Peace thru Vandalism/When in Rome Do as the Vandals

Infobox Album | Name = Peace thru Vandalism/When in Rome Do as the Vandals
Type = Compilation album
Artist = The Vandals


Released = 1989
Recorded = 1982, 1984
Genre = Punk rock
Length = 46:01
Label = Restless Records (original), Time Bomb Recordings (reissue)
Producer = Thom Wilson
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|2.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:bu7ibkk96akm link]

Last album = "Slippery When Ill" (1989)
This album = "Peace thru Vandalism/When in Rome Do as the Vandals" (1989)
Next album = "Fear of a Punk Planet" (1990)

"Peace thru Vandalism/When in Rome Do as the Vandals" is a compilation album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals. It was originally released in 1989 by Restless Records (and later reissued Time Bomb Recordings, a record label founded by Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness). It is a CD re-release of the band's first EP, "Peace thru Vandalism", and first LP, "When in Rome Do as the Vandals", containing all of the tracks from both releases. The Restless version has the tracks from When In Rome Do As The Vandals first while the Time Bomb version has the two records in chronological order.

In the album's liner notes Brent Turner is credited as having performed all of the bass tracks on "When in Rome Do as the Vandals", however by the time of that album's release Chalmer Lumary had joined the band on the bass position. Lumary is therefore listed in the liner notes as the band's official bass player.

Track listing

#"Wanna Be Manor" (Ackermann/Jensen)
#"Urban Struggle" (Ackermann/Jensen)
#"The Legend of Pat Brown" (Ackermann/Jensen)
#"Pirate's Life" (Ackermann/Escalante)
#"H.B. Hotel" (originally performed by Elvis Presley) (Presley/Durden/Axton)
#"Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government)" (Escalante/Jensen)
#"Ladykiller" (Escalante/Jensen)
#"Birthday Bash" (Escalante/Jensen)
#"Master Race (In Outer Space)" (Escalante/Jensen)
#"Big Bro vs. Johnny Sako" (Escalante/Jensen/Ackermann)
#"Mohawk Town" (Ackermann/Jensen)
#"Viking Suit" (Escalanete/Jensen/Ackermann)
#"Hocus Pocus" (originally performed by Focus)
#"I'm a Fly" (Escalante/Jensen/Ackermann)
#"Slap of Love" (Ackermann/Jensen)
#"Airstream" (Escalante/Jensen)
#"Rico" (Ackermann/Jensen)

Writing credits are as they appear on the original Restless Records CD. Later versions credit all songs to Joe Escalante.

Performers

*Steven Ronald "Stevo" Jensen - vocals, scratch box on "Ladykiller"
*Jan Nils Ackermann - guitar, acoustic guitars on "Mohawk Town" and "Rico"
*Steve Pfauter - bass (tracks 1-6)
*Brent Turner - bass (tracks 7-17)
*Joe Escalante - drums, trumpet on "Rico"
*Brett Gurewitz - backing vocals on "Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government)"
*Chalmer Lumary - backing vocals (tracks 7-17)

Album information

*Record label: Restless Records, Time Bomb Recordings (reissue)
*Produced by Thom Wilson
*All songs written by Joe Escalante, copyright 1982, 1984 and 1989 Greco Roman Publishing, except "H.B. Hotel" by Elvis Presley and "Hocus Pocus" by Focus.
*Front cover art by Fritz Quadrata and Art Bad
*Back cover art & design by Mike Doud
*Back cover photos by Alan Newberg

ong information

*All information listed here is derived from song lyrics, album liner notes, and band member interviews and commentary (particularly those in the video "").

"Wanna Be Manor" (Joe Escalante) This song describes the squat houses frequently inhabited by many punks in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas in the early 1980s and the conditions found there.

"Urban Struggle" (Joe Escalante) This song depicts the fighting that occurred in the early 1980s Los Angeles and Orange County punk scenes between the punk rock fans who congregated at a Huntington Beach club called the Cuckoo's Nest and the country music fans who gathered at nearby Zoomies.

"The Legend of Pat Brown" (Joe Escalante) The song describes a friend of the band who was a notorious drunk known for causing mayhem, and who once intentionally ran over some undercover police officers in a parking lot outside a punk show. Other exploits of Pat's mentioned in the song include robbing a massage parlor after the masseuses there refused to perform sexual acts on him, and various other robberies.

"Pirate's Life" (Joe Escalante) This song describes the experience of riding the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland while taking the drug LSD. The band members, especially Joe, frequented Disneyland as children, and over the years several more songs would appear on the band's albums dealing with Disney characters and attractions. Several vignetes from the ride are mentioned in the song.

"H.B. Hotel" (Presley, Durden, Axton) A parody of the Elvis Presley song "Heartbreak Hotel," with altered lyrics. While the original song pined for the protagonist's lost love, in the Vandals version his pain turns to anger at his former girlfriend for, among other things, giving him an STD, and he describes ways in which he imagines harming her physically.

"Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government)" (Joe Escalante) "Anarchy Burger" uses a hamburger as a metaphor for the tenets of anarchism and describes several humorous ways by which one can express one's belief in anarchy. The song gained increased attention when it was mentioned and some of its lyrics quoted in the 2002 Vin Diesel action movie xXx.

"Ladykiller" (The Vandals) The song parodies funk and hip hop music, utilizing a scratch box throughout. It describes several characters who go downtown for various reasons and wind up in a fight at a bar.

"Birthday Bash" (The Vandals) This song tells the story of a fan who, after hearing the Vandals song "Urban Struggle" on the radio, asks them to play at his birthday party. The Vandals arrive with a gang of friends and fans who proceed to destroy the house.

"Master Race (In Outer Space)" (The Vandals) Employing a bit of historical fiction, the song imagines that, at the end of World War II, the Allied powers had put all the Nazis in rocket ships and exiled them to a secret base on the moon.

"Big Bro vs. Johnny Sako" (The Vandals) The song deals with a character named Johnny Sako who calls upon a robot to help him fight against the government, since it has become oppressive and is spying on its own citizens.

"Mohawk Town" (The Vandals) "Mohawk Town" parodies the animosity that existed between skinheads and punks in the Los Angeles and Orange County punk scenes of the early 1980s by describing an old western showdown between the outlaw Mohawk John and law enforcer Marshal Skin.

"Viking Suit" (The Vandals) The song deals with pedophilia by describing a man who kidnaps children and photographs them wearing Viking costumes.

"Hocus Pocus" (Focus) This is a cover of an instrumental song by the Dutch band Focus, a progressive rock group popular in the 1970s.

"I'm a Fly" (The Vandals) A nihilistic song that plays on the metaphor of the narrator being a fly, drawing comparisons to the science fiction movie "The Fly".

"Slap of Love" (The Vandals) This song deals with domestic abuse in a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek manner.

"Airstream" (The Vandals) This song describes the band's Airstream travel trailer, used for touring, and their experiences on the road.

"Rico" (The Vandals) A somewhat sarcastic ballad to the band's home of Los Angeles.