White Flag is an American punk rock band currently based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Their current lineup consists of frontman Mike Mess (guitar), Jello B. Afro (bass), and Trace Element (drums). These members have been in the band since 1982, though many have rotated in and out. White Flag has a discography that ranges from their 1982 debut ''R is for Rocket'' to 2010's ''Benefit For Cats''.

History

White Flag formed in 1982 in Sunnymead, a community in California's

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities o ...

, which is now part of the city of

Moreno Valley Moreno Valley is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and is part of the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in Riverside County by population and one of the Inland Empire's po ...

. The original core lineup, which included Pat Fear, Trace Element, Doug Graves, and El Fee, released their self-released debut album ''S Is for Space'' the same year. In contrast to other bands at the time, White Flag took an anti-drug, pro-

Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

, pro-

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

stance as a faux image, with Fear dressing up as a police officer. They played their first two shows in the summer of 1982 at keg parties, before opening a show for Black Flag. A live version of this third show was included on the 25th anniversary deluxe reissue of ''S Is For Space''. This version of the lineup featured Al Bum on lead vocals. In a 1983 '' Flipside'' interview, guitarist Pat Fear noted: In 1984 the band released the album ''Third Strike'', which featured Social Distortion singer

Mike Ness Michael Daniel Ness (born April 3, 1962) is an American musician who is the lead guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the punk rock band Social Distortion, which was formed in 1978. Early life Ness was born in Lynn, Massachusetts on April ...

singing harmonies on the song "Middle Class Hell". While mostly inactive in the 1990s, they released the album ''Eternally Undone'' in 1999. In 2006 White Flag toured in Italy for the first time. As a souvenir of the group's first visit, the band released a limited edition, hand numbered 8 song 10" vinyl album, on Roma based RARO! Records, entitled "Piangi Con Me", which is now out of print. In 2008, the band toured Europe twice, first in March (Germany and Netherlands), and then in June–July they did 23 gigs, including two with

NOFX NOFX () is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. Vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...

and the Adolescents. Some gigs in the U.S. with the Germs and the Adolescents followed. In May 2010 the band released the 7" e.p. "Keepers of The Purple Twilight" on Target Earth Records limited to 300 copies. 2010 also saw the release of "Benefit For Cats" on Cupcake Records. In 2011 Strange Magic Records released White Flag and Tony Adolescent's "Live at Bohemian Grove / White Flag & Tony" 7" EP. That same year the band, who were big fans of 70's seminal punk group

The Runaways The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb", " Hollywood", "Queens of N ...

contributed the track "C'mon" to the controversial tribute album "Take It Or Leave It: A Tribute To The Original Queens of Noise:

". The song featured Michael Lee Smith, lead singer of the band

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

on lead vocals. The current line-up, featured on the July 2010 vinyl only release "Benefit For Cats", performed their first Midwest shows in July 2010. With shows in Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago, on July 15,16, and 17 respectively. The shows were record release parties for the album, as well as for the Russian release limited edition 7" e.p. "Two Pack", which is limited to only 100 copies, and is a split release with Russian band Citramons. Pat Fear died on September 24, 2013. The band continued on with members Trace Element, Jello B. Afro, and Mike Mess.

Members

The punk rock names of band members were chosen to parody those of Jello Biafra,

, and Pat Smear.

Current lineup

*Jello B. Afro-

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

and

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, 1982-1984, 2007-present *Mike Mess-

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, bass, and

, 1984, ???-present *Trace Element-

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

and

former members

* Pat Fear- bass, guitar, keyboards, sitar, vocals *Doug Graves *El Fee *Al Bum- lead vocals *Pick Z. Stix- drums * Ken Stringfellow (credited as "Kim Crimson")- bass, drums, guitar, keyboard, vocals *Kent Crimson *Jim Tiligiant- bass, drums, guitar, vocals *Viv Vacuum- bass, guitar, vocals *

Eric Erlandson Eric Theodore Erlandson (born January 9, 1963) is an American musician, guitarist, and writer, primarily known as founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole from 1989 to 2002. He has also had several musical si ...

Kim Shattuck Kimberly Dianne Shattuck (July 17, 1963 – October 2, 2019) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. She was the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the American punk rock band the Muffs, which formed in 1991. From ...

* Ronnie Barnett * Duke Seino *El Swe * Victor M. Surrounded- drums

Discography

White Flag has a large discography. This is an incomplete list:

Studio albums

* ''

R is for Rocket ''R Is for Rocket'' (1962) is a short story collection by American writer Ray Bradbury, compiled for Young Adult library sections. It contains fifteen stories from earlier Bradbury collections, and two previously uncollected stories. Contents ...

'' (1982) * ''

S is for Space ''S is for Space'' (1966) is a collection of science fiction short stories written by Ray Bradbury.Publisher: Bantam Books (1966). Language: English. It was compiled for the Young Adult sections of libraries. Contents ;"Chrysalis" :A science ...

