Does Your Face Hurt? No? ’cause It’s Killing Me!!!
Sometimes you just need some fast, angry music; glad I picked today to finally check out the much-hyped Bomb the Music Industry! I’ve heard good things about this DIY punk band for a while now, but it took Jeff Rosenstock, the mastermind behind the band, playing a show with Sean Bonette, the mastermind behind Andrew Jackson Jihad, for me to get around to listening to them. That show’s tomorrow, and I am psyched.
Back in 2005, Jeff Rosenstock’s band The Arrogant Sons of Bitches had just broken up. He was having girl problems, and on top of all that, Bush had just been elected for a second term. What did Rosenstock do? Record an angry song called Cananada on his Powerbook, naturally. His friends liked it, so a full album followed. Most of the other songs sound a little more polished then the sub-lo-fi Cananada, but not by much. I had to turn the “vocal booster” setting on in my iTunes equalizer in what proved to be a futile attempt to understand the lyrics to a few other songs. That gritty, lo-fi, DIY sound is a huge part of the appeal of Album Minus Band, though. It really makes it seem like the music is coming straight from Rosenstock’s broken, angry heart. Of course, with a name like Bomb the Music Industry!, you can’t really have a polished, studio sound.
The album itself is a mix of punk and hardcore, with plenty of fast guitars and shouting. Quick tempos are present throughout the record, only slowing down on Cananada and album closer Future 86. The song names are pretty awesome too, with plenty of quotes, caps, and punctuation (i.e. “FRRRREEEEE BIIIIIIIRRRRD!!!!!! FRRRRREEEEEEEEE BIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRDDDDD!!!!!!!” and Ready…Set…No!!!).
Rosenstock’s Anti-Bush mindset is pretty amusing too. His shout of “Four more years, yeah right!” on 45-second album opener Blow Your Brains Out on Live TV!!! And the sample of comedian David Cross’ Bush-mocking Shut Up You Fucking Baby bring you right back to 2005.
Swole Ear 