After a few years of delays, political/humorist punk group Dillinger Four will finally release CIVILWAR, its fourth full-length album and first in six years, on October 14. Its label, Fat Wreck Chords, calls the band “the Redd Foxx – mixed with Chalmers Johnson – of punk rock,” and taking one look at its track listings makes that obvious. To mark the occasion, here are the group’s ten best song titles and their themes.
(In order of release)
1. “Mosh for Jesus” (Midwestern Songs for the Americas)
The title pokes fun at Christian metal/hardcore bands, but the song’s lyrics probe to a deeper question about the existence of a god in such an intolerant world.
2. “The Great American Going-Out-of-Business Sale” (Midwestern Songs for the Americas)
This song contains a much angrier rebuke of America’s practices than its title implies, taking umbrage that this is “the way things are” and including lines such as “I refuse to be another dead nation’s bastard son.”
3. “Who Didn’t Kill Bambi?” (Versus God)
The opening track on Versus God is a personal letter about someone that is letting life (and protest?) pass him or her by, and the title seems to imply that those who do nothing to better change the world are as guilty as those making it worse.
4. “Let Them Eat Thomas Paine” (Versus God)
Referencing the revolutionary intellectual as well as the famous quote attributed to Marie Antoinette, “Let Them Eat Thomas Paine” is a castigation of the indifference, feeling of helplessness, and scapegoating that surround the nation’s problems.
5. “A Floater Left With Pleasure In The Executive Washroom” (Situationist Comedy)
Like much of the lyrical content from Refused’s The Shape of Punk to Come, profiled last week, this song takes aim at the rank and file of the capitalist structure. “Don’t mistake the irony of calling it a ‘living’ if you feel like no one, if you feel like nothing,” the song concludes. “You’ve only been taking what they’re giving.”
6. “Fired-Side Chat” (Situationist Comedy)
Naturally, this tune takes aim at corporate greed and downsizing. “Did you hear about the latest one?” the song begins. “About the footprints on your back…about how they lied…about how they stole to keep each other in the black.”
7. “All Rise for the Rational Anthem” (Situationist Comedy)
With a group that’s politically outspoken, there naturally come songs about the perils of dissent. “Never been safe to live in contrast,” it opens. “They’re passing out muzzles with the gas masks. This one’s for you and all you’ve done, and what we will become when they tear out your throat because you’re singing different notes.”
8. “New Punk Fashions for the Spring Formal” (Situationist Comedy)
Unsurprisingly, this one critiques the pilfering of counter-cultural styles (punk, specifically) as a means to brand one’s self as hip. “I’d love to sneer at the camera for your revolution,” it jabs, “but I just can’t afford the fucking costume.”
9.“Paris Hilton is a Metaphor” (CIVILWAR)
Will this song deal with celebrity status? Could it be another commentary on indifference towards political and social issues? There’s just no telling until seeing the lyrics.
10. “Minimum Wage is a Gateway Drug” (CIVILWAR)
This one seems pretty self-evident, but again, we can’t be certain until October 14.
The album’s downloadable preview also has a great title — “America’s Premiere Faith-Based Initiative.” Check it out below.
— Scott Morrow
Dillinger Four: \”America\’s Premiere Faith-Based Initiative\”
Dillinger Four: www.angelfire.com/mn/dillingerfour
Fat Wreck Chords: www.fatwreck.com