Fishbone has always pushed limits. From their eccentric ska-punk sounds to the over-the-top outfits of frontman Angelo Moore, the band has maintained an unapologetic and unfiltered presence from the start.
You’d think, after 46 years, the band would be well past their prime.
Think again. The latest installment of Fishbone’s already immense catalog contains some of the best music they’ve put out to date. Of course, there’s no replacing classics like “Party At Ground Zero” and “Ma & Pa”, but it’s hard to argue that Fishbone isn’t at the top of their game with Stockholm Syndrome — their ninth studio album and first release in over two decades.
What brought the zany boys back in action, you ask? Well, just turn on the news and you’ll get your answer. Fishbone has had enough of this country’s lack of action, calling forth the American public to take back the freedoms we’re already supposed to have. From funky grooves to downtempo pleas of peace, Stockholm Syndrome addresses what nobody wants to acknowledge and accept in the United States — we’ve become complacent in the face of overt tyranny.
And people of color are getting the brunt of it.
Labeled the enemy, blacks haven’t just been stripped of their rights, they’ve become targeted. It’s been 162 years since the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect and yet, it’s still a crime being black in America. If citizens aren’t safe in the streets, even in their own homes, then where can we live and flourish? Fishbone says put resistance in the music. Stockholm Syndrome is a rallying cry against racism, fascism, and all the other ironic things at play in the United States of America before our basic rights are completely eroded away.
But, I can go on all day about that; let’s have Fishbone say their piece. Right off the bat, Fishbone calls out the hatred that has “consumed the nation”, as well as flagrant “price gauging” and other governmental inequities causing additional strife. It’s “Last Call in America”: finish your drinks, head toward the exits… you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. Funky and jazzy with George Clinton on the track, “Last Call in America” has a more disco feel than Fishbone’s typical ska punk flair, but it’s these very instrumentals that elude to how the good times of old are officially over.
And if we can’t move forward, it’s only natural we regress. “Adolescent Regressive Behavior” stands as a response to track one. Uptempo with the band’s signature ska sound, track two details how easy it is to just stay selfishly ignorant, self-medicate, and stand on the sidelines. We could fight the good fight… or we can just focus on ourselves and fuck shit up.
Adolescents blame others for their misfortunes and engage in reckless abandon. Sounds way more fun than activism…
Fishbone continues pushing the point with “Dog Eat Dog” and “Suckered By Sabotage” — the latter being the album’s lead single. Punk AF until verse two, when the aggression gives way to a reggae beat and jazz piano, “Suckered By Sabotage” is the LP’s core CTA — the time is now, you “can’t run and hide from it”.
And the cops are no help. “Secret Police” and “Gelato The Clown” reprimand the police for not doing their ONE job in safeguarding this country’s citizens. Instead, people are getting gunned down in their own beds (a blatant nod to Breonna Taylor). Fishbone just wants to know “Why Do We Keep on Dying” when there is a whole nation of supposed ‘protectors of the peace’ in play? What are they getting paid for?? It’s like people of color are being intentionally hunted down, leading into track eight “Hellhounds On My Trail”. In case you STILL haven’t gotten the memo yet, Fishbone spells it out for you in “Racist Piece of Shit”: “I see you coming down the street // Tiki torches and hate speech // You’re not a Proud Boy // You’re just a fuck boy // Drinking the Kool-Aid of a mad orange king.” It’s like we’re stuck in a perpetual state of alternate reality or, as track 10 labels it, “Living On the Upside Down”… a Stranger Things reference and an underhanded motif that living in the USA is officially stranger than fiction.
With the album’s intensity, you’d expect the final song to be all in-your-face furious. Think again.
Fishbone leaves listeners with “Love is Love” — a unifying song for the people. No one is better than anyone; your skin color is just as good as mine. Why can’t we all get along? It’s a sentiment sung for many, many years, set to an acoustic guitar in this instance. The Beatles said “All You need Is Love” and Bob Marley preached “One Love”, one heart… let’s finally listen to the music, people, and heal the nation before it’s too late.
Stockholm Syndrome is, clearly, something to not just listen to but REACT to. The captors of our mind — the mass media, the social networks, the so-called leaders — wants us to stay divisive and side with them. But little do they know we see through the charade. We know, in our differences, we can overcome the powers that be. We should embrace our diversity, not admonish it. Only then can we wake up from from this sociopolitical nightmare and set ourselves free.
Stream the album below or on all digital outlets today. Or, if you’re a purist like me, opt for a brilliant red-and-black pressed vinyl, available for purchase here.
Fishbone – “Suckered By Sabotage” lyric video
Track listing:
- Last Call in America, feat. George Clinton
- Adolescent Regressive Behavior
- Dog Eat Dog
- Suckered By Sabotage
- Secret Police
- Gelato the Clown
- Why Do We Keep on Dying
- Hellhounds On My Trail
- Racist Piece of Shit
- Living On the Upside Down
- All About Us
- Love is Love
Stream ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ album:
Cover photography by Matt Dessner
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Disclaimer: All views presented in this album review are those of the reviewer and not necessarily those of Top Shelf Music.
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