The Rebel Sound of Shit and Failure
Did you notice a little while back this trend among a lot of shitty bands to discuss their various child hood scars in their songs? People wailing about broken homes, absent dads and nasty moms or whatever. I hate that Oprah nonsense, stuff like that is better kept for the school counselor. In my book there has only been one album to successfully recount nightmarish memories in brutal fashion. Born Against’s “Rebel Sounds of Shit and Failure” is that album.
Just the title of the record is ferocious. I don’t know what they meant with it, but I still get it, you know? Then there is the cover. Matte black and blood red hued, it features at first glance a pretty standard-for-the-time picture of B.A. getting down with the hardcore on the stage; singer howling, guitarist in mid jump. But then you notice a statue of the Virgin Mary in background, wrapped in a white sheet with something, probably rude, scrawled on it. The album sides are labeled in flag draped coffins. Damn. And then there is the music.
This album begins better than any other.
“ Hello, Shit? We’re born against so suck my fuckin’ lizard”
What? Who is he talking to? The sound guy? Me? I don’t know but that’s punk rock as hell. And it all goes down from there. Sam McPheeters (the singer) must have been going through a really hard time when during the writing recording of this album because the overall impression it gives is of him straight hating EVERYTHING. Death of friends, vicious abuse at the hands of peers and authority alike, religious hypocrisy and poverty are all addressed in blistering, throat ripping style. On more than one track it sounds as though the entire band is in physical pain. It is unrelentingly brutal and dark and pessimistic even the love song (Janelle) sounds like a threat. Plus it has a punk rock version of The Jefferson’s Theme Song. You can’t beat that.
Popularity: 15% [?]
They should have left out “Rebel”