Review: Citizen Fish

Citizen Fish
Goods
LP
Alternative Tentacles / Bluurg Records
Rating: How could this possibly not be good?

Wouldn’t it be weird if Citizen Fish came out with an album with songs about their favorite television shows, making lots of money, and trusting government to do the right thing? It would be the Bizzaro World Citizen Fish album and it would only be available for download on Amazon. Of course, with Goods, there are no such songs. In fact, all of the problems the group began singing about all those years ago still exist — and they’re much worse than they were before. That’s why it’s still so relevant to sing about the damaging effects of television (“Human Conditioner” and “Click”), waking up (in the aptly titled tune “Wake Up”) and the perils of fear and hate (“Better”). With each new punk generation discovering the group (I bought my first Citizen Fish album in 1998), the importance of conveying the message of self-reliance, anti-greed, and pro-giving-a-shit cannot be understated in such a self-destructive, vain society. Of course if a band can put these messages to a danceable, catchy soundtrack, then why the fuck not? Citizen Fish helped shape my personal and political outlook as much as Dead Kennedys and Propagandhi. It’s music for the soul.