“The ones who affect change are the ones who hold us down.” – Born/Dead

Born/Dead is an awesome crust punk group from Oakland, California. Their lyrics are intelligent and their music fast. I just got their cd Destabilized-Overthrow [The First Five Years] and it was very cathartic.

Their lyrics touched based on issues of homelessness, society, ignorance, and even objectification of women. They also addressed something I noticed a while ago while I was taking a history class that all history is repetitive of wars and that they are bored of it. I am too.

I felt the cd was cathartic because it expressed outrage at the system in a constructive matter. Unfortunately, I wish the vision they sang about was true – that people would stop being complacent and actively take a role in changing society. People forget the world is the way it is because of us. We all composed the system and if we want it to change – it needs to start with us. No one is going to be the change in the world you want for you.

My only complaints are is that Born/Dead don’t release many cds (mostly records) and the band decided to put a 20 minute gap on the cd before a hidden bonus song. They sing a little fast so sometimes it’s hard to understand their lyrics which is why having the lyrics is helpful to read along as they sing. So, because the song was “hidden” there were no lyrics for it so I couldn’t appreciate it fully. I understand some but not all. Reading the lyrics alone doesn’t do them justice – you need to hear it and experience it.

I enjoyed their song construction – it was very hard hitting. My favorite song for the clarity of it was Repetition.

Born/Dead also introduced the topic of “Deadtime”. Which is something I think about too about the time we live in – that like Crass said, “You’re Already Dead.” I usually think about it being like Endgame play in an online game like World of Warcraft. That like in the game, you max out your level and all that’s left to do is go after nice equipment. I feel that humanity is at the same place – that we’ve gone as far as we can with the resources our planet has allotted us and all that’s left to do is go after meaningless trinkets. I hope I am wrong but it feels that way.

I’d recommend Born/Dead’s Destabilized-Overthrow [The First Five Years] to anyone who likes punk. They are definitely not a band to be missed.