'' (1983) * '' Third Strike'' (1984) * ''( WFO)'' (1985) * ''

Feeding Frenzy In ecology, a feeding frenzy occurs when predators are overwhelmed by the amount of prey available. The term is also used as an idiom in the English language. Examples in nature For example, a large school of fish can cause nearby sharks, such a ...

'' (1986) * ''

Peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

'' (1986) * ''

Zero Hour Zero Hour may refer to: * Midnight, or 00:00 * Zero hour (1945), the capitulation of the Nazi government at midnight May 8, 1945 * Zero Hour (military designation), the scheduled time for the start of some event, especially a military operation ...

'' (1986) * ''Wild Kingdom'' (1987) * ''Skate Across America'' (1995) * '' Eternally Undone'' (2001) * '' History is Fiction'' (2002) * ''T Is For Twenty'' (2006) * ''Benefit For Cats'' (2010)

Eps and 7"s

*'' Suicide King ''(1987) * '' Freedom Fighters'' (1988) * '' R is for Rad'' (1989) * ''Within You Without You'' (1990) * '' White Rabbit'' (1993) ( Sympathy for the Record Industry) * '' Don't Give It Away'' (1992) * '' 3rd Sun Mower'' (1993) * ''Novocaine'' (1995) * ''

On The Way Down "On the Way Down" is the debut single of American musician Ryan Cabrera, released from his 2004 studio album, ''Take It All Away''. Cabrera co-wrote the song with Curtis Frasca and Sabelle Breer and produced it with Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rz ...

'' (1999) * '' Piangi Con Me'' (2006) * ''Keepers of The Purple Twilight'' (2010) * ''Live At Bohemian Grove / White Flag & Tony'' (2011)

Splits

* ''Tesco Vee and White Flag'' * '' Jail Jello!'' (1987) (split with Necros) * '' Sator Vs. White Flag'' (1994) (split with Sator) * ''White Flag/ Baby Demons'' (2008) * ''Two Pack Split'' (2010) * ''Levitate The Listener'' (with Versus You) (2011) * ''White Flag / Crise Total'' (with Crise Total) (2011) * ''

Bbs Paranoicos Bbs Paranoicos is a Chilean punk rock band formed in 1991. They are one of the most popular punk bands in Chile. Bands like Lagwagon, Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, No Use For A Name, Descendents, All and Bad Religion have been cited as influence ...

/White Flag'' (2012) * ''White Flag & Tony Adolescent'' * ''White Flag/Shoplifters'' (2013)

Compilation albums

* ''Sgt. Pepper'' (1987) * ''Thru the Trash Darkly'' (1993) * ''Step Back 10'' (1996) * '' R is for Rocket, U is for Unreleased'' (2003) * ''T Is For Twenty'' (2006) * ''Counterclockwise'' (2007) *''Wild Kingdom/Zero Hour/Sgt. Pepper'' (2008)

Live albums

* ''Bleedin' In Sweden'' (1986) * '' History is Fiction'' (2003)

Albums contributed to

* ''The Sound of Hollywood 3—Copulation'' ( Mystic Records, 1984) * ''Eat Me'' (BCT, 1984) * ''

Desperate Teenage Lovedolls ''Desperate Teenage Lovedolls'' is a 1984 low budget underground film, shot on super-8 film by David Markey, about a rock band of teenage runaways. The film was released on DVD in 2003. A sequel, '' Lovedolls Superstar'', was released in 1986. Pl ...

'' (1984) * ''Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Volume 1'' (Gasatanka, 1984) * ''Mystic Sampler #3'' (Mystic, 1986) * Another Shot for Bracken (Positive Force, 1986) * ''Rat Music for Rat People, Vol. 3'' compilation (

CD Presents David Ferguson was an American international outsider-culture impresario, activist, music producer and concert promoter. Over his career, most of which has been spent on the West Coast, he worked with musical acts such as the Avengers, John Ly ...

, 1987) * ''4 Bands That Could Change the World'' (Gasatanka, 1987) * ''Every Band Has a Shonen Knife Who Loves Them'' (Gasatanka, 1989) * '' Gabba Gabba Hey: A Tribute to the Ramones'' ( Triple X Records, 1991) * ''Freedom of Choice: Yesterday's New Wave Hits As Performed By Today's Stars'' (1992) * '' Germs (Tribute) - A Small Circle Of Friends'' compilation (1996) * ''

Short Music for Short People ''Short Music for Short People'' is a 1999 compilation album released on the Fat Wreck Chords record label. It features 101 bands playing songs averaging approximately 30 seconds in length. With a few exceptions, most of the album's tracks wer ...

'' (1999) * ''Jardim Elétrico: A Tribute to Os Mutantes'' (2007) * '' Take It Or Leave It - A Tribute To The Queens of Noise: The Runaways'' (2011)

References

External links

White Flag at myspace.comWhite Flag - BandToBand.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:White Flag (band) Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical quartets Musical groups established in 1982 1982 establishments in California