The punk rock tradition was—for a very long time—closely tied to a cynical anarchism and go-it-alone individualism. Voting was seen as “selling out� to the system, just like signing your band to a major label would be. But Bush has been so bad for the world that the punk constituency can longer afford the luxury of sitting on the sidelines. The punks have even started a website to mobilize for the election: www.punkvoter.com!
Fat Mike, of NOFX, explains in his introduction that the bands on Rock Against Bush Vol. 1 “have come together for one reason, and that’s to express our outrage at—and form a united front against—the dangerous, destructive, and deadly policies of George W. Bush and his administration.� The intro, as well as two inserts entitled “20 Reasons to Hate Bush Jr.� and “20 More Reasons to Hate Bush Jr.� make strong and occasionally funny arguments for voting against Bush this November. For example:
2. Under Bush Jr. there are now 43 million Americans with no health insurance.
14. He has taken 11 official executive actions to undermine reproductive rights...how long will it be before a woman is stripped of her right to choose?
20. He dropped his dog on its head.
29. He is on pace to have taken more vacation than any President in history, including a 28-day vacation right before 9/11. Bush Jr. has taken 6 months of vacation in total...do you know anyone that gets 6 months of vacation?
34. Bush Jr. declined to fully fund the AIDS initiative after promising to do so.
36. Choked on a pretzel and nearly lost his life while seated in front of a TV.
But liner notes aside, there is still plenty of anti-Bush material for the 26 bands on this album to sing about. Rock Against Bush includes a few popular classic punk groups, such as NOFX, Pennywise, Jello Biafra, Descendents, Social Distortion, Ministry, and the Offspring. There are also a fair amount of up-and-coming bands that have edged their way into the mainstream, like Sum 41, Alkaline Trio, the Get Up Kids, New Found Glory, and Less than Jake.
Most of the songs are hard and fast, edgy and angry; it is punk rock, after all. The singers and screamers express their outrage at Bush’s policies—the wars, the hypocrisy, the restrictions of civil liberties, the tax cuts for the wealthy, the attacks on workers and immigrants, and more. But the album is also punctuated with occasional tunes that are less about politics and more about life and human relationships (a.k.a. “love songs�). Rock Against Bush finds a good balance, knowing that too much politics—just like too much love—can make an album quite trite.
There is even a bonus DVD which includes anti-Bush comedy from David Cross (of Mr. Show), and excerpts from documentaries like Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War, Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election, and No More Enrons, as well as the famous ‘Bush in 30 Seconds’ ads published by MoveOn.org. The DVD really enhances our experience, as the criticism of Bush becomes so real when we see moving images that show us exactly what he has done—from stealing an election to a pre-emptive strike on Iraq.
It’s good to see the music catching up with the movement, and to see the united front against Bush growing to include the mohawked, pierced, and tattooed. At only six bucks for the CD/DVD combo, you really can’t go wrong!
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Dynamic Magazine
