Martintox Presents: Disorder Reviews
Rating System
----
STOP JAP
:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-4447744-1365157424-5239.jpeg.jpg)
Rating System
I have a new album and a new Disorder Reviews blog. I have recently recovered from a stroke, and I am now in serious debt.
----
STOP JAP
Artist: The Stalin
Released: 1 July 1982
Genre: Punk Rock
Label: Tokuma Onkou
Producer: Mikio Moriwaki
Length: 16:07
Best Track: Money
TRACKS: 1) ロマンチスト [Romantist]; 2) Stop Jap; 3) 極楽トンボ [Happy-Go-Lucky]; 4) 玉ネギ畑 [Onion Field]; 5) ソーセージの目玉 [Eyeballs of Sausage]; 6) 下水道のペテン師 [Swindler in the Sewer]; 7) アレルギーα [Allergy α]; 8) 欲情 [Lust]; 9) Money
----
A little over a week ago, tankies all over the world have had the opportunity to celebrate the 79th anniversary of Joseph Stalin's ascension as Premier of the Soviet Union. Being a second wave Kantian feminist Ethiopian Orthodox nihilist Stalinist myself and remembering that I used to review music, I feel it's a perfect opportunity to enter the multi-faceted world of political punk. This may sound redundant at first: after all, the rebellious attitude, notions of social unrest, and bar fights resulting in traumatic head injuries are a big part of the genre's identity. Even so, there is still a world of difference between your grandma's punk à la The Offspring -- a name which accurately describes their fans -- and hard-line sociopolitically engaged punk of the likes of Skrewdriver, also known as "What Did They Mean By This?: The Band". (It's worth noting that "hard-line" is not to be confused with hardline, who are their own, more specific type of hard-line as well as filthy vegan anti-industrialists.) However, instead of going over well-trodden ground such as the English anarcho-punk scene, we're heading over to that third of the Axis Powers that got bombed really hard a while ago, as they've spawned their own hardcore punk movement in the early 1980s. Its better known acts include G.I.S.M. and Crow, but for obvious reasons, I'll focus on The Stalin (that's because the name Stop Jap describes what he would have done to Japan if he had gotten his way).
Anyone familiar with the likes of Stiff Little Fingers or The Damned's early releases will feel right at home: Stop Jap is textbook early 80s punk rock with raw production, straightforward but aggressive instrumental work, and just barely sung vocals, putting it in a comfortable DMZ between standard punk and hardcore. It's a very short record too, making it ideal if you're heading out to do your civic duty by escalating the class conflict, but the nearest bourgeois residence is only a short walk away. As for the lyrics, that's where we have a problem. Seeing as I don't understand Japanese, I have no fucking idea what they're actually saying, which is rather inconvenient, because they use a lot more words in the songs proper than they do in the album title. In desperation, I resorted to searching for interviews that could shed light on the themes of their music, only to make the shocking discovery that The Stalin's frontman Michiro Endo is actually a socialist. It gets worse: he chose the name The Stalin as a way to provoke the Japanese, and also described it as representative of "the downside to every good idea". If you ask me, that motherfücker would have died long ago if only Gorbachev hadn't privatized the KGB like the treacherous capitalist he is.
Yes, I have indeed just played you for a Trotskyist, but for a good reason: let The Stalin be a warning to all admirers of the Soviet Union, for the enemies of our ideology have become so insidious that they are now able to hide in plain sight, exploiting the name of our late great leader for their own sinister means. Truth be told, I doubt the album is particularly effective in infecting tankie minds with subversive messages, considering the language barrier (judging from the spread of anime a few decades later, my theory is that they had yet to perfect their means of mass brainwashing through media); therefore, it's probably safe listening for any non-Japanese who's looking for some concise, energetic punk. Still, if you want to honor the life and achievements of the Man of Steel, you'll do much better listening to the Red Army Choir or playing Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel.
----
PERSONAL RATING: ***
RECOMMENDATION RATING: ***
LETTERED RATING: B
----
PERSONAL RATING: ***
RECOMMENDATION RATING: ***
LETTERED RATING: B
----
Last edited:
