Poster Children have announced their new record, their first since 2004’s No More Songs About Sleep and Fire. They’re calling it Grand Bargain!, and it’s out May 18th — you can hear the title track now:
Produced by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio, this is action from a band that had a quick stint in 2016 for the 25th anniversary of Daisychain Reaction, including a performance at PYGMALION in Champaign that same year.
Check out the album art below, and some more information about the release.
Lyrics from “Grand Bargain!”:
Grand Bargain!
America held hostage day one
A lot of folks woke up without power this morning
It’s every man for himself
And every woman at 70% of the going rateIn the land of the free market
And the home of the wage slave
It’s not the robots you need to worry about
It’s the corporate humanI am a paid enemy of the state
Guilty in an attempt to educate
To teach is to leach to sell divine
The business of America is businessThis is a company town
A 21st Century Pullman
16 tons or 64bits it’s all the sameKleptocracy
Rule by thieves
To use the mechanism of government
To enrich oneself
At the expense of the greater goodThe 6 billion dollar man will be our savior
Greed is God
Starve the Beast
Deregulate
Let’s see if that puts food on your plate
Here’s the press release:
America held hostage day one
A lot of folks woke up without power this morning
It’s every man for himself
And every woman at 70% of the going rate
– Poster Children, Grand Bargain!
Poster Children are back with a scathing new political album, their first new release in 14 years. Grand Bargain! is a return to their formative years, engineered by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio, with a raw and intense fury matching their heralded live performances.
Leading to their return, in 2016, Poster Children released the 25th anniversary edition of their renowned album, “Daisy Chain Reaction” (Twin/Tone / Sire / Lotuspool Records). The limited edition vinyl included a hand-made zine with forward by indie rock guitarist/journalist, Jon Fine. Both the album and subsequent tour garnered rave reviews in celebration of PC’s return and in anticipation of their upcoming new release. That release, “Grand Bargain!” is here and it happily greets those expectations with an aggressive view of our current state of affairs.
In the land of the free market
And the home of the wage slave
It’s not the robots you need to worry about
It’s the corporate human
Poster Children was formed in Champaign, Illinois in 1987 by Rick Valentin (guitar, vocals) and Rose Marshack (bass, vocals). Jim Valentin joined on guitar in 1991 and Matt Friscia (drummer #7) joined in 2001. The band are known for their DIY attitude and for pioneering digital communication with fans.
They began coding their own websites and Enhanced CDs in 1994, started blogging online in 1995 via tour reports and have one of the longest running podcasts, Radio Zero, which started in 1998 before the word podcast was even coined.
I am a paid enemy of the state
Guilty in attempt to educate
To teach is to leech, to sell divine
The business of America is business
Poster Children Grand Bargain! out on May 18th 2018 on Lotuspool Records, in LP, CD, and cassette. Single release on January 19th 2018.