Audio By Carbonatix
There has always been grumbling about the Suicide Machines. After releasing two demo cassettes, Green World and The Essential Kevorkian, in their native Detroit, the group shortened their name from Jack Kevorkian and The Suicide Machines and signed to Hollywood Records. Problem was, Hollywood Records is owned by Disney and punks don’t like even a trace of the friendly, multinational behemoth in their scene. Yet the Suicide Machines won their DIY props with a ska-punk sound that combined hardcore aggression and the upbeat bounciness of ska music on their first album for Hollywood, 1995’s Destruction by Definition; a cover of Minor Threat’s teen angst classic “I Don’t Wanna Hear It” certainly didn’t hurt either. An opening slot on the Descendents’ reunion tour with old singer Milo Aukerman and relentless touring on their own got the band’s name out to crowds all over the country, and the Suicide Machines quickly achieved fame. OK, minor fame.
Like Destruction by Definition, the band’s second record, 1998’s Battle Hymns, explored themes of frustration with people and the world and endemic problems within our society, like environmental destruction, government corruption, and racism. The Suicide Machines continued to succeed, albeit on a smaller scale, displaying their open political nature by allowing the local Anti-Racist Action chapter to set up a booth inside the Galaxy Club and by giving an ARA member the microphone during their set to tell the crowd some information about the horrible slaying murder of James Byrd, Jr. that had recently occurred in Jasper. The Disney skeleton in their closet virtually disappeared.
Well, it seemed to, at least. The band’s newest album, a self-titled effort, is best judged by examining the radio single Hollywood released in relation to the singles off the previous two records. “SOS” (off Destruction by Definition) was a call to arms against the destructiveness of racism. The leadoff single from Battle Hymns was “Give,” a painful recollection of a friend’s betrayal. “Sometimes I Don’t Mind” from The Suicide Machines, on the other hand, is an insipid paean to, uh, the bass player’s dog. Maybe Disney has had some influence on the band after all.
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The rest of the new record does not get any better as the band known for short, aggressive songs and multiple facial piercings has traded in most of that for what should be any punk band’s kiss of death: orchestral arrangements on multiple songs. Visually, the change is noticeable as well: the picture on the front of Destruction by Definition is from a wild live show with bodies, wallet chains, and clothes flying in all different directions; the front cover of The Suicide Machines is of a studio band wearing suits on a soundstage. The songs tell the same story with the lone angry, political punk song coming off more like a deranged uncle embarrassing the rest of the family than a harmonious part of the whole. On stage, the group would probably do well to concentrate on material from their first two albums…but they probably won’t. The new songs should make all but their most dedicated fans cringe with fear and shame. But even they would have to think it’s a bit ironic that the group’s new drummer used to play in a Detroit punk band called Bourgeois Filth. Suicide Machines perform April 10 at Galaxy Club. The Pilfers and Catch 22 open.
Yuval Weber
