Screeching Weasel - First World Manifesto (2011) RESTORED

Not satisfied to rest on their laurels, Screeching Weasel recently reformed and completed their twelfth full-length studio album. Comprised of 14 tracks, First World Manifesto has all the hallmarks of an instant Weasel classic. It was released on March 15, 2011, on Fat Wreck Chords and is the band's first album in eleven years. It was produced by Mike Kennerty of The All-American Rejects, who has worked with Ben Weasel before on These Ones Are Bitter in 2007.

First World Manifesto is Screeching Weasel’s first outing since 2000’s Teen Punks in Heat, and it finds veteran punk frontman Ben Weasel in a rebuilding period. After several tumultuous years of legal disputes over record rights, his right-hand guitarist John Jughead was replaced. As the last remaining original member of the group, Weasel took a handful of tunes that were written in the time off and reshaped them with the help of Dan Vapid (who has been in and out of the band since 1989) and some new bandmates, guitarist Drew Fredrichsen, drummer Adam Cargin, and bassist Justin Perkins. It could be because the new recruits are younger, or because of the slick production by the All-American Rejects’ Mike Kennerty, but in 2011 Screeching Weasel sound more in line with their modern-day punk peers than ever before. But Weasel is far from comfortable. Spite floods the record as the vocalist consistently takes issue, pointing his finger at society (“Come and See the Violence Inherent in the System”), ex-girlfriends (“Frankengirl”, which features guest vocals by the Mr. T Experience’s Dr. Frank), punk rock scenesters (“Follow Your Leaders”), and even labelmates (“Little Big Man”). Although the rage gauge occasionally hits the red, the melodies are too sugary and catchy to feel sincerely scathing. First World Manifesto rides the line nicely between sweet and sour, kind of like a hate letter written in crayon.

~ Jason Lymangrover, all media guide

More reliable review from punknews.org

Welcome to Screeching Weasel Version 4.9.
I have been a fan of this band in its varying shapes and forms for going on 20 years. There's been some really high points for me: 1991's My Brain Hurts and 1993's Anthem for a New Tomorrow are what I would consider their best. Snotty at times, introspective at others, and then bratty as a surly pre-teen when the mood strikes. All of these things are what have made me a fan of the band for this long. Have there been low points? Sure, there have: 1998's Television City Dream did nothing for me and 2000's Teen Punks in Heat wasn't really any better.

Onto the newest record: It's very catchy—it's as punchy, addictive and sugary as 1996's Bark Like a Dog. While not my favorite record they have released, it is certainly well-played and -put together. I do hesitate to say that my favorite song on the record is the second track, "Frankengirl", if only because it has guest vocals by Dr. Frank of the Mr. T Experience, and it makes me long to have another MTX record. I'm not going to go through every track as there are many by-the-numbers Screeching Weasel songs, a couple that seem like Riverdales B-sides and some others that sound like leftovers from Ben Weasel's 2007 solo album, These Ones Are Bitter.

What I do want to focus on is what knocks this record down multiple levels and stops a lot of the replay value. It's the bookends of the record—what would be two of the "best" songs on the record would be so much better if it weren't for their lyrical content: "Follow Your Leaders" and "Little Big Man". Here you have two songs that are essentially an adult pushing 50 years of age engaging in petty squabbles and the sonic equivalent of an internet fistfight. I don't understand the need to write the two songs; it isn't because I'm associated with any of the people that he's slinging mud at so much as that I don't want to listen to the mud-slinging. "Follow Your Leaders" takes aim at various punk rock attitudes and patrons of musical gatherings like The Fest and Punk Rock Bowling that apparently bother Mr. Weasel so much that he feels the need to write songs about them. Knowing that Mr. Weasel hasn't taken part in either of these events but has no problem starting his own or even attending others really makes it seem even more shallow. "Little Big Man" is written about an unnamed individual involved in the punk rock world that apparently has Mr. Weasel foaming at the mouth and seething enough to put lyrics (that sound like they were written at three in the morning after fuming over some personal squabble) to song. The only word that comes to mind after hearing this song—which also closes the album—is "embarrassing".

It's a good record, but would be so much more and get a better score from me without the drama.

I had a ton of songs lying around that I’d written in the past decade but never recorded. A heck of a lot of them were top-notch jingles that would’ve been perfect for a Screeching Weasel album, had Screeching Weasel actually existed at that point. We didn’t, so they were relegated to the old tape pile and mostly forgotten. When Screeching Weasel got back together for the 11th time, I started polishing up those songs and writing a bunch of new ones. We did a quick demo last summer and sent it off to a couple labels but it was almost a foregone conclusion that if Fat wanted us back we’d be there with bells on. And so it came to pass: Fat Mike texted me the day after we sent the demos saying “Jolly good stuff, mate!” and we were off to the races. Joy to the world!

So we’re back in the fold. But coming back after a ten year layoff? Believe me, sports fans, nobody knows better than me what it’s like to try to hop back in the saddle after a, uh, “hiatus” and reclaim your former glory, so we’ve pulled out all the stops on this one. From pure pop-punk ditties like “Baby Talk” and “Frankengirl” to point-and-laugh-at-the-punk-rocker anthems like “Little Big Man” and “Follow Your Leaders,” this is everything you could ask for from the band the humorless twats love to hate and the cultured, refined connoisseurs of quality rock and roll love to love.

~ Ben Weasel

Tracklist:

01. Follow Your Leaders
02. Frankengirl
03. Beginningless Vacation / listen
04. Dry Is The Desert
05. Totem Pole
06. Creepy Crawl / listen
07. Three Lonely Days
08. Friday Night Nation
09. All Over Town
10. Fortune Cookie
11. Baby Talk
12. Come And See The Violence Inherent In The System
13. Bite Marks
14. Little Big Man

all songs written by Ben Weasel except "4" by Weasel/Vapid


Produced & Additional Engineering by Mike Kennerty
Engineered, Mixed and Mastered by Justin Perkins
Recorded November-December 2010 at Mystery Room Mastering & Recording Co. and Blast House.

• Ben Weasel - lead vocals, keyboards
• Dan Vapid - guitar, backing vocals
• Drew Fredrichsen - guitar, backing vocals
• Justin Perkins - bass, backing vocals & percussion
• Adam Cargin - drums

special guests:
- Dr. Frank - additional vocals on "Frankengirl"
- Joe King - additional vocals on "Creepy Crawl"

Release Date: March 15, 2011
Label: Fat Wreck Chords
Catalog No.: FAT 767-2