Live Fast, Diarrhea

Infobox Album |
Name = Live Fast, Diarrhea
Type = Album
Artist = The Vandals


Released = October 1995
Recorded =
Genre = Punk rock
Length = 31:40
Label = Nitro
Producer = Warren Fitzgerald
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|1.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:1krsa9cgu23a link] |
Last album = "" (1991)
This album = "Live Fast, Diarrhea" (1995)
Next album = "The Quickening" (1996)

"Live Fast, Diarrhea" is the fourth studio album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals, released in 1995 by Nitro Records. It was the band's first album for Nitro, a label started and co-owned by Dexter Holland and Greg Kriesel of The Offspring. It was also the first to be produced by Vandals guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, who would continue to produce most of their albums throughout their career, and the first to include Brooks Wackerman, who often substituted for regular drummer Josh Freese. It was a breakthrough release for the band, who would release three more albums on Nitro before moving to their own label Kung Fu Records in 2002.

The album's title is a play on the saying "live fast, die young," a popular phrase in the punk community of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The album cover is a drawing by Fitzgerald of a man shooting a pistol at an airplane, with the title misspelled as "diarrea." The artwork in the liner notes includes a memo stating that the band may absolutely not use this picture on the cover. This seems to indicate that the drawing was intended as a concept for an actual photo of a man shooting at a plane, but that someone, possibly at the record label, forbade the band from using such a photo, so they simply substituted the concept drawing.

An independent music video was filmed for the song "I Have a Date," which is a cover of a song by a relatively obscure Orange County punk band called The Simpletones. "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" is also a cover, of a song from the Disney movie "Mary Poppins". Other references to Disney occur in the songs "Get in Line," which describes the experience of waiting in line at a theme park ride and includes an unmistakable message from a Disneyland attraction, and "Power Mustache," which deals with an employee grooming policy at Disneyland. Several of the band members visited Disneyland frequently as youths, and this was not the first time they had referenced it in song. "Ape Shall Never Kill Ape" is also a film reference, to the original "Planet of the Apes".

Both the album and band gained increased attention thanks to an episode of the popular television show "The X-Files" which aired on June 10, 1995 (episode 3x03: "D.P.O."). Actor Giovanni Ribisi plays a teenager in a small town who has the power to control electricity and summon lightning, and wears a number of Vandals t-shirts throughout the episode. The final scene shows Ribisi's character incarcerated but using his power to change the channels on a television while the Vandals song "Live Fast, Diarrhea" plays. According to the band the idea to include their music came from "X-Files" creator Chris Carter, who was a longtime fan of punk rock and also a friend of band member Joe Escalante.

Track listing

#"Let the Bad Times Roll" (Freese)
#"Take it Back" (Quackenbush)
#"And Now We Dance" (Fitzgerald)
#"I Have a Date" (Jay Lansford; originally performed by The Simpletones)
#"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (Robert & Richard Sherman; originally from Disney's "Mary Poppins")
#"Power Mustache" (Fitzgerald)
#"N.I.M.B.Y." (Escalante/Fitzgerald)
#"Ape Shall Never Kill Ape" (Escalante/Fitzgerald)
#"Live Fast, Diarrhea" (Escalante/Fitzgerald/Freese/Quackenbush)
#"Happy Birthday to Me" (Fitzgerald)
#"Change My Pants (I Don't Wanna)" (Fitzgerald)
#"Get in Line" (Fitzgerald)
#"Johnny Twobags" (Quackenbush)
#"Kick Me" (Escalante)
#"Soup of the Day" (Quackenbush)

Performers

*Dave Quackenbush - vocals
*Warren Fitzgerald - guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "I Have a Date"
*Joe Escalante - bass, backing vocals
*Josh Freese - drums
*Brooks Wackerman - backing vocals on "Live Fast, Diarrhea"

Album information

*Record label: Nitro Records
*Recorded at Formula One Studios in La Habra, California
*All songs copyright and published 1995 by Greco-Roman Publishing Co., except "I Have a Date" (Covina High Music BMI) and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (1963 Sherman Music/Wonderland Music Co., Inc. BMI).
*Engineered by Greg Nelson at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California and Barry Conoly at Mambo Studios in Long Beach, California.
*Mastered at Futuredisc by Eddy Schrayer.
*Produced by Warren Fitzgerald
*Track 1 written by Josh Freese. Tracks 2, 13 & 15 written by Dave Quackenbush. Tracks 3, 6, 10, 11 & 12 written by Warren Fitzgerald. Track 4 written by Jay Lansford. Track 5 written by Robert and Richard Sherman. Tracks 7 & 8 written by Joe Escalante and Warren Fitzgerald. Track 9 written by Joe Escalante, Warren Fitzgerald, Josh Freese, and Dave Quackenbush. Track 14 written by Joe Escalante.
*Graphics by Mackie Osborne
*Drawings by Warren Fitzgerald

ong information

All information listed here is derived from song lyrics, album liner notes, and band member interviews and commentary (particularly those in the Vandals DVD "Live at the House of Blues").

