Prairie Home Invasion

Jello Biafra / Mojo Nixon

SKU: VIRUS137LP

Barcode: 721616013719

13.00 £13.00

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Repressed for the first time in many many years this classic LP now comes with digital download code. Putting two legends of truly countercultural spirit together simply had to produce something of genius.

Invasion is a fine fusion of Jello\’s deranged nerviness and Nixon\’s rootsy attitude. With Nixon\’s backing band, the Toadliquors, on hand to provide the rest of the cowpunk, honky tonk music, the two come out fighting with \”Buy My Snake Oil,\” Jello\’s rip into early-\’90s alternative culture, and don\’t let up. Pete \”Wet Dawg\” Gordon\’s piano work definitely deserves to be singled out — check the opening break on \”Where Are We Gonna Work\” — and Mike \”Wild\” Middleton\’s drumming doesn\’t let up once.

One of the sharper things about Invasion is its sense of protest roots; almost half the songs are from earlier musicians or public domain folk songs, sometimes more picturesque, like \”Convoy in the Sky,\” but other times slotting alongside Jello and Nixon\’s work perfectly. Phil Ochs\’ brilliant slam on fuzzy left-leaners, \”Love Me, I\’m a Liberal,\” gets a topically updated revamp, while the album\’s lead single revamps an old standard into \”Will the Fetus Be Aborted?.\” As for the lead performers\’ own work, ultimately this is more Nixon\’s show than Biafra\’s.

The latter definitely has the spirit for this effort, taking the majority of the lead vocals, but Nixon has the better voice for the proceedings, while his guitar kicks butt and takes names.

The artwork for Invasion deserves special mention, too: besides a hilarious back photo of Jello and Nixon re-enacting Grant Wood\’s \”American Gothic,\” the veritable explosion of news stories detailing business and government idiocies, random ad images, and snippets of Tom Tomorrow\’s \”This Modern World\” comic strip, is enough to make anyone reject mass culture in a second.

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Track Listings

1. Buy My Snake Oil
2. Where Are We Gonna Work (When the Trees Are Gone?)
3. Convoy in the Sky
4. Atomic Power
5. Are You Drinkin' With Me Jesus?
6. Love Me, I'm a Liberal
7. Burgers of Wrath
8. Nostalgia for an Age That Never Existed
9. Hamlet Chicken Plant Disaster
10. Mascot Mania
11. Let's Go Burn Ole Nashville Down
12. Will the Fetus Be Aborted

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