#94

#94
I Don’t Wanna Hear It
Minor Threat
The Suicide Machines









The best thing about live performances is that you hear bands do cover songs and sometimes you can discover a band you end up liking more than the band you are into at the moment.

That happened when I went to see the punk/ska outfit The Suicide Machines. I loved their first album Destruction by Definition. I was a real neophyte when it came to older Punk Rock music. But I had gone to see the Suicide Machines, perhaps with the Might Mighty Bostones at New York City’s Webster Hall. The Machines were the opening act and for my money, despite the Bostones efforts, they stole the show. They finished the show with a blistering short song called “I don’t wanna hear it”. It was a rawkus, and intense expression of frustration and angst. It was only later on did I learn that this song (which is a hidden track on their album) was originally by US punk pioneers Minor Threat.

Minor Threat, is the American Sex Pistols. They built the sound that American styled punk bands emulated. It makes sense that Brian Baker one of the original members of Minor Threat now plays with Threat disciples Bad Religion.

It’s a simple song. Someone has been lied to too much. Too many empty promises to count. Pushed to hard. For too long. And they had it up to here with it. Just thinking of this song, and its cool bass line and then frenetic guitars, makes me want to jump into a mosh pit. Which admittedly is not my favorite place to be at a punk show.

I think there is a special place in my heart for bands with a short but meaningful shelf life. Minor Threat recorded less than an hours worth of music. Its fast they have a lot of short songs, this one is no more than minute and a half. Its all complied on their complete discography CD. This song is like their career, fast, smart, driven and completely unrelenting.