(Sudden Death Records) Vancouver hard-core punkers, D.O.A are celebrating their 35th year anniversary with a new live CD and a farewell tour! Yes, after numerous records and numerous personnel changes, lead vocalist/guitarist Joey (Shithead) Keithley, bassist Dirty Dan Sedan and drummers Jesse Pinner (who performed on the first 12 tracks) and Floor Tom Jones (who did the rest) are wrapping things up with a 28-track record. Recorded live at the Rickshaw Theatre in downtown Vancouver over three nights between June 2011 and January 2013, the significance of the Rickshaw being that it was in February 1978 that D.O.A’s first ever performance was at the Rickshaw. It used to be said that true punk music was spawned by musicians who had a genuine beef against society and listening to Welcome To China as a recap, Mr Shithead has a lot to gripe about.
Introducing most of the tracks with a quick shout out to ‘who he’s complaining about, keithley’ takes a run at such diverse targets as `Police Brutality’, `Disco Sucks’, `World War 3’, `I Live In A Car’, `General Strike’ , `Slumlord’ plus personal loathing subjects such as `Fuck You’, `I Hate You’ and `I’m Right You’re Wrong’.
D.O.A’s original audience may now all be doctors, lawyer and other professionals he continues to rail against, but you can’t but credit Keithley’s tenacity in attacking numerous public and corporate targets.
His `talk minus action equals zero’ slogan does make a lot of sense and there’s a bristled adrenalin rush that comes out of his guitar work and the raw percussive backing supplied by Sedan and both drummers. In all, a pretty raw set yet songs that will leave certain people uncomfortable and wary of his presence.
Suggested Downloads: Fuck You, Race Riot, I’m Right, You’re Wrong