Music that's actually worth buying: Andrew Jackson Jihad - People That Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World

Artist Website: Andrew Jackson Jihad

Track list:
1. Rejoice
2. Brave As a Noun
3. Survival
4. Bad Bad Things
5. No More Tears
6. Bells & Whistles
7. Randy's House
8. A Song Dedicated to the Memory of Stormy the Rabbit
9. People II: The Reckoning
10. Personal Space Invader
11 . People

purchase link: [Asian Man Records]

Let me start this entry off by saying that the album I'm about to talk about is NOT free. This is the first entry in a special series I'm calling "music that's actually worth buying". While I wholeheartedly support filesharing, I am not wholly opposed to purchasing music, especially when the price is right and/or the music is awesome. I figure that while there are tons of bands out there willing to give their music away for free, there are also some kick-ass bands out there who sell their music for next to nothing, and they deserve some exposure too. That being said, the first of these albums I'll be talking about is People That Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World by Andrew Jackson Jihad.

I'm honestly not sure how these guys managed to fly under my radar for so long, but a few months ago I finally stumbled upon Andrew Jackson Jihad through one of the labels they release material through, called Plan-It-X Records (I'll probably end up doing another installment of this series on that label). I picked up this album, gave it a listen, and instantly fell in love. One part folk, one part punk, and one part D.I.Y., these guys have a little bit of everything I look for in bands. I think it's great when a band can have over 2.5 million plays on Last.fm, but they still play house parties.

To be honest, I was a little hesitant to feature this album since the purchase price is eight dollars (a little high for my tastes), but I figured eight bucks for an album isn't too bad considering how expensive most music is nowadays. While Andrew Jackson Jihad has several releases through Plan-It-X for five dollars per album, this album was released through Asian Man Records, hence the slightly higher price. ANYWAYS, let's talk about the music.

If you hold any sort of love for folk punk, then you don't need to read on, just go buy the album immediately. If you are unsure, the majority of songs feature acoustic guitar, upright bass, and either mandolin or banjo playing upbeat tunes with surprisingly dark lyrics. Subject matter includes rejoicing how the world will end up destroying you, Drug use, and describing the killing of an entire family. The juxtaposition of these lyrics with the frantic, fast-paced folk tunes is quite an interesting and pleasing mixture, and I think this band pulls it off beautifully. For those of you who require incredibly high production values in your music, you might be disappointed by the overall lo-fi feel of the album, but it works with this genre of music, and shouldn't be a complete deterrent.

My favorite track on the album is definitely Brave as a Noun, even though it is one of the shortest songs on the record. I love the melody and rhythm, and the lyrics are great too:

I’ve got an angry heart
Filled with cancers and poppy tarts
If this is how you folks make art it’s fucking depressing...

If you happen to find an extra eight dollars you're itching to spend, I'd recommend this album. If you'd like to preview a few tunes, here's a video from one of their live shows, playing the first two songs from this album.