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The Suicide Machines
...spielten am 20.11.04 im
Schicksaal!
Dan Lukacinsky -
guitar/vocals - Jason Navarro - vocals
Filthy Stinking Rich - bass - Ryan Vanderberghe - drums
They've been
together as a band for 12 years, survived five Warped tours,
countless lineup changes, the "third wave of ska," and the rise,
fall, and return of punk-pop, but as Detroit's Suicide Machines
release their 5th album in 7 years, A Match And Some Gasoline, their
music and mission are stronger and clearer than ever. "I know it's a
total cliché for a band to say, 'This is the best material we've
ever done,' so I would never say that," founding member Dan
Lukacinsky states modestly. "But what I can say is this is the best
record we've made in quite a few years."
Since core bandmates Lukacinsky and Jason Navarro formed Suicide
Machines in 1991, the group has released four powerful punk
manifestos: Destruction By Definition (1996), Battle Hymns (1998),
The Suicide Machines (2000), and Steal This Record (2001). But with
A Match And Some Gasoline, they've happily found a new punk-rock
home at SIDEONEDUMMY Records and co-produced their upcoming release
with Bill Stevenson (of Descendents/Black Flag fame).
SM had wanted to record with Stevenson since befriending him during
a 1997 Descendents/Suicide Machines tour, because, Lukacinsky
succinctly explains, "He understands punk rock." Recording and
mixing A Match And Some Gasoline at Stevenson's Blasting Room
Studios in Fort Collins, Colorado, Lukacinsky says he and his fellow
Machines "really felt like we were working with someone who really
knew what we were doing. It was a really great vibe, with everybody
working together as a team to make the record happen - a true
community effort."
The resulting lean, mean Machines album is a refreshingly authentic
antidote to the current glut of punk-lite clogging up TRL's
airwaves. "Pop-punk is the only kind of 'punk' that gets shown on
MTV, butt I'm sorry - that's not punk," Lukacinsky laments. "Suicide
Machines, encompass bunch of different styles - hardcore,
harder-edged thrash, punk, reggae, ska - and somehow we fit it all
into what we do."
It's notable that - after the last two virtually ska-free SM albums
- ska is once again a prominent element on A Match And Some
Gasoline. Now that the ska craze of the late '90s has subsided, the
2-Tone influence actually sounds fresh all over again in upbeat new
Machines songs like "Did You Ever Get A Feeling Of Dread?," "High
Anxiety."
"I'm kind of happy that ska went away, because now it's safe to play
it again," Lukacinsky laughs. "I didn't even think we were going to
be able to write songs like that, but it just came out naturally.
Knowing that it isn't the 'in' thing makes it so much more desirable
to play now."
Fads like pop-punk and the ska revival come and go, but the Suicide
Machines proved long ago that they can and will outlast any trend.
Meanwhile, on their new album they're upholding a longstanding proud
punk tradition of political protest, on caustic, socially conscious
tracks like "Burning In The Aftermath," "Your Silence," "Invisible
Government," and "The Politics Of Humanity."
"We've certainly had our share of silly songs, but writing songs
that mean something is very important to us these days," Lukacinsky
stresses, "because there's enough 'I lost my girl'-type songs out
there. Like, 'Burning In The Aftermath' is about the human denial of
the treat nuclear weapons, and 'Did You Ever Get A Feeling Of
Dread?' is about how the government is banking on the hope that most
people in this country are ignorant about what goes on behind the
scenes. We're definitely not afraid to talk about more serious
subject matter, because the day that we can't express our opinions
about what's going on in this country is going to be a sad day. The
scary thing is that a lot of people don't really want to hear about
serious issues, but maybe now they'll start taking notice of what's
going on and paying more attention to lyrics, since things are
getting so preposterous in the world."
Whether fans are paying attention to the Suicide Machines' potent
political messages or equally potent punk melodies, it's undeniable
that A Match And Some Gasoline is the kind of album that is
essential listening for the year 2003.
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