music. There's a lot of influences. There's a lot of country western influences in it, a lot of music just sounds like heavy metal, but a lot of melodies." Their first gig was on December 21, 1977, at the Masque in Los Angeles, California. Recording history The first release by the Flesh Eaters was the 1978 7-inch EP entitled Flesh Eaters (aka Disintegration Nation). The effort was produced by Randy Stodola and Desjardins and released by Upsetter Records. Three members of the Flyboys co-wrote and performed on this first record. The band’s first full-length album No Questions Asked, was released in 1980, also on Upsetter. The band also weighed in with three tracks on the Upsetter compilation Tooth and Nail from 1979, along with the Germs, U.X.A., the Controllers, Negative Trend, and Middle Class. All of this early material has been reissued as bonus tracks, along with their debut EP and three previously unreleased demo recordings, on the 2004 remastered CD release of No Questions Asked on Atavistic Records. Their next, most acclaimed album A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die, featured a veritable supergroup of LA scene musicians, with vocalist Chris Desjardins joined by Dave Alvin (the Blasters) on guitar, John Doe (X) playing bass, Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) on saxophone, with D. J. Bonebrake (X) and Bill Bateman (the Blasters) sharing percussion duties. In his review on AllMusic, Patrick Kennedy states, "A classic album of trashy-noir darkness, seamy Hollywood dreck, campy blues horror, and Stax-influenced, stripped-down guitar punk, [...] A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die truly delivers what it promises: simple, direct, roots-flavored early L.A. punk." Asked about his own connection with the band in December 1983, X's John Doe recalled that he had been a long-time friend of Desjardins who had been called into temporary service: "Chris had a whole bunch of songs, and he didn't have anybody to play'em, and Dave and Bill from the Blasters and DJ and I had known Chris since we moved here [...] Anyway, we rehearsed it for about 2–3 weeks and then recorded it in 2 days. And luckily we had someone who [...] would put it out if it was OK." Permanent lineup In the fall of 1981, Desjardins attempted to establish the band on a permanent basis. Following an X show on September 2, 1981, Desjardins was introduced to guitarist Don Kirk by John Doe