by John Bear
Daily Lobo
Normally I run screaming and flailing my arms from press releases, but Dennis Lyxzen, lead singer of the (International) Noise Conspiracy, said something that caught my eye.
"Make no mistake about it, we are a revolutionary, anti-capitalist, Marxist, Communist rock band," he said.
Oh really. That sentiment kind of raises a little conflict of interest considering the band is signed to American Recordings, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records.
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It's kind of hard to be a rich communist. That's sort of like being a Mexican white supremacist. I wonder how communist these guys feel when the royalty checks come pouring in. Do they toast Che Guevara over a glass of Cristal?
The lyrics on the album definitely possess a leftist political quality but in a manner vague enough to keep from scaring away the right wingers with $17 to fork over.
Rapper Immortal Technique, a politically charged performer, would refer to these guys as "coffee shop revolutionary sons of bitches." By the way, his album is available at a store near you.
Not that there is anything inherently wrong with injecting some politics into a musical act. Rock 'n' roll has always railed against the man, all while lining the man's pockets, of course. And I haven't seen these guys live, so I don't know if they talk turkey in between songs.
Still, something doesn't sit right with calling yourself a communist and then hawking overpriced crap with the (International) Noise Conspiracy emblazoned on the side.
If you are looking for contemporary rock music that is unambiguous, check out "The Idiot Son of an Asshole" by NOFX. They sell their own line of products too, the bastards.
And how does the album rate, musically speaking?
Not bad. Not great either. The album was produced by Rick Rubin, which is good. The band plays that kind of generic garage rock crap and is fairly reminiscent of the Hives, which is bad.
But not that bad. In fact, this is a pretty good rock 'n' roll album. The guitarist wails away on the same four chords over and over. The drummer throws a lot of fills into the standard rock beats. Many of the songs contain pretty soulful organ lines, but then I have always been a sucker for the organ. The piano complements the arrangements. The occasional saxophone solo gets thrown in for good measure.
Musically speaking, this is pretty good stuff. Derivative, but good nonetheless.
The (International) Noise Conspiracy's only major shortcoming is that members bill themselves as anti-capitalist Marxists when they knows damn well they are capitalist pigs just like everyone else.
Join the Revolution. Don't buy this album.
And Lyxzen should take into account that, God forbid, a communist revolution ever took place, he and his bandmates would be the first ones to get drug out into the street and re-educated.
On the other hand, maybe he was just kidding.
