Live Fast, Diarrhea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Live Fast, Diarrhea | ||
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| Studio album by The Vandals | ||
| Released | October 1995 | |
| Genre | Punk Rock | |
| Length | 31:40 | |
| Label | Nitro Records | |
| Producer(s) | Warren Fitzgerald | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| The Vandals chronology | ||
| Sweatin' to the Oldies: The Vandals Live (1991) |
Live Fast, Diarrhea (1995) |
The Quickening (1996) |
Live Fast, Diarrhea is a punk rock album by the southern California band The Vandals, released in 1995 by Nitro Records. It was the band's fourth full-length studio album and their first to be released on Nitro, a label started and co-owned by Dexter Holland and Greg Kriesel of The Offspring. It was also the first of their studio albums to be produced by guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, who would continue to produce most of their albums throughout their career, and the first to include Brooks Wackerman, who often substituted as the band's drummer when their usual full-time drummer Josh Freese was unavailable.. It was a breakthrough release for the band, who would put out three more albums on Nitro before moving to their own label Kung Fu Records in 2002.
The album's title is a play on the saying "live fast, die young," a popular phrase in the punk community. Its cover is a drawing by guitarist Warren Fitzgerald of a man shooting a pistol at an airplane, with the title misspelled as "diarrea." The photos in the liner notes include a memo which states that the band may absolutely not use this picture on the cover. This seems to indicate that the drawing was intended as a concept for an actual photo of a man shooting at a plane, but that someone, possibly at the record label, forbade the band from using such a photo, so they simply substituted the concept drawing.
An independent music video was filmed for the song "I Have a Date," which is a cover of a song by a relatively obscure Orange County punk band called The Simpletones. "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" is also a cover, this time of a song from the Disney movie Mary Poppins. Other references to Disney occur in the songs "Get in Line," which describes the experience of waiting in line at a theme park ride and includes an unmistakable message from a Disneyland attraction, and "Power Mustache," which deals with an employee grooming policy at Disneyland. Several of the band members enjoyed frequently visiting Disneyland in their youths, and this was not the first time they had referenced it in song (see "Pirate's Life" on the EP Peace Thru Vandalism). "Ape Shall Never Kill Ape" is another movie reference, this time to the famous film Planet of the Apes.
Both the album and the band garnered increased attention thanks to an episode of the popular television show The X-Files which aired on June 10, 1995 (episode 3x03: "D.P.O."). In the episode actor Giovanni Ribisi plays a teenager in a small town who has the power to control electricity and to summon lightning. He wears a number of Vandals t-shirts throughout the episode, and the final scene shows Ribisi's character incarcerated but using his power to flip through channels on a TV while the Vandals song "Live Fast, Diarrhea" plays. According to the band the idea to include their music came from X-Files creator Chris Carter, who was a longtime fan of punk rock and also a friend of band member Joe Escalante.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "Let the Bad Times Roll"
- "Take it Back"
- "And Now We Dance"
- "I Have a Date" [originally performed by The Simpletones]
- "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" [originally from Disney's Mary Poppins]
- "Power Mustache"
- "N.I.M.B.Y."
- "Ape Shall Never Kill Ape"
- "Live Fast, Diarrhea"
- "Happy Birthday to Me"
- "Change My Pants (I Don't Wanna)"
- "Get in Line"
- "Johnny Twobags"
- "Kick Me"
- "Soup of the Day"
[edit] Performers
- Dave Quackenbush - vocals
- Warren Fitzgerald - guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "I Have a Date"
- Joe Escalante - bass, backing vocals
- Josh Freese - drums
- Brooks Wackerman - backing vocals on "Live Fast, Diarrhea"
[edit] Album information
- Record label: Nitro Records
- Recorded F1 in La Habra, California
- All songs copyright and published 1995 by Greco-Roman Publishing Co., except "I Have a Date" Covina High Music BMI and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" 1963 Sherman Music/Wonderland Music Co., Inc. BMI.
- Engineered by Greg Nelson at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California and Barry Conoly at Mambo Studios in Long Beach, California.
- Mastered at Futuredisc by Eddy Schrayer.
- Produced by Warren Fitzgerald
- Track 1 written by Josh Freese. Tracks 2, 13 & 15 written by Dave Quackenbush. Tracks 3, 6, 10, 11 & 12 written by Warren Fitzgerald. Track 4 written by J. Lansford. Track 5 written by Sherman. Tracks 7 & 8 written by Joe Escalante and Warren Fitzgerald. Track 9 written by the Vandals. Track 14 written by Joe Escalante.
