Send "Andrew Jackson Jihad " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Andrew Jackson Jihad has kept a low profile since their debut album Candy Cigarettes and Cap Guns, touring only occasionally and releasing material when they feel like it. But over the last six years the band has consistently created memorable albums full of anti-folk political grandstanding and infectious DIY folk-punk, including Can’t Maintain, which for my money was one of the best albums of 2009.The band has temporarily resurfaced to go on an extensive North American tour with Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls and release Knife Man, an album which I could say sounds like Merle Haggard’s illegitimate grandson took a lot of pills, joined an eco-friendly faction of the Black Panthers, and wrote his interpretation of a Mountain Goats record. But that doesn’t say much, and it certainly doesn’t go any distance to explaining how great Knife Man truly is. Musically it is a mishmash of styles connected by a trip through the fine mesh of Andrew Jackson Jihad’s worldview, where one can say “God is obsolete” and then four songs later threaten to “fuck the devil in his mouth”, and neither sentiment sounds like a bid for controversy. Knife Man has a lot going on sonically: a spit-in-your-face punk aesthetic, elements of folk, anti-folk, Americana, garage rock, and an undertone of hip-hop swagger, bringing to mind the blasé attitude of Brooklyn rap trio Das Racist ,who are perhaps the only group capable of giving less of a fuck what anyone thinks than Andrew Jackson Jihad. Lyrically Knife Man is classic Andrew Jackson Jihad: piss and vinegar testimonials railing against government, apathy, ipods, and dogs that stop loving their owners. But the tracks have a genuine sweetness to them; a sense of humor, and also love. I was told by a writing professor once that true empathy for your characters is the hallmark of a great writer, and lead singer Sean Bonnette has empathy in spades, whether for “the junky lying in a puddle of his own blood” or “diabetic bellies gleaming fat and round” or the “Michael Jordan of drunk driving” whose 30-second saga opens the album....full text |
| Absolutepunk |
| Lost in the jungle, you'd never know what to expect: anaconda attacks, red flaming arrows, and unidentifiable creatures that creep in the moonlight. Somewhere in the kooky maze of shenanigans, there's a duo sneaking around by way of Phoenix, Arizona. That duo is a rare species known as Andrew Jackson Jihad (a folk outfit comprised of Sean Bonette and Ben Gallaty, who are surrounded by other musicians from time to time). And although their latest effort is entitled Knife Man, they won't be slicing anyone with the proverbial knife. Not yet, at least. As Candy Cigarettes and Cap Guns introduced quirky bare-bones folk, People Who Can Eat Are the Luckiest People in the World toyed with jack-in-the-box Nazis and cannibals poised to bring eventual doom, and its successor, Can't Maintain, got down and dirty with a lusty sax and kazoo hypnotisms. The band's album progression mirrored an adventurous scaling of Machu Picchu, in the sense that rhythm sections and more fully-rounded compositions were visible flag points in each production milestone. Knife Man is no exception to the pattern of progression. In sixteen musical tales, it semi-pawns acoustics for a distorted makeover, ghostly experimental effects, and fires conundrums that are direct and personable. And as always, it comes with a cherry of nutty humor on top (see short opener "Michael Jordan of Drunk Driving" and "Zombie by the Cranberries by AJJ" for hints). Acoustic number "Fucc The Devil" immediately boards the sexual expletives train making it opportune to take a fun jab at one of the Devil's many orifices. If the poppy jingle that's patriotically entitled "American Tune" doesn't make an obvious enough lyrical expectation, it echoes similarities to "Fuck White People" (Candy Cigarettes and Cap Guns), with lines such as "if I see a penny on the ground, I leave it alone and fucking flip it/I'm a straight white male in America, I got all the luck I need," nailing articulate diatribes on skin color, gender, and sexual orientation to the walls....full text |
| Theneedledrop |
| With an almost unmeasurable poetic bitterness, Andrew Jackson Jihad are as sharp as ever on their new album, Knife Man. As usual, the music here is about the lyrics. The chord progressions are familiar copies of folk songs and punk tunes. Hell, some of the songs even sound similar to tracks from the band’s previous album. Still, the lyrics here throw me into fits of laughter and depression. These tracks make me swing back and forth like an emotional pendulum. That’s the show of a great Andrew Jackson Jihad album. Well, to me, anyway....full text |
Andrew Jackson Jihad lyrics
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