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Article about Mischief Brew in TEMPLE NEWS.
Article in Origivation Magazine.
"Best Anarchist Political Folk-Punk Singer - MISCHIEF BREW.
Erik Petersen, a/k/a MISCHIEF BREW, has the face of a sweet teenage boy about to get into some serious trouble. His music is a gypsy mix of folk, punk, and swing. The androgynous characters in his foot-tapping tunes lament the current condition of these United States and blaze alternative paths. And did I mention he's also a cutie?"
-Village Voice, Best of NYC 2005 Issue
Reviews of "Songs from Under the Sink" LP
"What a great album! I've never heard of Mischief Brew before, and now I'm a huge fan! "Songs From Under The Sink" is the follow up to the band's album, "Smash The Windows". This album is mainly acoustic, with occasional blasts of electrical instrumentation, unlike the previous disc. All the tracks on "Songs From Under The Sink" were written six to ten years ago, and as far as I can tell have never seen the light of day on CD or vinyl. If you aren't familiar with the band, they play an anarcho-punk rock meets typical gypsy-folk. You won't find anything similar to Anti-Flag here, unless you count the state in which both band's are from. All of the tracks feature great songwriting, double meanings, hidden agendas, rise up and fight emotion and just plain open your eyes you fools philosophies. I've never been much one on interpreting others ideas and thoughts, but on this album, you are forced to take a tight listen to the lyrics, because the sound of the mandolin, piano and guitar seem to take a back seat to the vocals. It's a great concept, because the message is so powerful and important, moreso than the sound of the song itself! I found myself listening over and over to certain songs, to get more and more in depth about what exactly the song meant, who it was for and why it was written, meaning where did the issue emanate from and why may there be contention about the subject at hand. Alright, maybe I'm getting a little deep here, but rightly so, as the disc may be fun and have a sing-along style to many of the songs... It's more about getting the message out and having people understand the insincerity of their government and authority figures, the plight of the less fortunate and the inherent problems within many systems that govern our lives. I've said before that I take a lot of anti-government/authority in stride, everyone has an opinion on things, but Mischief Brew really has hit on high notes that I can really appreciate and respect. And they have done it with some masterful music that is easily one of the most enjoyable albums I've heard all year. The disc features fourteen tracks, with two that stand out more than the others: "Thanks Bastards" and "Save A City...". Both are simply incredible! All you protest rockers, anti-establishment marchers and fans of acoustic folk punk should run out and grab this disc right away."
-Hussieskunk Radio
"It's creepy that Erik Petersen has a song on this collection of forgotten songs from a span of five years in the late '90s and early '00's called "Children Play With Matches." It's creepy because he could be one of those children and a friction match is one of the cleverest ways to analogize the man who performs almost exclusively as Mischief Brew, a Philly bar regular. It's a great analogy for its cautious tale. The songs on this album are ferocious and biting. Were they in the same room with Bush, Rumsfeld, or Rice, they would maul until the floor was bloody pulp. They're anti-war, anti-this-administration, and they're railing against all of the bastards out there making the world a crummy place. Were Petersen's legs and arms and face and feet and fingers made of the same combination of potassium chlorate, sulfur, sugar, and rubber as his songs are, we'd be in trouble because picking up a spoon would rub just enough to set everything alblaze all over again. His clever wordplay and pissed off consistency - that reminds of a red-faced Irish temper - make this album a worthwhile bit of release."
-Punk Planet #76
"I usually have a quick disregard for one man shows or folk punk or the like, but I had the opportunity to see this one man show called Mischief Brew at my local DIY venue. He brought a crowd uncommon to the venue that was very noticeable when I had first arrived. So, I was skeptical of what was going to transpire. A gentleman plugged in an acoustic guitar into an amplifier and the small but energetic crowd rushed forward to the stage. Song after song, the crowd sang along. Many of the punks that frequent the venue to see crust shows were interspersed in the crowd and were singing too. That sight brought out excitement in me witnessing the moment. This bard was playing music that is described as “acoustic anarcho ballads with tricks galore” that the audience learned the lyrics and sang along. Knowing the lyrics showed that his ideology was soaked into the masses appreciating the performance. If all bands could have that honor, they would achieve the ultimate experience when playing live. It is like witnessing a new generation Shane MacGowan with a new bunch of admirers."
