Sunken Treasure Vol. 2: Wartime, Fast Food For Thought

by paul r jaissle

This is the second in an on-going series of articles dedicated to that most salient of independent record store features: the used bin. Whether an obscure gem sought after for years or a personal discovery bought on a whim, this is an ode to the many treasures that make the seemingly endless hours of trolling through bin after bin dusty records and discarded discs worthwhile.

Wartime’s one and only album, Fast Food For Thought, really isn’t a “gem,” but I was pretty excited when I spotted it used on vinyl for a buck a few years ago. It may not be an album I listen to a lot, but it certainly was worth the dollar I shelled out for it. I mean, how often do you get to hear Henry Rollins rap? And how often would you want to?

Maybe I should explain. Back in high school, Black Flag’s Damaged LP and Rollins’ book Get in the Van served as gospels of sorts for me and my close circle of friends. The dark, desperate nihilism of Rollins and the mighty Flag echoed the directionless frustration of those teenage years. So, you can imagine my surprise when a friend casually mentioned an album called Wartime on which Mr. Rollins raps. He added that said album “sucked,” which seemed almost too obvious to warrant mentioning: expecting anything more than gruff shouting and macho talk from Rollins is just foolish. Still, that bizarre bit of knowledge stuck with me, and when I did find the album used buying it was an easy choice: it had to good for a laugh, right?

Surprisingly, Fast Food For Thought isn’t as entirely terrible as at would seem. Here, Rollins teams up with former Gone, Rollins Band bassist Andrew Weiss for an album of go-go music. Apparently, go-go is a type of highly syncopated funk that originated in Washington D.C. back in the ‘70s. Now, I am personally not familiar with this regional form of music, but apparently, Weiss and Rollins deliver a harder-edged version of go-go that I’m sure was supposed to appeal to some audience. Most of the jams on this five-song EP start the same way: a deep, distorted bass line that sounds like what I imagine dinosaur farts would have sounded like while the syncopated drum parts are filled with busy hi-hat work. On these rhythm tracks, Weiss piles all manner of samples both musical and noisy. Oh, and Henry Rollins raps over the top of the whole thing. Well, not really raps, but recites his tortured prose poems really quickly. Not only that, but the last song is a cover of the Grateful Dead’s ‘Franklin’s Tower.’ Has your mind been blown yet?

What makes this project so surprising is that, in 1990, Chrysalis records saw releasing an album featuring a largely unknown, regional form of music that had it’s heyday back in the 1980s as a sound financial situation. But it is a reminder that there was a point when major record labels did take chances. And more often than not, those gambles backfired on them. As for Wartime, the final product is far from necessary, but makes for some interesting moments nonetheless. Rollins’ lyrics remain wonderfully juvenile: the sort of us vs. them tough-guy talk that fills the journals of any angry 16 year-old. Of course, his mode of delivery would make any sort of lyrics sound absolutely ridiculous. Weiss, for his part, makes the set of identical sounding songs at least interesting: if you listen carefully, you can hear a sample of the guitar solo from Boston’s ‘More Than a Feeling’ being surgically dissected on ‘The Whole Truth’ (my personal favorite). That song, along with ‘Franklin’s Tower’ (I’ve never heard the original, so I can’t judge how it stacks up with it) are worth hearing at least once, I think, preferably after you’ve had a few beers and someone asks you’ve ever heard Henry Rollins’ rap album. And we’ve all been in that situation, right?

So snag a copy of this one if you ever see it used, which is the only you will since it went out of print immediately after being released. I promise one listen will be worth what ever you pay (as long as it’s not over a dollar). Hey, what if I ended ever paragraph with a question? Wouldn’t that be weird?