Monday, April 18, 2011

Born Against - Battle Hymns for the Race War (1993)


File this one under: Classics you should know by heart. If hardcore had a problem child, it would be Born Against. That kid that was a snotty brat, pushed every button imaginable, and always seemed confrontational. However, trade the unintelligence for straight wit. It's like a deadly weapon, a band that had the ingenuity and combined it with the confrontational aspect and pure aggression of hardcore punk. Like Chokehold, who proceeded them, Born Against took any chance they could to poke the proverbial hive of conformity within hardcore. A band that really stood for something, put their politics where their mouths were.

While Batlle Hymns... may not have my favorite song of theirs on it, "Well Fed Fuck", it is takes the cake as their most cohesive album. A thundering assault of off-kilter hardcore punk that hits very very hard for only being nine songs long. As soon as the open chords of "Muder the Sons of Bitches" hits, it almost hypnotizes me to throw a brick through the window of Wal-Mart and proceed to light that concrete shell of materialism on fire. Cause that's anarchy right? I really hope sarcasm works over the internet.... Anyway, lets talk about some songs, like "Born Against are Fucking Dead". You want confrontation within hardcore? Shock Value? Make a track like this, piss off one of the most important bands in early NYHC history, they threaten you over an answering machine, and then you take that sampled recording and write a song about them, mocking their bravado. Simply perfect. And the last track, "A Whopper of a Tale", is a lesson in dirgy hardcore instrumentals with a sample of Sam McPheeters commenting about a controversial topic via impeccable sarcasm over a popular talk show of the time. I just can't help giggle at it.

Sam Mcpheeters may have been rumored to be a trust fund kid, but I'll take Born Against over Sick of it All any day of the week.

Tracks:
  1. Murder the Sons of Bitches
  2. Mt. Dew
  3. Foot Bound & Hobbled
  4. This Trash Should be Free
  5. Poland
  6. Sendero
  7. Set Your AM Dial
  8. Born Against are Fucking Dead
  9. A Whopper of a Tale
I heard they're just a bunch of spoiled little rich kids anyway.

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