With great attention to detail and an obvious respect for the music, the lovingly assembled OFF! First Four EPs seven-inch box set, recently released by Vice Recordings, is a must get collectable set (featuring Raymond Pettibon art + booklet). But even more importantly, OFF!'s music kicks some serious ass. "Pure punk rock" is how the band was accurately described by Karen P at Amoeba Hollywood, where OFF! had a most memorable instore a few months back. Drop the needle on any of this box set's eight sides and OFF! will instantly remind you of all the reasons you loved punk rock in the first place; provided, like me, you appreciate that loud, raw, fast, angry manic punk that harks back to the original hardcore SoCal sound. And no wonder -- that is where and when the core of OFF! hails from.

"The collective history of this band equals the power packed in Einstein's E=mc theory," wrote Thrasher of OFF! who are literally a "supergroup." Comprised of Keith Morris (Black Flag/Circle Jerks), Dimitri Coats (Burning Bridges), Steven McDonald (Redd Kross) and Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless/Hot Snakes/Rocket From The Crypt), this LA punk rock group, whose impressive individual histories you can read about on their website as well as in the booklet that comes with the box-set, have somehow managed to sustain the wild aggressive, confrontational energy all these years later, as they continue (in the true original punk aesthetic) to crank out short, simple-but powerful, rebellion & alienation themed punk rock masterpieces.