Preview
GWAR
Tuesday, November 23
MacEwan Hall (U of C)
Gwar lead singer Oderous Urungus is pissed.
Also known as Dave Brockie (he switches between the two throughout the interview, claiming that Brockie is locked in the trunk of the car and occasionally escapes to give an opinion), the grizzly crooner has been dealing with naysayers for far too long. After nearly two decades of slugging it out in a big rubber suit as a "giant mutant marauder from outer space," playing heavy metal to suck the souls of worthless humans (or something thereabouts), he’s sick of his theatrical rock and all of his band’s blood, sweat and tears being relegated to the status of mere gimmick.
"Gwar is funny, but it’s a gimmick that gets old? Fuck off," says Brockie, with a grunt. "Every band has a gimmick, whether you’re pretending you’re giant mutant metal marauders from outer space or you’re dudes with long hair and bullet belts. Our shtick is way more versatile because, while the dudes with bullet belts and long hair are going bald and getting fat, I’m climbing into my air-conditioned Oderous Urungus murder suit. And quite honestly, the fatter I get, the more the fans like it! We have as much to do with Cats (the musical) as we do with Black Sabbath. It’s a theatrical production… way-off-Broadway theatre brought to you in a punk rock-metal venue."
Currently on tour in support of their latest slab of guitar-laden thunder, War Party, Gwar has taken this opportunity not to change their overall esthetic or goal, but to incorporate new elements. Where 2002’s Violence Has Arrived was a step away from the overly cartoonish gag songs and back into a threatening metallic grunt, War Party sees this bloody outfit following the same musical path and offering up their own opinion on the current American political climate.
"Our last album was getting back to our metal roots and away from the stupid comedic songs," Brockie admits. "We have so many damned albums, but we wanted to get back to the metal. That was a metal-horror-fantasy version. We’re back to what we wanted to be about, but we wanted to up the ante with more satire and socio-political commentary… whatever that means."
Urungus interjects: "Commentary? We’re giving you a big thumbs up! Ever since Gwar awoke from their Arctic slumber, the world has been getting more and more fucked up. Gwar is witnessing the mass chaos, starvation, alienation, death and hatred – everything that afflicts the planet – and we’re happy…. Hell yeah, humans!"
Brockie expands on Urungus’s sentiments (still following along?):
"(War Party) is Oderous’s assault on the political process and humans’ attitude to war… specifically the war on terror. The war against terror? What a stupid thing: a war against an idea. There’s no person to target so it can last forever. That’s what this album is about: to be an artist living in America at this time and having a means such as Gwar to fight an evil empire with and point out how ridiculous it is. There’s never been a better time to wield the sword of Gwar and we’re gonna shove it right up society’s ass."
Rest assured that said sword will be pointed at its target with the meticulousness of a sniper. Plotting the band’s every move with clinical attention, Brockie maintains that, despite being Gwar’s first current events-related offering, on every other level War Party is exactly what we should expect from the scumdogs of the universe.
"The songs might be more hateful and they might have more satire involved – it might not be as overtly humorous as me singing about fucking an animal – but it’s still funny as shit. Despite the serious overtones, it’s still hilarious. All you’ve gotta do is turn on the news and see the worthless idiots getting attention or running the world. There are so many people we want to kill, but we just don’t have enough time."
But will delivering such weighty material through unconventional – and decidedly funny – means hinder the overall point?
Brockie scoffs. "Not at all. I think it holds more poignancy that way," he says. "Every band in the world out there is serious because they don’t have the intelligence or talent to be funny. Being funny is a lot harder. Comedians will tell you that to be funny is harder than straight acting. With something like Gwar, though, it’s just easy. The medium we’re working with… it’s the most outrageous show of any rock ’n’ roll band ever. You won’t be disappointed... you’ll be fucking scared!" |
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