Black Flag [outside]

If only we still had Spot around to share stories from the recording of the album that saw Black Flag turn hardcore punk into an endurance test. Longtime Austinite Glen “Spot” Lockett – who died at 71 earlier this month – was the studio architect for My War, part of an astonishing run of albums he helmed as SST Records’ in-house producer (with others including Big Boys, Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü, and Misfits). After a recording hiatus due to a legal battle with its distributor, Black Flag pivoted to sludge metal on the 1984 LP and stretched its anger across overlong songs, including a closing trifecta that clocks in just shy of 20 minutes. With guitarist Greg Ginn as the only original member still in the fold, the Austin stop kicks off a 40th-anniversary run performing My War in its entirety. – Chad Swiatecki