "You're getting around/I'm not putting it down/It's just what it is/Getting it while it's around", so this song plays the trope straight and subverts it at the same time.

* PostHardcore: Started to go in this direction in their later yaers

** When Ron Reyes was fired, he was credited as "Chavo Pederast" on ''Jealous Again'' and ''Everything Went Black''.

* ''Damaged'' (studio, 1981)

In 2013, Black Flag reunited with Ron Reyes after over twenty years of not performing to mixed reviews from the punk community, with their newest album "What The..." being widely hated by fans. Another group emerged in 2013, consisting of ex-Black Flag members, simply titled ''FLAG''. Greg Ginn sued almost immediately, however the courts ruled in FLAG's favor, citing the fact that people ''can'' distinguish between Ginn's band and the band led by people Greg had kicked out as the reason why they ruled in their favor. Regardless, Ginn continues to tour with Black Flag to this day, with several hired guns performing on bass and drums, and pro skateborder Mike Vallely (who literally fired Reyes ''onstage'') on vocals.

* {{Bifauxnen}} - Bassist Kira Roessler. Often the only thing gave it away was her affinity for wearing dresses on stage (and even then mostly for shock value) during concerts.

* DarkerAndEdgier - Ginn said that after Rollins joined, "We couldn't do songs with a sense of humour anymore [[note]]he was talking about "TV Party" specifically[[/note]]; he got into the [[BuffySpeak serious way-out poet thing]]."

* TheEighties: Though they started in TheSeventies, this was when they were at their biggest.
* EpicRocking - "Nothing Left Inside", "Scream" and "Three Nights" from ''My War'' are all about 6 minutes in length. "Armageddon Man" from ''Family Man'' clocks at 9 minutes. "Your Last Affront" and the title song of ''The Process of Weeding Out'' are both just under 10 minutes and "You're Not Evil" from ''Slip It In'' is about seven minutes while the titular track is just over six minutes.

* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles

* ProtestSong - Well, they ''are'' a punk band. "Rise Above," "Police Story," etc.
* RevolvingDoorBand - Ginn was the band's only constant member, although towards the end of their career they toned down the lineup instability somewhat.
* SelfDeprecation - Henry Rollins has said numerous times he thought Black Flag's best work was before he joined the band. Ginn has stated the same, but he's more of a dick about it.

* StageNames - Two notable examples: their first bass player used the name "Chuck Dukowski" as a protest against the then-prevalent anti-Polish prejudice (and "Polish jokes"), and after several falling outs Ron Reyes was credited as "Chavo Pederast" for the ''Jealous Again'' EP, to which he retaliated by hitting his replacement Dez Cadena with a brick and smashing the windshield of the band's touring van. Rollins changed his name upon joining the band (his last name is actually Garfield), which he claims was to avoid trouble with the police.

** When Ron Reyes was fired, he was credited as "Chavo Pederast" on Jealous Again and Everything Went Black.

Black Flag forged a unique sound early on that mixed the raw simplicity of the Ramones with atonal guitar solos and frequent tempo shifts. The band was also known for the intense and evocative lyrics found in their songs, most of which were penned by Ginn. Like other punk bands of this era, Black Flag gave voice to an anti-authoritarian, non-conformist message, featuring songs punctuated with descriptions of isolation, neurosis, poverty, and paranoia, themes that would be explored further when Music/HenryRollins became lead singer in 1981. Most of the band's material was released on Ginn's independent label, SST Records.

* DownerEnding: ''Damaged'' has a pretty intense one with "Life of Pain" followed by "Damaged 1". Side B of ''My War'', on the other hand, is probably the most epic display of abject misery to ever close out an album.

** DrunkDriver: "Drinking and Driving"

** PostHardcore: Started to go in this direction in their later yaers
** DoomMetal: Added elements of this starting with ''My War''.
** {{Grunge}}: Not part of the genre, but had a large influence on its formation.

* TakeThat: "You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You!" was a blatant one against Keith Morris after he'd left the band.

Black Flag forged a unique sound early on that mixed the raw simplicity of the Ramones with atonal guitar solos and frequent tempo shifts. The band was also known for the intense and evocative lyrics found in their songs, most of which were penned by Ginn. Like other punk bands of this era, Black Flag gave voice to an anti-authoritarian, non-conformist message, featuring songs punctuated with descriptions of isolation, neurosis, poverty, and paranoia, themes that would be explored further when Music/HenryRollins joined the group as lead singer in 1981. Most of the band's material was released on Ginn's independent label, SST Records.

* LongTitle: "I Won't Stick Any of You Unless I Can Stick All of You" off of ''Family Man''

!! "Trope party tonight! Trope party tonight!":

Black Flag was an American HardcorePunk band formed in 1976 in California. The band was established largely as the brainchild of Greg Ginn, guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes. They are widely considered to be one of the first bands of their genre.