The first time I listened to this new EP from Jello Biafra and Ministry, I
hated it.


70's Rock Must Die starts with a classic rock guitar riff and Jello singing
like he's in Rush. Sounds like it could be amusing, right? Well, it's not,
at first. The song goes on for 7 minutes, and it almosts sounds like Jello
is paying tribute to 70's rock bands, as opposed to parodying them. After
the second or third listen, though, I got the joke, I guess, and I am
digging the song.


While none of the songs on this EP really live up to Lard's earlier
standards, the second track -- Volcanus 2000 (We Wipe The World) --
probably does the best job of trying. Starting out with a minute of
feedback noise and Jello speaking, the song blows up into a pounding guitar
riff and drum machines. It sounds pretty similar to a song that was
contained, I think, on Lard's last album, Pure Chewing Satisfaction.
However, I still haven't gotten around to buying that on CD, and I can't
find my dubbed copy (yeah, dubbed, that's right -- fuck the record
industry!) so I am not sure what it sounds exactly like. 


The EP ends with The Ballad of Marshall Ledbetter, another song in the
traditional Lard vein. Apparently, Ledbetter seized the Capitol building in
Florida and demanded to speak to Chuck D, Timothy Leary, Ice Cube, Lemmy
from Motorhead, and Jello Biafra, among others. Jello basically retells the
story in this song, but it's just not too interesting.


The liner notes for this EP are done in the classic cut-and-paste fashion
that have been a part of Jello Biafra's releases since the Dead Kennedys.
However, they don't make up for the lackluster music on this EP. If you're
a fan, you've already got this. If you're looking to get started on Lard,
pick up The Last Temptation of Reid.