Gone

  • Gone
  • "Let's Get Real, Real Gone for a Change" (SST) 1986 
  • Gone II — But Never Too Gone! (SST) 1986 
  • The Criminal Mind (SST) 1993 
  • All the Dirt That's Fit to Print (SST) 1994 
  • Best Left Unsaid (SST) 1996 
  • Country Dumb (SST) 1998 
  • The Epic Trilogy (SST) 2007 

Black Flag guitarist and SST founder Greg Ginn has pursued numerous side projects over the years. Gone, which was the first in a long series, is an instrumental power trio that could use a vocalist as well as more organized power; the first album (named after an Elvis Presley remark) meanders aimlessly like a badly run rehearsal session.

The song-things on Gone II (cover artwork by Ginn) are more coherent and tolerable, but still fall short of justifying the band’s existence. Riffs with solos make good interludes, but 16 unengaging pieces in a row do not a good time make. Is the world ready for heavy metal wallpaper? Still, give Rollins Band member Andrew Weiss well-earned credit for bitchin’ bass work.

[Ira Robbins]