Chaoscott

OFF!  Compared To What / Rotten Apple 7” review

By Chaoscott  June 2011

Like the explosiveness of a hand grenade minus its pin, OFF!’s latest 7” is a seething havoc wrought cover of Gene McDaniels’ civil rights era classic, Compared To What, accompanied by a rusty razor slashing B Side cover of Rotten Apple, an original from San Diego’s old school 60s teen garage rabble-rousers, The Id.  Surely the legacies of both songs will now be made all the richer considering the especially aggravated and aggressive contemporary takes OFF! has relentlessly pummeled us with. 

Produced by OFF! guitarist Dimitri Coats and recorded and mixed at Kingsize Soundlabs by OFF! bassist Steven McDonald, the record’s story starts long before your needle hits vinyl.  Right off the bat, you immediately know you’re in for an extreme encounter, the record having been released on the ultra-dark Southern Lord label whose releases are known for having a rather ominous doom-laden vision to say the least.  The record’s power is felt immediately with abrasive visual impact, its cover art an aerial shot taken during certain LA riots.  Staring at the record cover, I thought I was looking at the burnt out bowl of a crack pipe, it sent shivers up my spine.  OFF! is known for challenging the system (offering to perform Fuck People on the White House lawn), so it makes perfect sense the band would produce a psychotic version of what would eventually become among the most important resistance anthems of certainly one of the most turbulent times in all American history.

Before examining OFF!’s unforgiving eye of the hurricane renditions, perhaps a quick reminder about Compared To What and the suspicious jagged world of The Id might be useful.  Pissed off by the assassination of Martin Luther King and other fragmenting slights and injustices, McDaniels penned a scorching indictment of the white power structure and all the hypocrisy that came along with it.  Compared To What was initially recorded and released by Roberta Flack, serving as the opening track on her debut, First Take.  Soon after, the song was again recorded, this time by pianist Les McCann and saxophonist Eddie Harris for their album, Swiss Movement, live from the Montreux Jazz Festival.  The jazz masters’ version of the hit subsequently became an international phenomenon selling over a million copies worldwide. 

To say Compared To What shook things up is a vast understatement.  As actual riots were breaking out in the streets with racist pigs wielding billy clubs and guns, Compared To What took aim at the President, the Church, “poor dumb rednecks,” “tired old ladies,” and the Vietnam War.  McDaniels’ lyrics pulled no punches, took no prisoners, and resonate more loudly than ever today in light of the current US military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Keith Morris’ vocals on Compared To What are completely demented, which should come as a surprise to nobody.  It’s tough not to love it when Keith screams, “I CAN’T USE IT!” and “SOCK IT TO ME!”  You simply can’t help but feel the sheer power of OFF!’s fanatical force.  Some lyrics from McDaniels’ original version have been omitted, but the message is far from lost as Keith screams and riffs on Capitalism, treason, and abortion using a balance of seriousness and sarcasm so sharp it could slice through red bricks.

Not to be outdone, Dimitri has a kick ass guitar solo between verses.  He gets a great tweaked tone from his instrument that triggers a certain twitchy clanging prong in the back of your brain. 

When Keith screams, “We always end up in a RUT!” I’m reminded of Rollins’ great admiration for the legendary band The Ruts and the sheer futility of life in general.  It reminds me how my own life is really nothing more than a personal rut I can’t escape.  Living in a rut is no way to live at all.  Hmmm, after thinking about it, maybe I should just throw in the towel and end it all (a bottle of pills would do the trick), or maybe not, but either way, I love the incredible power a great song can have over someone to swirl their emotions like they’re caught up in a tornado.  Compared To What really makes one stop, think, and reflect on the things that truly matter in life, such as not keeping up with the Joneses.  Even the mere title of the song poses a question, a question whose answer may differ for each individual listener.  OFF!’s Compared To What sends the message that if the public doesn’t support and actively pursue a common sense vision for the future, many Americans will continue going insane, spinning on hamster wheels as the entire country slides down into the gutter on the world’s stage for all to see. 

               OFF!’s interpretation of Compared To What, and specifically Keith’s vocal style in particular, reminded me of the James Byrd dragging.  That comparison may be a little extreme, but pushing the envelope is exactly what OFF! is all about.  As Steven and Mario hold it down powerful and steady, Keith ends the song screaming, “I CAN’T USE IT!” again.  As the song quickly faded out, I thought of my neurosis meds and how often they’re practically useless to help prevent my frequent panic attacks.  From a certain perspective, it could be said that OFF!’s version of CTW is blood drenched.  I was just waiting for Samuel L. Jackson to jump out of the speaker spraying bullets like in A Time To Kill.

Rotten Apple takes a different approach altogether reaching a towering peak of loud, in your face, bird flippin’,white teen 60s garage rock.  The name of the band The Id came from the classic Johnny Hart comic strip The Wizard of Id.  The Id strip, which started in 1964, dealt with a medieval kingdom called “Id,” where the king at times called his subjects idiots.  The name of the strip was a merger of The Wizard of Oz and the Id, a Freudian term used to describe the part of the brain responsible for primal reactions.  Keith Morris and primal reactions?  Do I see a connection here?  The cover photo of the original Rotten Apple 7” is excellent, the entire band pictured morose and reflective next to a grave at the Grant School Cemetery. 

Keith opens the song by screaming, “I remember you and you remember me!”  That pronouncement angered and frightened me.  Dreading inexcusable regrets and unbelievably stupid personal insecurities, I envisioned all the people who I know think I’m an idiot, screaming in my face those same exact words,  “I remember you and you remember me!”  The shame and pity of it is I can’t seem to let go and remain forever haunted by the past, unable to escape sour memories, my mind remaining in a state of permanent manic bipolar turmoil.  You remember me?  Damn, I was trying to forget! 

Keith’s firebomb vocals set the tone for an incredibly bitter, spiteful, venomous verbal thrashing full of scorn.  And don’t forget to throw in a healthy dose of personal jealousy for good measure.  I’ve no doubt that when he spits/utters, “I’ve caught on to all your little tricks,” he’s talking specifically to me and that I’m about to be exposed for the fake poser I am.  The lines about being “above reproach” and an “expensive car” absolutely kill.  I can totally relate and it makes me sick, but for some reason I’m a glutton for punishment.  The music is that good. 

           OFF! fans have come to expect their members’ agonizingly precise musicianship to yield merciless sledgehammer tracks and the Compared To What / Rotten Apple 7” is no let down.  In fact, it’s the opposite, pure punk fury that I’m sure would make the tracks’ original creators proud as a punch in the face.  Currently, no band I can think of is more vital or important or that inspires me more than OFF!  So go buy the 7” if you haven’t already, it’s time for you to turn on, tune in, and get OFF!