International Noise Conspiracy

SURVIVAL SICKNESS

(Burning Heart/Epitaph)

Rage Against the Machine may have set the macho standard for political rock in the '90s, but this charged manifesto from Swedish radical punks International Noise Conspiracy proves that activism doesn't have to get in the way of fun. The band look to the late '70s and early '80s for inspiration from the likes of the Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, and the Damned, but you have to go all the way back to the garage punk of the '60s to find the true blueprint for the revved-up "You Really Got Me" guitar hooks, "96 Tears" organ tones, and hyperactive tambourine thrashing that powers INC's idea of revolution rock. Singer Dennis Lyxzen rushes through each song with manic energy, dispensing distorted yelps and gasping audibly for air without ever losing his grip on the melody as he romanticizes about being part of some radical upheaval. The opener, "I Wanna Know About You," is a fast and furious crash course in the history of various political movements that fit his bill, including the Spanish anarchists and the protesters at Tiananmen Square. But rather than preaching, Lyxzen just sounds as if he were having a good time. And in "Smash It Up," he could almost be giving instructions for a new dance craze as he drops his version of political science: "Yeah yeah, you know we gotta smash it up/Yeah, yeah, everybody wants to smash it up . . . /For all the workers/Who spent hours and did nothing/For all the sisters/Who got caught up in this funky system."

-- Matt Parish