“jfa”
J.F.A.
Only Live Once
Hurricane
It stands for “Jody Foster’s Army,” got that? A long, long time ago, their name kind of shocked my mother, and later on, I bought their Mad Garden EP, the one where they did a punk rock cover of Vince Guaraldi’s “Linus and Lucy,” which they simply called “Charlie Brown.”
They’re important to me, see, in the history of punk rock, and this here new album is pretty darn fast and mean-spirited and heavy on the skater punk philosophy.
They’re also one of the stupidest bands to ever walk the earth. I mean, they’ve written a song called “Clown Party” here, that’s about mimes and rodeo clowns terrorizing those who hate them. “Barney & Friday” is an animal rights song about two cats who took their euthanasia with dignity, unlike the dogs that constantly barked. This song is not funny, it’s serious in its righteous finger-pointing at those who refuse to fix their pets. “Lincoln” is the strangest song on the album, it’s either about Honest Abe or it’s about big cars or something. Judging by the incoherence of the lyrics, I’d say it’s the product of a bad spill while shooting a concrete tube. “Blatant Localism” speaks out against the problem of Surf Nazis and their “locals only” attitudes that ruin surfing. I could go on, but I suggest picking up the disc and checking out “Yakeland,” “Travels with Charley,” and the extremely bizarre “Lifeguard.” That last one starts off with “Lifeguard with a gun? You’re not a cop, this ain’t Baywatch …” What, do they arm the lifeguards out there or something?
Hurricane CDs, 1573 N. Milwaukee, Box 422, Chicago, IL 60622