-Razorcake #34
"This is a collection of MISCHIEF BREW songs from 1997-2002, and what a fantastic title for this compilation. The liner notes call this a kind of 'lost album' and shit, thank God they found it and decided to release this stuff! It's totally assorted style-wise (not quality-wise!) as to be expected with material spanning a 5-year period. And for me, this miscellany is what defines MISCHIEF BREW and what makes them such a stimulating and impetuous band. I just can't fault this band. They are melancholy and fun all at once, they just know how to mix things up and get a perfect balance. They are interesting and fascinating and the sound and song-writing just sucks me in. Erik Petersen certainly doesn't do things any way but his own and that's such a thrill to hear. His imagination is wild and that comes through the music with all the enthusiasm. I've spun this record four times in a row today and I don't see it stopping anytime soon. I'm so happy that I'm on holiday for the next couple weeks because this will be my soundtrack for the summer. I can't wait. Brilliant cover art on this record too."
-No Front Teeth Webzine
Reviews of "Smash the Windows" CD
"I seriously cannot get this off my stereo. From the first listen, I couldn't help but feel that I had known these songs all my life, in my blood, despite having never heard several of them before. This is not so much in my review pile as in my "always accessible to play anytime, over and over again" pile. I LOVE it. For those of you familiar with Mischief Brew, you already know how fantastic this is. Folk punk at its finest, Mischief Brew manage to team together many musical styles such as old folk, raw punk rock, country, blues, soul, and so, so much more. Played with a sense of urgency, these songs are sure to get you dancing, thinking, contemplating, reaching for a friend, a beer, a trip down memory lane. My favorites on this latest release are "Nomads Revolt" ("swore we'd carry on like this forever, until the free spirits bled, but now can you believe who's a mother, and that so-and-so's cut off their dreads..."), "Roll Me Through the Gates of Hell" ("I am a leader but you will not follow me, I ain't no preacher for I'm full of blasphemy, see you in Hell, boys!"), and "Departure Arrival." Personal, political, plain ol' fantastic, "Smash the Windows" is one of my new favorite releases. Cheers to the man with the acoustic guitar, alone on stage, who can rock a room of dirty, patch covered kids into a fucking frenzy! Excellent."
-Profane Existence Magazine #52/53
"Somewhere between a Weird Al sounding vocal style, an Anti-Flag philosophy and a country gypsy or pirate rock sound, lies the genius of Mischief Brew! Anarcho-punk that follows sea shanties, or is it chanties...songs sung by sailors. This is brotherhood rock as much as it is protest punk. Every track drags you into a bouncy and hip sound, with sing-along choruses and approving melodies that will have you tapping your toe in no time. This disc features thirteen tracks of traditional sounding rock tunes that are strangely front a lot of time by a mandolin, not really a punk rock instrument of destruction if you ask me... Some have called this 100% gypsy rock, but the band isn't anything like a Gogol Bordello... They do offer a track featuring New York based traditional something rockers Guignol, about as close as Mischief Brew get to gypsy. I've also heard this referred to as pirate music... I agree on several, but not all tracks. I guess I get the feeling that the band is more traditionally folk in sound that lends itself towards old desperado types... I guess it's best said that Mischief Brew isn't fight music, it's drinking music. Some of the tracks though start off very un-punk, un-traditional, un-pirate, and well, somewhat emo-ish... Eeek! No seriously, it's just that the band is setting the mood for the upcoming mixture of traditional instruments and politically charged lyrics. I enjoyed a couple of the tracks on this disc, but I still feel that the release following this one, "Songs From Under The Sink" is the best release I have heard from the band."
-Hussieskunk Radio
"I first heard MISCHIEF BREW on their ‘Bakenal’ EP and I was hooked straight away. I can’t tell you how much of a sucker I am for folk-punk and how often I get let down by bands that just don’t cut it with me, bands that just don’t excite me and who are churning out hackneyed shit, so needless to say that when a band comes along that strikes me and excites me, I hang on to them with both hands and clasp like crazy. That’s how I feel about MISCHIEF BREW and shit does ‘Smash The Windows’ blow me away...this is wonderful, this is the sound I am after, the perfect blend of folk and punk rock grit. They really don’t stick to any kind of formula which makes this record so varied and that’s so great and the whole thing sounds so fucking spontaneous and fiery and that’s something I’ve missed from music in a long time. It’s hard to place MISCHIEF BREW’s sound and I don’t really want to pin it down because it’s so unbound and impulsive but think of folk delivered with a purely punk rock attitude with sharp and provoking lyrics...THE POGUES, SHOULDERS, SWINGIN’ UTTERS, FILTHY THIEVING BASTARDS come to mind, maybe a touch of THOSE UNKNOWN...but it won’t do just to compare them to these bands because really they sound nothing like them when your really listen, this is something all their own. I mean, songs like ‘Nomads Revolt’ and ‘The Lowly Carpenter’ just blow my mind and I could listen to just those two songs in loop all day and I’d be happy. But the whole album is a burning hot and I strongly urge you to get your hands on some MISCHIEF BREW material...I’m surprised this disc hasn’t melted the amount of times it’s spun in my player."
