On a Sunday morning on Highway 134, singer and punk rock icon Keith Morris was behind the wheel of his Honda, headed to a final rehearsal with his band Off! at a studio in Pomona. The quartet’s latest album, “Free LSD,” was blasting from his car stereo so Morris could reacquaint himself with the record’s outlandish lyrics about alien invasions and mind control.
As he drove, a recording of nervous guitar riffs and Morris's panicked voice roared ominously from the speakers: “Vanished without a trace/Another world beyond the realm/The flying lights, not of this Earth… The hour of reckoning has come!”
The song was “War Above Los Angeles,” a standout track from the 2022 album, written by Morris and Off! co-founder and guitarist Dimitri Coats. But after months of touring with his other band, the reunited Circle Jerks, Morris needed to clear his head about one band’s setlist and replacing it with the other. He would study Off!’s lyrics for a few more days before heading off for a final run of shows in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles before the band officially disbanded.
“Those guys are all going to be good,” Morris says confidently of his Off! bandmates. At 68, with a beard and dreadlocks that reach down to his knees, the singer has never been busier. “Once we start rehearsing, that’s going to help me get a lot of that stuff out of my head.”
Off! will take an indefinite hiatus following its farewell performance Friday at the Belasco in downtown Los Angeles, but this punk rock swansong comes at a time of celebration for the hardcore supergroup. That's because the final shows coincide with the hard-won release of the band's film, also called “Free LSD,” a rock 'n' roll sci-fi comedy in the tradition of 1984's “Repo Man.”
Morris plays the dissatisfied owner of an adult products store who spends his free time hosting a conspiracy-themed podcast about UFOs, pyramids, and Sasquatch. When he falls in love with a younger woman but can't have sex, he turns to a mysterious doctor who prescribes him a drug that not only cures his erectile dysfunction but opens his mind to other dimensions. He discovers an alternate plane of existence where he is the lead singer of a band at the center of a battle between good and evil aliens.
Singer Keith Morris and guitarist Dimitri Coats during rehearsal.
(Steve Appleford)
The film was written and directed by Coats, and features the band alongside a cast that includes Jack Black and underground music figures such as David Yow of Jesus Lizard, Davey Havok of AFI, Chris D. of Flesh Eaters, Don Bolles of Germs, the late Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro, Zander Schloss of Circle Jerks, and Angelo Moore of Fishbone.
“It’s a real hodgepodge of punk rock royalty,” says Coats, who studied acting at Juilliard before turning to music. “Look, we didn’t make ‘Citizen Kane’ here. It’s a midnight movie. It’s also an expression that comes from our scene. It’s from the street. We prided ourselves on having as many of our friends from the music world as we could with some acting talent.”
Following the Belasco show (where Off! will be joined by punk rock upstarts Surfbort), the “Free LSD” film will have its local premiere at the Nuart Theatre in Santa Monica on August 2, followed by several other screenings around Southern California, all featuring live Q&As with Coats and Morris. The film will be released on major streaming services on August 9, with a Blu-ray packed with bonus material planned for later this year.
“For me, the most important thing is that this film is the greatest artistic and creative adventure I have ever been a part of,” Morris says, speaking in his characteristic husky tone. “Honestly, it is the achievement I am most proud of.”
It also marks the end of Off! after a 14-year career, at least for the foreseeable future. The band’s Econoline van has already been sold and Morris will focus on performing with the Circle Jerks. That first-generation Southern California punk band is more in demand now than at any time since the ’80s, playing larger venues and touring overseas regularly for the first time.
“Dimitri’s idea was that if we were going to go out, it would be a big deal,” Morris says of Off!, but adds: “We’re going to be open to whatever comes our way. We need to put a stop to this for now.”
Drummer Mario Rubalcaba during rehearsal.
(Steve Appleford)
At rehearsal, Morris unfolds long rolls of paper on which he has written the band’s song list in large letters in marker and hangs them in a studio filled with vintage sound equipment. Coats stands with his guitar next to a table covered with his electronic equipment, bringing a new, noisy element to the band’s sound on “Free LSD.”
They are joined by drummer Mario Rubalcaba and bassist Autry Fulbright II as they perform songs from “Free LSD,” followed by material from the band’s first three releases. It’s a packed set, and they attack the set list without a break.
The new album remains rooted in the band's gritty sound, which began as a throwback to Morris' days as Black Flag's founding singer. But the new songs have an added layer of electronica, psychedelic noise and jazzy improvisation to accompany lyrics less obsessed with self than with alien forces, as Morris warns, “There's another side/We're not alone!”
