Ha ha ha! It's that CRACK ROCK STEADY BEAT!
No Gods / No Managers, released in 1999 on
Hellcat Records, is the only
full-length CD/LP to come from "
logical-atheist" NYC punk band
Choking Victim. Apparently they broke up
the very same day all the tracks on this
disc were
recorded (although
99% of them
regrouped under the name
Leftover Crack). This is hard, uncompromising
punk/
ska with brutal, razor-sharp guitar riffs backing some vicious vocals.
Lyrically, the
songs cover
subjects ranging from the malevolence of the
American government, to
shoplifting and
cop-killing, to the
wasteland of
television and the
comfort of
suicide.
Track listing:
- 500 Channels
- In Hell
- Crack Rock Steady
- Suicide (A Better Way)
- In My Grave
- Fucked Reality
- Money
- Hate Yer State
- Fuck America
- War Story
- Five-Finger Discount
- Praise To The Sinners
- Living The Laws
There is also a
hidden song at the end of the
disc, which is a slow version of that
ska classic,
Crack Rock Steady.
The front cover bears a nicely organised medley of skulls, tridents, inverted crosses, an inverted pentagram, images of Satan and their choking victim logo, all bordering the figures of Jesus and Mary; and like all their featured art, it is rendered in stark black and white. The inlay features illustrations from political artist and activist Eric Drooker. Sprinkled in between songs are a few interesting political tirades delivered by author and political analyst Michael Parenti (somebody node him, quick... anyone out there read The Terrorism Trap, or America Besieged?).
In keeping with this theme, there are a few smatterings of text throughout the inlay supporting people such as the Zapatistas and Mumia Abu-Jamal, while promising vengeance to all "rascists(sic), rapists, sexists, homophobes, wife beaters, and everybody who takes advantage of, hurts, and/or exploits anybody else weaker than them WORLD-WIDE!!!" Of course, this message also applies to wealthy corporations, the police and the government. (The latter is tackled in the straightforwardly titled Fuck America. By the way, see the lyrics to this one* for some rather prophetic imagery, keeping in mind that it was written and released on their demo prior to 1993.)
Also, in a rather altruistic touch, the back of the digipak reads that "unauthorized duplication of this record is worshipped and even celebrated in some third world countries, and it is the expressed opinion of choking v. that it is in fact punk to bootleg records, and the fact that it is looked down upon as illegal makes it all the more exciting so by all means do whatcha' like and make a copy for a more disadvantaged music lover."
666
*I noded the lyrics to this song but they were quickly downvoted to -infinity and subsequently killed. Apparently the flipside of "Fuck America" is "Fuck Free Speech."