A
seminal punk band that
emerged from
Los Angeles in the late 70s. Originally called
Sophistifuck and the Revlon Spam Queens, a name which was
discovered to be
too long to fit on a t-shirt, the original lineup consisted of an
enigmatic avatar known most often as
Darby Crash on vocals.
Lorna Doom supplied the
bass, the
wizard Pat Smear screeched out
primitive guitar lines, and
Belinda Carlisle, who would go on to be in
the Go Gos, played drums.
The
band went through some
lineup changes, but
Darby,
Pat, and
Lorna remained constant
for the most part. They released one proper
studio album, titled
GI and produced by
Joan Jett. Eventually they
broke up and
Darby Crash went to
Europe. After he came back, they
re-united for one last show, in
December of
1980.
6 days later,
Darby Crash injected a
terminal amount of
heroin into his bloodstream and
overdosed. He was
22. He was found on the floor of his
apartment, his arms splayed out in
the shape of a cross.
The Germs are often
hated as much as they are are
adored. The
fact of the matter is, however, that they were a
wildly influential and
utterly important punk band. Their music was
primitive,
primal, and often
beautiful as well as
insightful. Do yourself a favor and check them out, there's a good chance you won't
regret it.
"I came into
this world like a
puzzled panther
Waiting to be
caged."
-
The Germs, "
Manimal"