Just in Time for the Election. . .

American Band Rock: Matt Angus Thing’s Political Pop
He could be in the Country-influenced Rock section next to Ralston. He could be in the American Folk section. He could be in the Blues Rock section. I found that the American Band Rock section most fully described the varied approaches on Matt Angus’ Political Pop. He lands near Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers for his pop rock sensibilities, country leanings, and band rock stylings.

Political Pop is a nice collection of songs which rock and sway, and yet, it arrives here at Music Spectrum just in time for the election for two reasons: 1) the song “President’s Son” is highly charged politically about you can guess who, and 2) Matt Angus is running for United States Congress from the 7th District in New Jersey.

Besides saying that I applaud Angus for getting into the race against the odds, but for nonetheless, throwing his hat into the ring because he wanted to see something done in Congress, I don’t know too much about his politics.

About the song “President’s Son” I will say it is a wonderfully campy return to format of a song you might expect from a 1950’s TV show theme. Yet, the song humorously takes on George W. Bush as a favored son benefiting from nepotism, inheritances, and a conveniently-timed decision for Jesus (That’s what the song implies; I personally am not going to debate about veracity of Bush’s faith). Where Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” barely contains the rage about such favoritism (“It ain’t me/I ain’t no Senator’s son”), Angus’ tune bounces along as if selling donuts or household products while asking some very tough questions about Bush’s resume.

Beyond politics, Political Pop has quite a few gems on it. “Brings You Down” opens the album, building from swirling slide guitar to a rocking chorus. “Right Beside You” swings with blues rock. “If” is a soul-infused rock song with Angus’ vocals putting me in mind of Echelon. “What You’re Hearing” jams just enough to escape a pop rock label.

All of the songs are written by Angus except his cover of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison.” However, “All Right” owes a lot to Smokey Robinson’s “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me.” (Angus: “Won’t you hold me. . .Just a little bit tighter”; Robinson: “And all I want you to do is hold me. . .Hold me tighter”).

Produced and engineered by Angus himself, this album escapes self-produced-album-hell by really good musicianship, a refusal to let songs be bland, and a filling in of those cracks usually left on a self-released album, the kind of cracks that make you all too aware that this was a basement musician pushing past his limits. Rather, with the Matt Angus Thing, you’ve got the kind of groundwork that could lead to an even fuller, more developed album the next time around.

Thanks to the Matt Angus Thing and Black Potatoe Records for the review copy.


Hip Hop/Rap: Circus vs. Andre Afram Asmar’s Gawd Bless the Faceless Cowards
Oh, my! Old school beats, B-movie samples, and political raps—along with some conspiracy theories/Art Bell/alien invasion raps. Circus vs. Andre Afram Asmar’s Gawd Bless the Faceless Cowards runs itself right into the face of government officials, religious leaders, America, and “little green men.”

The Art Bell/alien invasion raps combined with the strange drawings in the CD artwork are a little like if the National Enquirer produced a CD. There’s odd pictures, odd stories, and odd theories about what’s going on out there in space. These raps I could take or leave.

What is extremely eye-opening, fresh, honest, hard-hitting, and terribly cynical are the political raps. The album begins with “Bully.” Check out some lyrics, and you get the idea: the album was produced with November 2, 2004, in mind.

A lot of rumors floating around the world today
About weapons of mass destruction
But it seems you’re the only one
Who’s actually in possession of any
So who’s the real bully?

That track ends with a George W. Bush soundclip of a classic Bush gaff: “This would be a heckuva lot easier if this were a dictatorship. . .just as long as I’m the dictator.” You can hear the smirk!

“Holy Blood” takes the sarcastic question of conservatives, “Who you rootin’ for? Saddam or George Bush?” and flips it back right around them. “You want me to pick a side and describe which guy I hate worse? Saddam Hussein or President Bush? It’s like sh*t! I can’t decide which one of these 2 a**holes I dislike the most.”

Besides being very clear about their views of the 2004 election, these raps often are very pointed questioning of American’s attitudes. I find these refreshing, important questions that may be over the top but cause us to really realize that the world is watching. The world does see our attitudes, and it may be making it more and more difficult for America to cooperate on the world stage.

From “Bully”:
Cuz the sh*t’s so simple
It’s kill or be killed
Cuz if the atom bombs don’t kill us,
Then the fast food will!
We will probably all die
Of some cause and never know what for
That’s why you gotta fight for your right to be a lazy American
And die an unknown soldier in someone else’s war.

From “Holy Blood”:
It’s like everyone’s saying “Gawd bless America”
But that has to be the most selfish and greedy thing I have ever heard in my entire life
And I’m disgusted and unimpressed cuz it’s everywhere you look!
And it makes me so embarrassed
To be classified as something so stoopid as a lazy American
Come on now!!!
Why not something like “Gawd bless the world”?

Such rhetoric is clearly turning off Circus, Andre Afram Asmar, and others from believing in Christ or any other religion actually. While realizing that this album often rejects my faith, I see this commentary through Gospel eyes, realizing that such rhetoric in today’s political and public life is causing there to be roadblocks to people coming to know Jesus Christ. I don’t think of this album as so much a denigration of the Church as it is a wake up call. Watch how you use God in politics, because to champion your cause over another through saying that it was ordained by God will make it very hard for your enemies or those who disagree with you politically to ever hear about that God.

Musically, I appreciate some of the best incorporation of Middle Eastern sounds into a Western rock album since The The’s Mind Bomb. While not only appropriate to the political climate of the CD, Circus vs. Andre Afram Asmar show how readily Middle Eastern rhythms fit into old school hip hop, creating a worldly funkiness beyond Compton, while also hinting at that ongoing sadness in the Middle East region being constantly under tension, if not all out war. Those Middle Eastern sounds on the album may have partly come from the purported mixing location: Bin Laden’s Cave. Oh, my!

Thanks to Circus, Andre Afram Asmar, and Mush Records, a division of Dirty Loop Music, for the review copy.