-No Front Teeth Webzine
"Once again, a gushing review of this band from me. Mischief Brew is everything a punk could want in a folky, old-timey band. Sweet anti-harmonies of gruff vocals over jangly music that seems to be combining guitar, trumpet, and moonshine jug flawlessly. The lyrics on this CD are stellar. Poetic anthems to a downtrodden life and the hope for a brighter tomorrow that inspire you to throw a wrench in the gears and enjoy what little of the natural world is left. Fans of acoustic punk, labor unions, pirates, drinking songs, and sticking it to the man take note. This is real good shit."
-Heartattack #48
"When I first put this record on, I filed it away in my head as another Pogues revival band and it sort of got lost in the review pile. But once I unearthed it and put it on a few more times, I started to realize that there was a lot more going on here than that. Mischief Brew does more than strap on a bagpipe once in a while, fake an Irish accent and basically play bad punk rock otherwise (see: Dropkick Murphy's, Real Mackenzie's, etc.). There is obviously a strong undercurrent of Irish drinking songs throughout Smash the Windows, but it's balanced with a lot of other things along the way. Like more interesting and unpredictable revivalists like Calexico or Devotchka, Erik Petersen manages to meld influences from the darker half of classic country, Irish folk songs and a much more creepy and hard to define collection of sounds. But at its most basic and stripped-down moments, a Tom Waits comparison is pretty evident as well.
Covering almost 50 minutes, Smash the Windows can be a pretty dizzying pile of different sounds and ideas when it's first taken all at once. But after a couple listens, a number of consistent themes start to emerge. The tag of "gypsy punk" fits pretty well, as much as I've always thought that was sort of a silly label. In the case of Mischief Brew though, the shoe fits. Despite what's initially sort of an unorganized stack of mandolin, guitar, drums and even some assorted horns, Erik Petersen and Mischief Brew manage to find a surprisingly focused sound. It doesn't rely on any gimmick, or hide behind the variety of what he's doing because the songs themselves are well-written. The variety here is used to boost already well-written songs, rather than using it as a mask to hide behind. A lot of ideas has never been a substitute for good ideas, but thankfully on Smash the Windows there's actually both. Adventurous fans of anyone mentioned above should look into this."
-The New Scheme #13
"This is the brand new full-length from beloved punk folk singer/guitar-playing Erik Petersen and his crew of mischievious musicians. This is a beautiful looking CD with fantastic art, great lyrics and amazing songs. The first chunk of songs are new favorites that he's been playing live a lot of late. My favorite song on here is "Nomads Revolt," which is about the nomads and punks growing up and settling down and the lyrics hit hard and true and beautiful. There is a gypsy feeling to this, an eastern Europe feel, a hobo in the fields jamming and strumming hard on a guitar in a way that will get you dancing and singing and clapping along. It's infectious and inspiring and so amazing! This is one of those CDs, and one of those releases that deserves a whole essay to be written cause there is so much to comment on, but time and space negate that, so I'll just say that this is amazing beyond words and I'm moved, and feel it to the core of my being... This CD does go into a bit of a new tangent with even more additional instruments, that take on a bit of a new sound with saxophone and mandolin. But this is where the landless gypsy rovers and the crusty punks, the hobos and the anarchists all converge in a pub and share a beer or a whiskey and overthrow the establishment together..."
