COW
MOMENTS LATER...
www.xxx
FIND
ITZ
WEIRD.
BEEN
RAINING
BODY
PARTS
AGAIN.
DEWI
www.ocY ASK
50 Тнальная МаслДЧЕ
WWW.XXX
NO,
BUT I
FOUND
AN
EAR.
YEAH,
I
HATE
WHEN
THAT
HAPPENS.
THE END
CONSOLIDATED
MEAT K
by Mark Madog
ZounDs
"Welcome to the cultural basepipe" is the
greeting of Consolidated's first Lp, Myth of Rock.
It's also the beginning of their relentless effort to
debase American pop culture and offer alterna-
tives to our present conditions. Of course, it's
been said before: end racism, sexism, vivisection,
exploitation. it's not hard to think of an -ism or a
-tion to be against, but it is hard to find a band
that approaches issues the way Consolidated
does. Adam Sherburne on vocals and guitar, Mark
Pistel on keyboards and tapes, and Phillip Steir
on percussion conspire to make a humping, bump-
ing, funky, infectious critique and protest on
American culture. The dominantly hip-hop sound
on their newest Lp, Friendly Fascism, is a con-
scious break from the aggro-industrial tone of
Myth As Phillip Steir explains, "We wanted to
get away from what we felt were extremely vio-
lent tendencies at the shows." So, they toned their
music down not for commercial reasons, but to
oppose slam dancing. "It's so pathetic, people
were doing that ten, fifteen years ago. But now
it's not done for the same reasons, now it's done
specifically for violence.
"The central message of Consolidated is to
make up your own mind about everything, and
think logically," says Steir. The theme of Friendly
Fascism calls for the unity of all people and ani-
mals, and an end to "singular issues," like being
anti-racist and anti-gay at the same time. College
radio, industrial music, and white males also get
heavy-handed, constructive slaps on the album.
In fact, for all the outward criticizing Consolidat-
ed does, they always bring it back around to
themselves. Being middle class white guys play-
ing political hip-hop on a major label makes them.
easy targets for being called "hypocrites." But
they won't deny this, they'll say it outright at one
of the open-mike sessions they hold after every
set. The audience/band conversations were start-
ed, Steir explains, "to bring discourse back into
public life; an alternative to bands, movies and
radio being a one-way communication." Favored
topies range from, "Why can't we slam at your
showa? to serious community issues. Choice
excerpts are sampled on the new Lp, including a
surprise speech by rapper Murder of Boo-Yaa
Tribe, questioning Consolidated's ability to speak
directly to the black community, and white Amer-
ica's ability to see what's going on.
Some people don't like their music to be any-
thing more than entertainment or pure listening
enjoyment. But if you enjoy hard, funky beats,
and you're interested in alternative information
with unmuffled opinions, check out anything
these guys have ever put out.