Bomb The Music Industry! - To Leave or Die in Long Island

(see bottom of post for the Free / Donation link)

It was probably early 2006 and I was knocking around the x1984x Leatherface forum and someone recommended this donation-based netlabel called "Quote Unquote Records". It had a few records on it, and was bigging up the impending release of Bomb The Music Industry's third album "Goodbye Cool World", so I checked out their two previous records.

As much as I love the debut "Album Minus Band", the fusion of keyboards and other electronica and xylophones with punk and ska back then is epitomised for me by this mini-album, "To Live or Die in Long Island".

I remember being hooked from the (somewhat epic) synth intro of opener "Happy Anterrabae Day!!!", excited by that song's energy, and amused by the sloppy "Na Na Na na na"s. And the record just doesn't let up; it's vibrant and brash and in your face and a helluva lot of fun.

"Nice going asshole" is the in-joke chorus of "Congratulations, John..." that'll crop up in your head days later, "Showerbeers!" is blast of an ode to one of life's simple pleasures, before you get to the pièce de résistance, the eminently relatable "Stand There 'Til You're Sober", a song about struggling to grow up that starts slow and builds to a simply glorious finale.

"Dude, Get With The Program" is a middle finger in song form if there ever was one, and again very catchy; be careful you're not singing the chorus of "Go ahead and get fucked" to yourself when in polite company (or, y'know, go right ahead, whatever).

"...Are Fucking Dead" is ska in places and organ everywhere, and kinda feels unfinished, but it's still enjoyable, a word that also more than applies to "... My Beard of Defiance", a song that lyrically might have dated quite a bit, but with it's tongue-in-cheek breakdown and faux-metal posturing, you were never gonna care.

The record finishes with "Syke! Life Is Awesome!", an uplifting song about fate and how both good and bad experiences in our lives are very much interrelated.

Bomb The Music Industry! were still basically a solo project of Jeff Rosenstock's at this stage, and sure, I could've chosen one of the later albums to post, one when they were a full band, but this one's my favourite, so there.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 / 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺: http://www.quoteunquoterecords.com/qur004.htm

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4NEhwQnk93E5DZgjm0I1uT-9gLDxnacT