-Slug and Lettuce #84
"I recently embarked on a road trip with my cousin across the vast and scenically boring state of Pennsylvania. When people tell you there's nothing between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh except grass, they ain't lyin'. But we were on a quest to “release our inner Kerouac” as the advertisements from “VisitPA.com” will request of you. At the onset of a journey most will find the difficult task of choosing driving songs; a healthy selection of fast, slow, upbeat and joyous tunes for the stereo. In our case there were no worries. My cousin slipped into his cd player a scratched, over-used yet still playable pressing of an album by Mischief Brew. A cross between Tom Waits and Bob Dylan this raspy-voiced singer's tool of choice for storytelling is folk, but don't let preconceptions of the genre turn you off. Mischief Brew's folk is fast-paced with fingernail-ripping guitar playing. Known off-stage as Erik Petersen, his previous musical accomplishments include the EP's "Bellingham and Philadelphia" and "Bakenal." With this first full-length "Smash the Windows," Mischief takes on an entire album with the ease and passion of past efforts. Songs like “Citizens Drive,” “From the Rooftops” and “Nomads Revolt” pour Brew's token anti-establishment lyrics into the ears and hopefully minds of impressionable listeners. The aforementioned “Nomads Revolt” begs for our civilization to mutiny against the fabrications that taught us this land was settled by noblemen and not by slave traders and miscreants: “Kill off Columbus and turn the world around. After all, the nomads are settling down. Out of the garden we multiply, telling our stories, may all the old ways die…” “Roll Me Through the Gates of Hell” is this record's battle cry; an anthem of anarchy the kids in France could have used. This rebel comes out in full as we hear chants for blatant disregard of conformity: “When you offer pink or blue I'll take the blackest, when you offer only two I'll offer three. When you point me in a direction I'll run backwards, and at the boarder of Utopia I'll toast to anarchy!” As if to lull us into slumber, the conclusion song “Departure Arrival” takes place on the dream train our psyches board each night. The tune disembarks from the rabble-rousing of other tracks to escape the waking world and bring us together with souls from past, present and future lives: “If I ever fall asleep, I'll remember my dream, where everybody's there and nobody leaves.” The ensemble shouts of chaos and freedom, filling the listener with a power to battle the oppressors of a country that claims to harbor liberty. You couldn't ask for much more when two guys are burning through the Chesapeake Water Gap at 100 miles per hour."
-Equal Music.com
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Reviews of "Bakenal" EP
“Have a drink with my new friend Erik. Mr. Petersen and I have all of these pints to get through, and there are only the two of us. My new friend’s got a head full of some hella good stories. He’s got an attitude and, even though I’ve never seen his bare arms, I can only picture them inked up like a wedding reception guest book, only with daggers in place of signatures. When he pulls his guitar up onto his lap and plays “Roll Me Through the Gates of Hell,” that’s when it gets special. You won’t want him going to hell without you. He makes it sound like the place where all the best fun is. He’s been there. The rest of us have just heard about it, as in these five amazingly written songs. I say we check the place out.” -Punk Planet #59
“Five songs of awesome folk-punk, inspired by anarchist punk roots and Irish folk, and where the cultural and political roots meet and cross. Amazing amped, energetic, catchy songs that you feel deep in your bones. But while amped with energy, this is delivered acoustically – but with a full band. Energetic and danceable and satisfying in a deep soulful way. Inspired by the likes of the Levellers, and classic and traditional roots as well. I can’t say enough about how amazing Erik and his band are. There’s a phenomenon brewing in Philly and I hope it spreads far and wide and gets the punks dancing under the full moon and harvesting the crops in the fields and the weeds in the alleys, playing in gypsy bands and riding the rails, sharing a beer by the fireside and a story on the porch, and having a soundtrack to inspire the dreams of action, freedom, and rebellion. This is amazing!!!!” -Slug & Lettuce #76 “With guitar and drums on this recording, Erik brings back (one of) the roots of punk with resistance and revelry filled folk with some of the most insightful and inspirational lyrics I’ve come across in years.” -Paper Street
“Mischief Brew plays down home, upbeat acoustic music that is somewhere between gypsy rock and folk punk. I’m familiar with Erik Petersen’s stuff from the split LP with Robert Blake (which spent a good long time in the stereo at Ebullition HQ) – and I really like his spirited resistance poetry. Mischief Brew poses as a full (jug) band version of that same appealing folk stuff – though it is just a few others chiming in from time to time. Most of this is basically just Erik Petersen and his guitar. This is a lot of rocking moments and even more that overflow with personality and vivacity. This CD has some really great stuff; recommended for folk enthusiasts or those down with the pirate vibe.” -Heartattack #41
