Review: Bomb the Music Industry! - Goodbye Cool World!

Bomb the Music Industry!

Goodbye Cool World!

Quote Unquote Records

Tracklisting:

1. Old and Unprofessional
2. King of Minneapolis, Pts. I & II
3. Even Winning Feels Bad
4. Side Projects are Never Successful
5. 5 Funerals
6. My Response To An Article In Alternative Press
7. Sorry, Brooklyn. Dancing Won't Solve Anything.
8. It's Official! We're Borrrrring!
9. From Martyrdom To Startyrdom
10. All Alone In My Big Empty Apartment
11. Fuck The Fans
12. Grudge Report
13. King of Minneapolis, Pts. III & IV
14. Anywhere I Lay My Head (Tom Waits Cover)

I guess it’s worth restating that we have a “review what you want, not just what’s new” policy here at Lost Tribe.  I mean, I understand why most sites only review new albums, but fuck it, we didn’t have a website when the majority of my record collection was released, so from time to time we like to use this platform as a way to express our love and gratitude of some of the most oft-played albums we have.

The reason it occurred to me to review Goodbye Cool World is because I’m currently downloading the newest Jeff Rosenstock (singer/guitarist/mastermind of BTMI!) release and it’s taking forever, so I threw on my favourite Bomb the Music Industry! release.  In fact, I’m sure a review of the Jeff Rosenstock compilation/mix-tape/demos/whatever album that he just put out in the near future, but for now, enjoy a rant about a record that came out six (!) years ago.

I love Bomb the Music Industry! for all of the same reasons that most people do: they release donation-only albums, they have embraced how music is purchased/understood in the 21^st century, they are incredibly fun to see live, they don’t take themselves too seriously, they are smart, and they write incredible songs.  The latter reason is readily apparent in this mash of ska, hardcore, and synth/piano-infused punk rock.  On paper, the BTMI! Probably shouldn’t work.  They are sonically schizophrenic and seem much more interested in the intensity of a song than the technical execution, but these are the reasons that makes Jeff and co. so damn compelling.  They are able to convey that music should be, above all else, fun and meaningful.

BTMI! loves to use their songs to point out inconsistencies, lament certain events, and slay any holier-than-thou attitude they come across, and Goodbye Cool World delivers these things in spades.  “Side Projects Are Never Successful” takes aim at anti-consumerist fallacies (Fugazi), “Sorry, Brooklyn, Dancing Won’t Solve Anything” shames those who reject activism and discussion in favour of mindless bar culture, and “My Response To An Article in Alternative Press” is exactly that: a scathing indictment about turning in punk for what’s popular/lucractive.  

Also, “King of Minneapolis: Pts. I-IV” are the best songs that have ever been written about Triple Rock, Minneapolis, or that entire frozen wasteland of a state.

Download it for free (or be a cool person and donate) here.