The Car Bomb Parade – “World War Anthems”
I recently met the singer of The Car Bomb Parade at a show at the Midway. He was dressed as a priest with a clerical collar and black Nehru shirt.
He tried to lure me into the mens room with a promise of absolution of my sins. (Oh, God! How many ). He offered me eternity in paradise with the option of a rent free condo in Manhattan, also.
He asked me to genuflect. Then inquired if I was ready to accept his “host”, the flesh of his body, the body of Christ, Amen.
I bid a hasty retreat-
I was having flashbacks to my days as an altar boy. How my first buzz was off sacramental wine. (Make note: that is the true part of this story). I was having doubts about my body awareness. “Why did all the priests choose the other altar boys to molest and not me?”
It ruined my self-esteem. Made me feel unclean, unworthy, unwanted.
But The Car Bomb Parade were great when I saw them recently at the Midway. They made me feel my soul was eternal and that paradise was right here. They’re a New York hardcore band and I definitely felt spiritually enlightened seeing them play.
These guys put tags of street punk and hardcore on their bandcamp and they’re not far from that, and there’s a hint of the heavy political New York style here as well, they are from New York after all.
But what they play is pure young, loud and snotty punk rock even more so in attitude than music. This has the style of early L.A. punk bands, mixing social comment with humor and short, tough as nails songs.
They also have the humor and sound of current local bands Gas Attack and The Pity Whores.
But now, let us pray- and get to the heart of the matter with the grooves of this platter.
“Fuck Your Gods” starts with a hyperactive drum beat and a guitar lick that sounds like it was learned from a snake charmer. A driving hardcore beat backs growling vocals as a fuzzed out, minor key, Black Sabbath-like guitar plays along with a poker face. I can fathom that this song is about religion with the mention of Muslims, Christians and Jews. But I’m too lazy to figure out the words. Let’s leave it at, it isn’t enough just to love Jesus you should fuck him, too. Hard and strong, brutal and passionate- much like this song.
“Salvation” starts with “One thing that I’ve learned/ There’s no such thing as God.” I’m too lazy to really sort out the words but here’s another rant against organized religion, so unusual for a man of the cloth. This is another churning, burning , vehement nugget of bile that rips and roars into your bloodstream like electrical shocks up your spine. Some back up vocals come soaring in and there’s some guitar diddling towards the end of this anthemic, ardent, adrenalized song.
“50 Shades Of Red” an obvious reaction to “Orange Is The New Black,” starts with some power chords and drum rolls until everyone tears into the song at full stream. A hardcore beat gives way to a more rockin’ one and the harsh hardcore vocal changes to a more melodic one along with backup vocals wooh- wooh-ing. Plus a very nice guitar part slices in at some point. This song mentions Syria, Libya, ironing and must be super political but I’m too lazy to really figure it out. Let’s leave it as, it’s about how they have no professional football teams in the Mid East and New York should be grateful that they have two. But you’d have to be of the Iraqi dead not to feel the excitement, the energy and the emotion of this great song.
“Occupation” starts with a guitar grinding like a buzzsaw but its really a lit stick of dynamite as soon the song ignites into a fiery rush of emotion and anger. “Fight them, kill them all, for fucking with our lives, see if they survive.” I’m too lazy to figure out what this particular song is about- but I believe it’s about how, like plants, we must spread our limbs and grow in a spiritual awakening towards the sun. But then it does sound like I could be on mescaline, too. Not sure about that but I’m positive that this is a great hardcore song that hits you with a sledgehammer of power, passion and guts. .
So I lit a candle in the church, genuflected in the pew. Reflected on religion, though, how it does some great charitable work, it also leads people into thoughts that imprison their minds and very being and with some, it gives them an excuse to repress, to kill, to shut out and denigrate.
I worship at the altar of punk rock- full of energy, passion and anger at the wrongs of the world.
And fuck the governments and fuck the corporations and fuck all the pristine pillars of society.
And fuck you, too, God. If you even fuckin’ exist for creating a world where cruelty and pain and viciousness is all a major part of life.
But I believe in The Car Bomb Parade. You should take a ride with them, I did.
And if your lucky they’ll blow you up in their mad parade.
(Slimedog)