“What really pisses me off is that there are only five songs on this disc. This is one of the best discs I’ve heard in a long time. Acoustic, folk-type music is the best way to describe this, but then it is a woefully inadequate description of this fun, quirky, catchy, and wildly entertaining music. I really love this. It could only be improved by being about two hours longer.” -Impact Press #50
“Mischief Brew is folk music anarcho-punk style. The first song brings the bluesy style of Tom Waits to mind, but they quickly shift gears into more traditional acoustic guitar accompanied folk songs, then back to more blues. There are only five songs on this CD, but each one is a monumental anthem in its own right. The perfect CD to listen to on the morning after a hard night of smashing the state (or punishing the liver).” -Profane Existence #44
“This is Erik Petersen of The Orphans’ acoustic project, and this CD presents five tracks of eerie and unprocessed folk that reminds me of a mix between Shane MacGowan and Shoulders – both of which I am a huge fan – and then doused in punk rock roughness. The songwriting and lyrics are fantastic and “Roll Me Through The Gates of Hell” is a fucking pearl. I’m sorry there’s only five songs on here…I hope there’s a full-length in the works because this ain’t enough.” -No Front Teeth Webzine
“This is Erik Petersen’s band. It’s anti-authoritarian carnies mingling with folk punk and creeping out the security guards. As usual he manages to avoid the repetitious strum-strum-strum of acoustic music kicking up dust with a percussive melodic celtic guitar style and just plain good songs.” -Daybreak Newspaper
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Reviews of "Bellingham & Philadelphia" split LP
“How to begin. These two play acoustic folk political punk that is so awesome, so moving, so powerful and intense, it’s hard to capture the words to describe it. I’ve been charmed by Erik and his guitar before. He released a tape of his recordings, “Mischief Brew,” and I liked the tape so much it stayed in my car and got listened to so much, that it never made it back into the house and the computer to be reviewed. I still feel bad about that – ‘cause I liked it so much, it didn’t get reviewed (and that is not how it’s supposed to happen). Okay, so Erik plays with so much passion and so much intensity, he can command an audience on his own – with no amplification and no band. He can sing his heart out and pound that guitar into a frenzy. And it’s so beautiful it makes me cry. I have not felt this way since I used to listen to Chris Neumann from 2.5 Children play his songs, and it was an awakening in me – recognizing the beauty of a voice and a guitar and the depth to which that simple combo can move your heart to soar in inspiration, love, and tears. Well I haven’t heard anything like it in years except for Erik. I saw him play a few years ago and had that great tape. Now here are some new songs that are absolutely delightful and awesome. With a strong Irish feel, these are songs of protest, love, and liberation willed with so much intensity and passion, all in a story. For anyone who’s liked the Levellers, some $ETH, and some good old Irish folk – well, you’re not going to hear anything better than this.” -Slug and Lettuce #75
“One of the most attractive qualities of punk rock is the fact that so many records carry important messages that mainstream media just wouldn’t allow. Both Erik Petersen and Robert Blake take that to heart on this amazing split album by two singers/songwriters with important messages to share. Erik Petersen delivers six inspired songs that land somewhere between Tom Waits, Justin Sane, and the Tossers, while Robert Blake’s material comes with a heavy folk influence a la early Bob Dylan. Indeed it was Bob Dylan who first truly combined politics, social commentary and popular music. Years later, it is the same spirit that drives these two musicians to write songs that contain not just catchy choruses, but also observations on topics not usually approached by musicians. Yes, it is incredibly difficult to put into words what these two so eloquently put into their music. However, it is easy to say that, as intimate as singer/songwriter releases normally are, this split is twice as touching, important and inspirational.” -Punk Planet #58
“It seems to me that there are few genres as loaded with a ripe potential for unadulterated mediocrity as political folk music. As someone who travels in activist circles, in the past year I've found myself embroiled in several heated (I kid you not) arguments about whether or not political folk music has any real relevancy to contemporary political struggle in the United States. Now let me first say that I more or less believe it when people tell me that the folk culture championed by likes of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, and the all the lesser-known black musicians from whom they originally copped their style (see, for one, Mr. Huddie Ledbetter) at one time had a certain resonance in the political scene, no doubt turning scores of kids on to the Civil Rights Movement and spreading awareness about the injustices of the American status quo. But now it's four decades later: three decades after many of the