In my childhood, my parents thought they were Communists. They weren’t, really. Like many others of that generation, better jobs and a flow of materialistic goods changed their ways and opinions as the 80s progressed, and when the wall finally came tumbling down, there was very little faith left in the whole idea; Communism had, so to speak, sold out.
But those years are deeply rooted in me. There was a certain spirit of that time, when my folks were against basically anything that came from the sitting government, the United States and the budding EU (or EEC as it was called back then) and that spirit is something I can still recognise miles off. When I listened to James Fogarty’s Ewigkeit the first time, there was a spark of that very same spirit, his agenda definitely not lying to the right of the political centre.
Now that Fogarty’s redefined Ewigkeit and turned it into The Bombs of Enduring Freedom (perhaps because the German name caused too many misunderstandings), the style has also been a further refinement of the style of music that was experimented with on Ewigkeit’s swansong, the excellent ‘Conspiritus’ (2005).
Fogarty is still against basically anything that could restrict the individual freedom for all of us, including all the brilliant initiatives that religious groups come up with (Religious Suicide), the internment of supposed terrorists without proof (Guantanamo Bay International (Suspect Package Holiday)) and the way the media are leading us into conformity (Television). And there’s no love lost between Fogarty and our big allied on the other side of the Atlantic; G.I. Jesus is a rather blunt comment on the behaviour of the Americans (and a hilarious imagery, by the way).
Musically, TBOEF employs many of the same elements as Ewigkeit did on its last opus. Heavy guitars are mixed with electronic beats, samples and extremely catchy, pop-like vocal lines – paradoxical as this is when you consider Fogarty’s insistence on clinging to the underground. But the conclusion is that Fogarty’s song writing talent should not be underestimated – I wonder what could become of it if he were to team up with a real band?
