Punk Records - Guitar Solos

Not too long ago, Noisey hosted a vigorous (and subtle) debate recently over whether guitar solos "suck" or do not "suck." Hardcore punk for the most part has agreed that guitar solos, in the Ted Nugent or Ace Frehley sense, suck, and represent the worst rock star bullshit--and then has proceeded to turn the guitar solo inside out and use it as another element of horrible disgusting noise.

Black Flag "Drinking and Driving" (2:02-2:26)

"Drinking and Driving" is not one of the best Black Flag songs. The song's message is not only hectoring but also confusing, coming from the band who wrote "Six Pack," "Annihilate this Week," and "Thirsty and Miserable." Black Flag always taught me that drinking was cool! But here we have Henry Rollins at his most earnest and tone-deaf (in every sense), glowering at us from his moral pedestal of studio overdubbing. In the midst of all these distractions and detractions, however, is one of Greg Ginn's best guitar solos (honorable mention: the demo version of "Jealous Again" on Everything Went Black). Tinny, fussy, and ant-like, Ginn's signature squirming is actually a terrible metaphor for the car crashes accompanying it in the music video. If Ginn's guitar playing is like anything, it is like cooking meth: fake-technical, chattery but emotionally "off," and only touching reality at occasional points. But one might say that the entire point of hardcore was to destroy the use of guitar solos as metaphors.

Misfits "We are 138" (1:15-1:18)

At the other end of the talent spectrum, Doyle's guitar solo on "We Are 138" (originally performed on the Bullet single by Franché Coma) more closely resembles a technical malfunction or momentary feedback. This is a glorious reminder of how terrible a live band the Misfits were in the latter part of their career, insisting on playing every song way too fast and losing much of the "swing" to be found on songs like "London Dungeon" or "Attitude." Ramped up to warp speeds, "We are 138" falls apart almost instantly, and the original guitar solo--which is a kind of wry new wave joke--becomes an absurdist blast of incoherent anti-music.

Poison Idea "Plastic Bomb" (1:20-1:33)

This is an alternate version from the Official Bootleg double 7", and it blows away the beloved Feel the Darkness version of this song. You'll feel stupid for ever having liked Poison Idea before without knowing this version. The song leads off with a piano-into-guitar intro that beats Guns 'N Roses at their own game, but (whereas this might suggest some over-the-top, ironic posturing) the solo itself is truly furious shredding. Where Greg Ginn's chops might be questioned by guitar-magazine types, the playing here is really not anything to scoff at. This song kind of goes against my thesis, since this is uterly proficient, "musical" playing, but then it is the greatest thing ever, so fuck it.

G.I.S.M. "Nih Nightmare" (1:29-1:55)

This might seem to be even further along the line towards Randy Rhoads-style shredding, as Randy Uchida--in name, hair style, fashion, and guitar playing--is not coy at all about his reference point. But this is all a matter of context, something like Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain." Placed in the dank, homicidal, lurching pit of human indecency that is G.I.S.M, Uchida's solos bear no resemblance to the boozy good times of "Crazy Train" or "Bark At the Moon." Incongruous and jarring, this guitarist is a perfect fit for a band that is ceaselessly… incongruous and jarring. G.I.S.M., after all, are a terrifyingly misogynistic, esoteric heavy metal band whose primary aesthetic reference is to Crass, and who seem out to ruin their own albums by irritating studio and vocal effects. If Van Halen's songs are pandering bar-rock designed just to frame Eddie Van Halen's guitar playing, G.I.S.M.'s music has the opposite effect: it is as though they have made the most unpleasant scaffolding possible upon which to set some (frankly) Van Halen-ish guitar solos.

Anti Cimex "When the Innocents Die" (1:00-1:52)

And this, the longest of them all. In my opinion, this is the greatest hardcore song ever recorded, and yet half the song of it is a rambling, Neil Young-ish guitar solo mostly consisting of one note. It is utterly gripping. Eerie and serious, but not at all an instance of "serious musicianship," Anti Cimex turn the requisite solo of their despotic hardcore overlords, Discharge, into a searing climax. Am I overdoing this? Let me just say, every time I listen to a Metallica song and Kirk busts out some whammy, hammer-on, legato garbage, neatly constructing a "narrative," I just wish it were this moody, atmospheric, and minimalist finale.