original instigators of the 60’s movement gave up on the hippy-dippy, nonviolence-at-all-costs atmosphere that is usually associated with the Dylan and his ilk, and just in time for the early stages of what will no doubt become one of the most apocalyptic and potentially explosive eras of American political history. For those who haven't yet done so, isn't it about time to start questioning whether or not this "protest folk" associated with the past can still be seen as an appropriate accompaniment to the struggles that are going on all around us today? Is this still the music of resistance, or is this just nostalgia for what resistance used to look like? If you ask me, not only are the times a’changin', they have a’changed. With the rise of hip hop and punk as outlets for venting revolutionary opposition to government repression, the uninformed groupthink right-wing's purges of any progressive-populist/anti-government sentiments from country music, and the general yuppifcation of properly termed folk music on the whole, the saliency of political folk has certainly withered significantly over time. Today more a vehicle for liberal condescension than a genuine means of agitation, political folk writ large has essentially been stripped of its communicative ability and today mostly serves as a means for political people who care more about lyrics than they do musical composition to chuckle or feel smug about themselves and their superior politics... that or to bring back fond, hallucinatory memories of the comfortable, bougie-pacifist revolution that never quite happened in the US. Indeed, the only thing that makes me sadder than having to endure some middle-aged white guy or gal belting out a mediocre folk ditty written from the perspective of an imaginary Iraqi child, is the recognition that after he or she his done there will always be a handful of people lined up to buy their latest album so that they can possess what must be the audio equivalent of one those delightful "NO BLOOD FOR OIL" bumper stickers: not art by any means, simply an affirmation of one's own opinions. But though the protest folk scene of today has by and large been reduced to little more than poorly-composed modifications of the great revolution we're all either waiting for or scared shitless of, after giving a listen to Bellingham & Philadelphia, a split between political folksters Robert Blake and Erik Petersen, I've found that I can't pronounce the genre dead quite yet. Following in the musical footsteps of acts like Against Me!, whose bread-and-butter is the blending of jaunty sing-along political punk songs with sensitive acoustic ballads, Erik Petersen is an acoustic-wielding punker from the city of brotherly love whose talent for painting anarcho-punk pictures of the ruins of urban collapse and suburban moral vacancy is almost unparalleled. For those not already hip to Petersen's music, his opening six-track contribution to this split will no doubt represent a new hope for meaningful political folk music as this Philadelphia native has conjured up a brand of music which is simultaneously painfully earnest, engaging, politically conscious, and above all, played without a hint of nostalgia. On the opening track, "Every Town Will Celebrate," a gravel-voiced Petersen shouts out the foreboding story of Celebration, FL, a town built and operated by the Disney Corporation. With an ominously perky refrain of "Every town will celebrate someday! / Waving sweatshop flags and grandé lattés / wearing culture on their backs / wearing spirit on their hats / one by one they'll join the parade and celebrate!" Petersen indignantly spins yarns about the quasi-fascist nature of American monoculture while his loose guitar strumming, punctuated phrasing, and occasional hooting exclamations ("Heeeey!") keeps the music barreling forward. By contrast, "Olde Tyme Mem'ry" is a much slower and more sentimental dignified requiem for lost things (such as humanity, home, and good whiskey). "Boycott Me!" returns more to the indignant pissed-off folk of "Every Town" but is also Petersen's most politically heavy-handed song, referencing the Fraternal Order of Police's much publicized boycott of radical performers and artists because of their support for the political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. Though all of Petersen's tracks on Bellingham & Philadelphia are for the most part flawless, the two real stand-outs on the split are "Dirty Pennies," a lengthy, emotive vignette that shamelessly pulls on the listener's heartstrings to reveal a tale of social division of the costs of authoritarianism, and the percussion-backed "Liberty Unmasked" which plays as close to Against Me! as anything on this album. "Fare Well, Good Fellows" simply closes out Petersen's half with talk of revolution and the need to find one's own path through it. If you're feeling burned by the state of politically-minded folk music, I'd strongly advise you to give this split a serious listen before you throw out all your old Dylan albums in utter disgust. As uneven as this split is, I can guarantee it'll be more than worth your time to hear a unique brand of folk music that will make you want to run out and smash the state. Protest folk may be on the decline, but it sure as heck ain't finished.” -Artnoise
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