In 1998 an entire generation of punk bands were picking up the political flag from genre founders like The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers. In that year alone, Bad Religion, Rancid and The Suicide Machines all put out records that touched, with varying degrees, on politics and society. The Orange County punks in the Vandals also put out a record in 1998 – arguably one of their best – but unlike their peers, the famously non-political band decided to turn their attention to less weighty topics like bad break ups (“My Girlfriend’s Dead”) and mullets (“I’ve Got An Ape Drape”).
On the 25th anniversary of Hitler Bad, Vandals Good, Craft Recordings is putting out a collectable reissue of this classic on a limited edition White/Blue Splatter Vinyl. The band, in existence since the early 1980s, had clearly laid out their template by the time this record came out, leaning heavily into humor, sarcasm, melodies and sharp pop punk hooks. The Vandals line up at this time, included bassist Joe Escalante, guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, singer Dave Quackenbush and drummer Josh Freese (a long time go-to session drummer and now the latest member of the Foo Fighters).
The album opens on the addictively catchy “People That Are Going To Hell” before slipping into a dozen more impossibly goofy but undeniably infectious tracks – each hovering close to a Ramones-worthy two to two-and-a-half minutes long. Among the highlights here are “My Girlfriend’s Dead,” “Too Much Drama” and the doo-whop/punk hybrid “Money’s Not An Issue.” The album closes on the Rogers and Hammerstein’s “So Long, Farewell” from The Sound of Music, sublimely goofy but a perfect cap to this bizarrely perfect album.
Hitler Bad, Vandals Good was the band’s seventh album and by this point punk was no longer an underground genre for misfits that wore black leather jackets in the summer but a full-on cultural juggernaut earning the band spots on soundtracks and getting airplay on mainstream radio. But as the album proves, the band didn’t change their MO all that much to finally get the attention of the world – they still played fun, fast, loud music. It’s just that the world finally caught up to them.
