Circle Jerks

Circle Jerks
Circle Jerks, 1995. L-R: Greg Hetson, Keith Morris, Zander Schloss and Keith Clark.
Background information
Origin	Hermosa Beach, California, U.S.
Genres	Hardcore punk, punk rock
Years active	1979–1990, 1994–1995, 2001–2010 (on hiatus)
Labels	Frontier, Faulty Products, LAX, Combat, Relativity, Mercury
Associated acts	Black Flag, Redd Kross, Bad Religion, the Weirdos, Black President, Off!
Website	CircleJerks.net
Past members	Keith Morris Greg Hetson Lucky Lehrer Roger Rogerson Chuck Biscuits Earl Liberty Keith Clark Zander Schloss Chris Poland Kevin Fitzgerald

Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) were an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. They were among the preeminent hardcore punk bands of the LA scene in the late 1970s.

The band broke up and reformed three times, sometimes with different bassists and/or drummers. They disbanded for the first time after the release of their fifth album, 1987's VI, as Hetson decided to continue touring and releasing albums with Bad Religion. They reunited around 1994 and recorded a reunion album, Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, during the following year, followed by a tour. After that, the Circle Jerks once again parted ways as Hetson was still involved in Bad Religion. They reunited again c. 2001, but as of 2010, are on hiatus.

To date, Circle Jerks have released six studio albums, one compilation, a live album and a live DVD. Their last studio album, Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities, was released in 1995 and was the band's only reunion album to date.

Many recent groups and artists cite Circle Jerks as an influence, including Flea, Anti-Flag,Dropkick Murphys,the Offspring and Pennywise.

Lead vocalist Keith Morris was an original member of Black Flag, co-founding the band with Greg Ginn and recording the Nervous Breakdown EP with them before suddenly departing the group in December 1979. Morris formed Circle Jerks as the Bedwetters along with guitarist Greg Hetson, bassist Roger Rogerson (a classically-trained guitarist) and drummer Lucky Lehrer (a jazz-trained drummer). Lehrer did not like the name the Bedwetters, so Morris looked through a dictionary of slang words and renamed the band the Circle Jerks.