Rebellious sounds emitted from a masterpiece spinning in my record player as I danced to its violent noise. Stomping to the bass as it segued through each track, I sang the brutal lyrics from a previous generation, recognizing I identified with its meaning unlike ever before.
Gang of Four’s “Entertainment!” is a playfully aggressive fusion of punk, funk, rock and dub. It innovated the monotonous and simple punk sound by introducing waves of vastly different melodies to its raw energy, establishing the unique 80’s post-punk revolution.
Punk is known for being anti-capitalistic and preaching non-conformity. Its community created a space for individuals to question, rebel and seek truth when listening to its reverberating noise.
Gang of Four’s album doesn’t tiptoe around their focus, but what makes the pugnacity of its rebellion stand out is how “Entertainment!” comments on society.
By naming their band after a leadership faction in the Chinese Communist Party, and the album cover satirically displaying an American colonizer taking advantage of an Indigenous person, their political statement is heard before ever pressing play
However, instead of aiming their ballads toward blaming a specific political ideology or person as predecessors would, their rage targets the complacent and obedient person inside of all of us.
Each song alludes to different social and political issues without blatantly saying it.
Using news headlines, advertisements, ethical standards and religious rhetoric, Gang of Four captivates the listener by its familiarity with one’s routine.
Once drawn in, one will hear ballads narrating stories of love, lust and greed sung by a tightly wound voice. On the surface the album blandly describes daily life, but after reading between the lines its stone-cold monologue criticizes capitalistic society.
Materialism, systematic conditioning and life becoming a commodity, the narrator seemingly gives up in every funky fight. Gang of Four’s lyrics consider people impotent and unwilling to shake up the status quo due to their complacency for a simple life.
Ironically, the album’s title “Entertainment!” is the band’s way to acknowledge creating a collective sound that people will undoubtedly dance to and never actually listen to.
Gang of Four’s distinct sound admittedly puts me into a great mood. My teenage angst felt a unique rage develop from its sound in my youth, but as an adult I realize 1979 and 2025 have many unfortunate similarities, and I’m just as frustrated by people’s vanity as Gang of Four was then.
“Ether,” the first song on the album, is a call and response between a member of British Society and the Irish Republican Army during one of the many ruthless attempts to end British rule in Northern Ireland.
The British socialite nasally sings “locked in heaven’s lifestyle,” while the IRA member forcefully chants “locked in Long Kesh,” a controversial prison facility used by the British government known for its inhumane practices holding Irish citizens without trial.
Britian preferred keeping control of a country not associated to them, acting shocked when violence broke out. The government chose to detain and remove individuals in an act of civil justice rather than putting an end to the senselessness.
Members of British society refused to acknowledge the sadistic acts of their government and continued through their mundane life as if hundreds weren’t dying roughly 50 miles away.
Today, Americans gullibly obey and listen to the ones in power as if they are God, refusing to acknowledge the genocide still taking place that our glorious savior was supposed to remove us from.
While the meaning of “Ether” was laid out for the listener, the rest of the album takes on a vaguer approach.
Following the political argument, every song following hits with the same militant and edgy guitar, layered with a groovy bass and technical drum. Gang of Four comments on the loss of humanity as the economy is more of a concern to those in control than life’s pleasure.
The two songs standing out the most to me are “Damaged Goods” and “Love like Anthrax.”
“Damaged Goods” discusses the dependency society has on purchasing unnecessary items through a song about lust. Describing the rush of purchase as the flirtatious beginnings of a lustful romance, Gang of Four continuously mock the consumer.
Love is used as a theme for almost all their songs, a word known to make people irrational, and “Love like Anthrax” sums up the album by explaining what love means.
“My head’s not empty, it’s full with my brain. The thoughts I’m thinking like piss down a drain … Love will get you like a case of anthrax, and that’s something I don’t want to catch.”
Love is capitalism, fascism, apathy and everyone disregarding what they can see.