The plan was to expand in new ways and break the usual boundaries of hardcore. “It felt like the future and the past were coming together at the same time,” says Coats, who has produced all of Off!’s albums. “I said, ‘Come on, man. Let’s get out of our comfort zone for this. Let’s risk making fools of ourselves in order to break new ground. Not just for ourselves, but for this genre you come from.’”
The album is the band’s first collection of new material since 2014’s Wasted Years, and was declared “a frenetic masterpiece” by Mojo magazine, while online guide AllMusic called it “a gloriously strange triumph.”
The members of Off! met about 20 years ago when Coats’ first band, Burning Brides, signed to V2 Records, where Morris worked in the A&R department. Coats didn’t come from the punk rock world and didn’t know who Morris was. But the singer was immediately drawn to Burning Brides’ song “Glass Slipper,” a stripped-down rocker that sounded like something from his Black Flag days. They became close friends.
Bassist Autry Fulbright II during rehearsal.
(Steve Appleford)
“This band in general is a beautiful accident because it started years ago, when we were getting along as friends, going to eat together and to record stores,” says Coats. “He was in the hospital when my kids were born. We’re like brothers.”
Morris recruited him to produce the Circle Jerks' next album, which would have been their first in 15 years. That project fell through amid a conflict between the band members and Coats over his role as producer, and Morris quit to start Off! with the guitarist.
The duo then found the rest of the founding lineup: bassist Steven McDonald and Rubalcaba. They recorded in a classic style, reminiscent of first-wave hardcore, but with a contemporary fire that made it sound new again. Most of the songs were barely a minute long.
Off! immediately found an enthusiastic audience of punks and tastemakers. In a glowing 2010 review, Pitchfork declared: “Off! is not only refreshing, it’s totally necessary.”
The idea of making a film came to Coats in 2015. A first attempt failed when a Kickstarter fundraising campaign failed. During a long period of frustration, as Off! struggled to record the album and secure funding for a film, the band lost its original rhythm section.
Shortly thereafter, Metallica approached Off! with an invitation to record one of their songs for a high-profile tribute album, “The Metallica Blacklist,” marking the 30th anniversary of the metal giant’s “Black Album.” Off! chose to record a cover of “Holier Than Thou” and brought in Fulbright (formerly of …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead) and drummer Justin Brown, an accomplished jazz musician whose resume included Thundercat and Herbie Hancock.
“He came in knowing nothing about punk rock except Bad Brains, and he had that swing that we loved about Mario,” Coats says. “But he took the material to a completely different place.” (After Brown left for other projects last year, Rubalcaba returned to Off!)
Even when the film plans fell through, Coats realized that Off! had written an album of songs that promised to take the band into adventurous new territory. And in a meeting with Morris, he suggested that might be enough. They could leave the movie dreams behind.
“Keith got all teary-eyed and his voice got really shaky, and he said, ‘Dimitri, we have to make this movie,’” Coats recalls. “And it gave me chills and goosebumps, because that’s when I realized it was just as important to him as it was to me.”
Singer Keith Morris during rehearsal.
(Steve Appleford)
After the album was finished, funding for the film was secured. And with a short window of time available between Circle Jerks tours, “Free LSD” began shooting in the summer of 2022 on locations around Los Angeles on a budget of less than $1 million. A rough cut of the film was chosen as the closing film for last year’s Slamdance Film Festival.
Following a final screening on August 7 at Los Feliz 3, Morris will be back on the road with Circle Jerks and there are plans for a new album. There could also be future activity with FLAG, his band that includes former Black Flag members Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena and Bill Stevenson (with Descendents guitarist Stephen Egerton).
Coats has learned a few things about making and financing independent films and wants to do more. He is starting a film production company with Kurt Kittleson, a veteran film producer who helped him make “Free LSD.” He is also thinking about turning down the volume and recording a solo acoustic album.
“I really like singer-songwriters who play acoustic guitar with their fingers and write sad songs,” Coats says.
Morris turns to him and says, “Then go home and mope around with all your sad songs. Don’t be sad.”
If there are mixed feelings about the ending of Off!, they insist it comes with real satisfaction for what the band has achieved for its final act.
“I feel like it’s time. We all have bigger and better things to do,” Coats says. “Personally, I just want to be friends again, like when we first started. That’s always been the most important thing to me.”
