V/A- A Smaller Circle of Friends 7”.  White Flag’s guitarist Bill Bartell released a Germs tribute album, A Small Circle of Friends, back in 1996. He and Greg Artifix began work on a second installment, but Bartell passed away in 2013 before any progress beyond one band agreeing to contribute a track was made. As a tribute to Bartell, Artifix has released this three-hit EP—Adolescents doing a previously unreleased version of the previously unrecorded tune, “Beyond Hurt, Beyond Help”; White Flag’s take on “Manimal,” from the original comp; and the Deadbeats turning in a previously unreleased stab at “Shut Down,” which, impressively, is even more gloriously chaotic than the original. Tribute records ain’t normally my bag of worms, but this one is fucking great—no fucking about, no bullshit, and each band brings their A-game to the festivities instead of just phoning in a blasé stab at an over-saturated “hit.”  THESE ARE ON THE LIMITED OPAQUE WHITE WAX LIMITED TO 250!