Album Review: The Misfits - Static Age (1978)

There's no hiding it, I am a huge Misfits fan. I could wax all day on my Glenn Danzig man-crush. It pisses me off that due to Hot Topic and Jerry Only that the Misfits have remained in public consciousness as a sort of hip clothing line rather than a badass DIY band from punk's heyday. However, Static Age was so punk rock that although it was recorded in '78, it wasn't released in an official or unaltered form until 1996 in the Misfits coffin box set. Some of the sessions had made their way onto bootlegs, or had been overdubbed and remixed for albums like Legacy of Brutality or singles/EPs like Bullet.

Imagine a Misfits without devilocks, eye shadow, or skulls. It's obvious that the Misfits were still trying to find their sound at this point. They had moved from the 'art punk' of the Cough/Cool single, which didn't even feature guitars, just drum, bass, and Danzig on keyboards (imagine that!), and onto a more hardcore sound. However, it wasn't quite what one would typify as horror punk. Yet, you can see Danzig forming this new subgenre with plenty of tunes that are directly inspired by horror and sci-fi films, like Return of the Fly and We Are 138, and by using b-movie tropes in songs like Teenagers from Mars and Come Back. But then there are tracks like She, which is based on the case of Patty Hearst, or Bullet which is rather unapologetically about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and Glenn's infatuation with Jackie Kennedy. Hollywood Babylon is inspired by the book of the same name which documents sordid tales of old Hollywood, this comes off as unsurprising given Glenn's deep interest in cinema, especially from the classic era. Most of the tracks are but a glimpse into the Misfits' eventual sound. Even the tracks that were re-recorded would sound a lot harder and end up a little faster.

Danzig, Mr. Jim, Franché Coma, and Jerry Only

The album was ultimately shelved when Mr. Jim and Franché quit the band, because as you can see above Glenn and Jerry hadn't quite become the dorks we know. They were much dorkier. I mean just look at Glenn, that is more ridiculous looking than his fishnet t-shirts. Mr. Jim and Franché would be replaced by Bobby Steele and Joey Image. This is the lineup most hardcore fans would consider the best, as well as the ultimate shift to something that looks more like the Misfits we all know and love (or loathe.)

On almost any day if you asked me what my favorite Misfits album is, I'd probably say Static Age. It's not a great or well put together record like 12 Hits from Hell (yet another shelved Misfits album), but it makes up for that by oozing creativity and energy. A lot of the songs would become live staples and be re-recorded numerous times. There's plenty of underrated tracks that just rock like T.V. Casualty and Some Kind of Hate. Some of the tracks are kind of slow like Come Back and Theme For a Jackal (which has a heavy keyboard presence, something that was looked down upon back then.) I find this makes the album a lot more interesting musically from say Earth A.D./Wolfsblood (although I love that record.) I really like this album, and maybe even if you find the Misfits a little annoying, I think you should take a listen. This sounds a lot different from some of their more famous efforts, like Walk Among Us (which I have always considered a very weak record, I rarely ever listen to it.)

You can take a listen on YouTube here if you like.

 

Note: The album is only about 35 minutes, the last eight minutes or so are outtakes and studio banter.