*"Let the Bad Times Roll" (Josh Freese)A fairly straightforward song that deals with themes of nihilism, depression and apathy.

*"Take it Back" (Dave Quackenbush)This song deals with the frustration of eating in restaurants that constantly get your order wrong.

*"And Now We Dance" (Warren Fitzgerald)A funny anecdote about mosh pits.

*"I Have a Date" (J. Lansford)A cover of a song by the relatively obscure Orange County punk band The Simpletones. The singer is excited because he has a date with a young girl with whom he is infatuated.

*"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (Sherman)A cover of a song from the Disney movie "Mary Poppins". It tells of a long and complicated word which, when said, will impress others and is also so silly-sounding that it will make you feel better as well. This song has elements of the Bad Religion songs "We're Only Gonna Die" and "Fuck Armageddon... This Is Hell" from their album "How Could Hell Be Any Worse?".

*"Power Mustache" (Warren Fitzgerald)This song tells of several fascist dictators who all had mustaches, and suggests that the mustache is a symbol of oppression. In particular it references an employee grooming standard at Disneyland specifying that employees of the park may not have any facial hair, which is somewhat hypocritical since Walt Disney himself wore a mustache for most of his life and is depicted throughout the park wearing one.

*"N.I.M.B.Y." (Joe Escalante & Warren Fitzgerald)"N.I.M.B.Y." is an abbreviation for the phrase "Not in My Back Yard," which was commonly used in the 1960s and 1970s in reference to the construction of nuclear power plants. Many Americans wished to reap the benefits of nuclear power, but because of their fears of radiation and other hazards they did not want them built anywhere near their cities and towns. Hence the phrase "not in my back yard." In this song the same phrase is used by townsfolk in protest of G.E. Smith, the guitarist of Hall & Oates and musical director of "Saturday Night Live" who wishes to move into their town.

*"Ape Shall Never Kill Ape" (Joe Escalante & Warren Fitzgerald)The song's title and chorus are a reference to a line from the "Planet of the Apes" movie series. The lyrics reference John Hinckley, a mentally disturbed individual who attempted to murder President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Hinckley claimed that he had watched the movie "Taxi Driver" repeatedly, becoming obsessed with actress Jodie Foster. He began stalking Foster and claimed that assassinating the President was his way of showing his love for her. He was found not guilty of attempted murder by reason of insanity. According to bassist Joe Escalante in the audio commentary for the band's 2004 DVD "Live at the House of Blues", the song also deals with the topic of abortion.

*"Live Fast, Diarrhea" (The Vandals)An anthem dealing with themes of anarchism, in which the singer sees eating food from Taco Bell and drinking alcohol as ways of expressing his individuality. These actions reference the song's humorous title because overconsumption of either product is commonly thought to cause diarrhea. It also deals with themes of legitimacy in the punk rock community. Guitarist Warren Fitzgerald has stated that the opening guitar piece in the song was inspired by the classical score "A Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky, which was used in the Disney film "Fantasia". That the song's opening is his way of imitating/re-interpreting that piece using electric guitar.

*"Happy Birthday to Me" (Warren Fitzgerald)This song tells of the singer's sense of superiority and self-importance on his birthday, and his anger at people who fail to recognize that it's his "special day."

*"Change My Pants (I Don't Wanna)" (Warren Fitzgerald)The song uses a pair of pants as a metaphor for expressing one's individuality, and the singer sees changing his pants as compromising his sense of identity and personal expression. The lyric "These pants are a symbol of my individuality and represent my belief in personal freedom" comes from a piece of dialogue in the 1990 film "Wild at Heart".

*"Get in Line" (Warren Fitzgerald)This song relates the experience of waiting in line at a theme park ride. The line "permanecer sentados, por favor" comes from the queue at the Matterhorn Bobsleds ride at Disneyland, where one repeatedly hears the bilingual recorded warning to riders: "Remain seated, please. "Permanecer sentados, por favor"." This is one of many Disney reference scattered throughout many Vandals' songs.

*"Johnny Two Bags" (Dave Quackenbush)This song tells the story of a white man who wants to sing the blues, but doesn't have any significant hardships in his life to sing about.

*"Kick Me" (Joe Escalante)A sarcastic song about a thick-headed anarchist.

*"Soup of the Day" (Dave Quackenbush)This song deals with themes of legitimacy, respect and "selling out" in the punk community.