Flack Bag Tote Bag

The genesis of Flack Bag is a tale as old as time, assuming time began in 1977. That was when two surfpunk neophytes – Johnny Pancakes and Giuseppe ‘Gizz’ Smythe – met at a Hermosa Beach, CA frozen yogurt stand to form a band. Though they only put out one album – 1978’s iconic Murder, She Bloat – Flack Bag were innovators in the first wave of American West Coast punk rock and are considered a critical influence on punk ethos in the United States and abroad. More importantly, their constant turnover led to the formation of dozens of other bands. For example, the Bags’ first bassist, Kwong Ryan, left less than one year after joining to form the ska-gospel band Amoral Compass. During a performance at The Whiskey in late 1980, Gizz sat in with death metal doyens Fecal Plume and joined them full-time shortly thereafter. Tim Turgid lasted for six months as the Bags’ drummer in ’81 before joining jam band sensations Fellate o’ Fish. The last original member, Johnny Pancakes, left shortly thereafter to form the New Wave lineup of The Douchebrags. In late 2018, all forty-seven surviving former members of Flack Bag performed at the Moose Lodge Hall in Redondo Beach in a benefit concert for TBA.