Thursday 3 June 2010

Review - Obsessive Compulsive - Dreams Of Death & The Death Of Dreams

Obsessive Compulsive - Dreams Of Death & The Death Of Dreams

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4 out of 10

As I get older I find I have less & less anger toward the world. Frustration yes, but anger. No. I don’t agree with the way our society is undemocratic & greedy & obsessed with fame in a way that makes reality TV & stalker mags the norm. As the world is turning into such a depressing place I look to music to cheer me up.

I watched the Clash half doc/half fiction film Rude Boy the other night, the fiction part of which focuses on a fan turned ’The World’s Worst Roadie’ who believes that The Clash should stay away from "All that political stuff" & disagrees with the Anti Nazi League. Watching the live footage, interspersed with both real & stage footage of various protests & riots & events of the time (the film was filmed over many years) something struck me, how well the music & themes stand up today & are as relevant as ever, if not more so at the moment. Despite the sing-able simplicity of the lyrics, they are thought out in an extremely intelligent way & also despite the specific nature of each song, in the sense they are linked to events of the time, the overall ideas & sentiments still ring true.

Fun to dance to, intelligent, well written and vital, they really were, and in fact are both fantastic musicians and songwriters. Raging against the machine in the best way possible, with great tunes that still sound fresh over 30 years later.

So now to Obsessive Compulsive’s album, the cover of which is a man in a suit about to eat a heart. His face is partially a skull. Oh, I get it, it’s like the suit is capitalism & it’s like, eating the heart of the country man & like, capitalism is death man. Cuz capitalism, right, it sucks. Hey guys, I’ve got some news for you. The Specials wore suits & they wrote WAY better songs than you.

If I wanted angry I’m going to put My War (the band or the record, take your pick) on over drivel like this. Without the half arsed politics this could be a pretty OK not quite punk not quite metal record. But with it it seems childish & unoriginal.

Listen: www.myspace.com/obsessivecomplusive

Tracklist:
1. $$
2. Man vs. Machine
3. The Decay Of Hope
4. A Cocktail Of Toxins
5. Spit At The Medicine
6. Virago
7. Autopsy
8. Future Closing In
9. Exit
10. Hell Is A Circle
11. 27 1/2

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