Reagan Youth - A Collection of Pop Classics

Here's an oldie that has been playing regularly on my iTunes as of late. I'll come right out and make sure anyone not familiar with Reagan Youth recognize that the cover art is an ironic representation of the band as they were a vehemently anti-racist punk band circa 1980s. In fact, the band's lead singer Dave Rubinstein's parents were Holocaust survivors. This is a combination of the band's only two albums and was released in 1994. The first ten songs are from the first album, while the remaining twelve songs are from the second. There is a clear distinction between the two album musical styles and the combination of the two on this one album is interesting to say the least (not unlike comparing the last few songs on the Minor Threat discography to the earlier tracks). The rocked out, heavily guitar layered second half of this release is what I think brings me back repeatedly. This is not to say that the band's earlier and likely more popular songs from the first half are lacking, they are strong early east-coast hardcore punk songs, that lyrically delve straight into the political and particularly anti-rascism anthems, but I find the depth of the latter songs providing a greater listening mosaic.


Reagan Youth - "I Hate Hate"

An example of the band's earlier songwriting and one of their tighter played songs.  The drumming is on a constant tear to the finish, filled with snare rolls, a bit sloppily played if only to fit the style of the music. The guitar that pours in toward the end of the song is nice added layer, giving a typical straightforward punk song a little something extra to help it stand out. For those following along, the next song on the album, "Degenerated", was the song that Chaz Darvey (Brendan Fraser) and his band play at the end of the movie Airheads.


Reagan Youth - "A Brave New World"

This track appears toward the end of the album and represents the later recordings of the band. Right from the start you can hear the difference in songwriting between the first album release "I Hate Hate" and this song. Heck its over a minute before the vocals kick in. The drumming here is still strong, but slowed down a bit while doing a fine job of accenting and rolling. The guitar layers add to the theme of the song, kind of a desolate wasteland.

I see a perfect alpha-plus
I see an epsilon-minus
Everybody in their place
I take a soma holiday
To be born without face
Problems conveniently erased
And the matter of sex and erotic play
I take a soma holiday
Is this utopia, the dream of mankind?
Livin' your life on a factory line
Is this utopia, dream of mankind?
Livin' your life from nine to five

The written lyrics have developed since the earlier work too, taking a darker view of society degenerating. The vocals, similarly to the guitar, seem to fit the mood and theme of this song perfectly, all the way through the last few lines decrying that it is better to end then to mend.

I found some information about the band at the New Red Archives (record label that released this album) website, and the bands releases, including this one at the labels online catalog here.