- Graphics by Mackie Osborne
- Drawings by Warren Fitzgerald
[edit] Song information
- All information listed here is derived from song lyrics, album liner notes, and band member interviews and commentary (particularly those in the Vandals DVD Live at the House of Blues).
Let the Bad Times Roll (Josh Freese)
A fairly straightforward song that deals with themes of nihilism, depression and apathy.
Take it Back (Dave Quackenbush)
This song deals with the frustration of eating in restaurants that constantly get your order wrong.
And Now We Dance (Warren Fitzgerald)
A slightly nihilistic and anarchistic song.
I Have a Date (J. Lansford)
A cover of a song by the relatively obscure Orange County punk band the Simpletones. In it the singer is excited because he has a date with a young girl with whom he is infatuated.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Sherman)
A cover of a song from the Disney movie Mary Poppins. It tells of a long and complicated word which, when said, will impress others and is also so silly-sounding that it will make you feel better as well. This song is played to the tune of "We're Only Gonna Die", from Bad Religion's album How Could Hell Be Any Worse?.
Power Mustache (Warren Fitzgerald)
This song tells of several fascist dictators who all had mustaches, and suggests that the mustache is a symbol of oppression. In particular the song references an employee grooming standard at Disneyland which specifies that employees of the park may not have any facial hair, which is somewhat hypocritical since Walt Disney himself wore a mustache through most of his life and is depicted throughout the park as wearing one.
N.I.M.B.Y. (Joe Escalante & Warren Fitzgerald)
"N.I.M.B.Y." is an abbreviation for the phrase "Not in My Back Yard," which was commonly used in the 1960s and 1970s in reference to the construction of nuclear power plants. Many Americans wished to reap the benefits of nuclear power, but because of their fears of radiation and other hazards they did not want them built anywhere near their cities and towns. Hence the phrase "not in my back yard." In this song the same phrase is used by townsfolk in protest of G.E. Smith, the guitarist of Hall & Oates and musical director of Saturday Night Live who wishes to move into their town.
Ape Shall Never Kill Ape (Joe Escalante & Warren Fitzgerald)
The song's title and chorus are a reference to a line from the Planet of the Apes movie series. The lyrics reference John Hinckley, a mentally disturbed individual who attempted to murder President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Hinckley claimed that he had watched the movie Taxi Driver repeatedly, becoming obsessed with actress Jodie Foster. He began stalking Foster and claimed that assassinating the President was his way of showing his love for her. He was found not guilty of attempted murder by reason of insanity. According to bassist Joe Escalante in the audio commentary for the band's 2004 DVD Live at the House of Blues, the song also deals with the topic of abortion.
Live Fast, Diarrhea (The Vandals)
An anthem dealing with themes of anarchism, in which the singer sees eating Taco Bell food and drinking alcohol as ways of expressing his individuality. These actions reference the song's humorous title because overconsumption of either product is known to cause diarrhea. It also deals with themes of legitimacy in the punk community. Warren has stated that the opening guitar piece in the song was inspired by the classical score "A Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky, which was used in the Disney film Fantasia. Warren has said that the song's opening was his way of imitating/re-interpreting that piece using electric guitar. The name is a play on words of the Circle Jerks classic song, "Live Fast, Die Young".
Happy Birthday to me (Warren Fitzgerald)
This song tells of the singer's sense of superiority and self-importance on his birthday, and his anger at people who fail to recognize that it's his special day.
Change My Pants (I Don't Wanna) (Warren Fitzgerald)
The song uses a pair of pants as a metaphor for expressing one's individuality, and the singer sees changing his pants as compromising his sense of identity and personal expression.
Get in Line (Warren Fitzgerald)
This song relates the experience of waiting in line at a theme park ride. The line "permanecer sentados, por favor" comes from waiting in line for the Matterhorn Bobsleds ride at Disneyland. While standing in line for the ride one repeatedly hears the bilingual recorded warning to riders: "Remain seated, please. Permanecer sentados, por favor." This line is one of many Disney reference scattered throughout many Vandals' songs, since the band members all grew up watching the Disney films and spent a lot of time at Disneyland, since it is located quite close to their hometowns. In fact, Joe and Dave first discovered Vandals drummer Josh Freese at Disneyland, when he was playing in a cover band called Polo on the Tomorrowland stage.
Johnny Two Bags (Dave Quackenbush)
This song tells the story of a white man who wants to sing the blues, but doesn't have any significant hardships in his life to sing about.
Kick Me (Joe Escalante)
A sarcastic song about a thick-headed anarchist.
Soup of the Day (Dave Quackenbush)
This song deals with themes of legitimacy, respect and "selling out" in the punk community.
