Christ on a Crutch – Crime Pays When Pigs Die

(New Red Archives, 2001)

Reviewed by SoDak

Utah Phillips, the radical folk singer, pointed out that part of the power of Wobbly songs was the directness of the lyrics. For example, “Dump the Bosses Off Your Backs” contained a clear statement in regard to power and exploitation. He contrasted this to poetic protest songs, such as Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” suggesting that much of this music was for middle-class consumption. He was not dismissing Dylan and his music, but he was making the point that blunt lyrics can be important, especially when it comes to assigning responsibility for the state of the world. In the mid-1980s, I was captivated by the energy of punk rock. More than this, I was excited to discover bands such as Crass and the Subhumans that protested the system of class exploitation and imperialism. In many ways, punk rock seemed to address the issues that I was increasingly concerned with at the time. Now there are a slew of bands that I loved, some more musically talented than others, but this issue was never my main concern, as I can appreciate bands for other reasons. I always had a special place for punk rock bands that were very direct, in the same spirit as the Wobblies.

In 1991, Christ on a Crutch floored me with their record Crime Pays When Pigs Die. I thought that their previous record, Spread the Filth, was interesting, but I was not terribly impressed. Nonetheless, I bought Crime Pays When Pigs Die when it was released. The title of the record and the picture of the policeman picking up the little girl on the cover peeked my curiosity. This record is much more powerful and intense than the previous record. Plus the recording is much better. The guitar is very much upfront, and the bass and drums drive every song forward, as if each song is racing against time. Christ on a Crutch was not the most original punk rock band. But they were solid. They played hard-driving, fast-paced songs. The vocals are primary yelling, but the words for the most part are quite clear.

When listening to Crime Pays When Pigs Die, it is immediately apparent that this is a pissed off band. At this point in time, George H.W. Bush was in office, and the United States was waging war against Iraq. Religious fundamentalism, police brutality, poverty, and mass consumerism were just as common as they are today. The songs are filled with images of pigs with guns and badges brutalizing people, of businesses sending jobs overseas to decrease labor costs and to exploit distant lands, of politicians making deals with the rich and fucking over the public, and of the poisoning of the air, land, and water by a system predicated on the constant accumulation of capital.

Rage erupts from almost all of the songs. “Sleep of Reason” addresses the selling of war to the public and the sanitized depiction of war in which the consequences of dropping bombs on cities is not depicted. “You saw destruction from the sky, but never once viewed those who died, the haunting sight of blood soaked sand that never burdened ‘T.V.’ land, watched our nation swallow shit and made the war a prime time hit.” Dutifully people tie yellow ribbons around trees, “no need to watch the senseless slaughter of loving mother’s sons and daughters.”

“North Richland” depicts the toxic legacy of the Hanford plant in Washington state, as radioactive waste pollutes the northwest. “Nation of Sheep” opens “Alienation has become a way of life” in a world filled with minimum-wage jobs. Frustration boils to the surface declaring: “I can’t believe you people don’t fuck it up, start turning up the heat, let’s go trash the homes of those who’ve put two million people on the street.” But folks are too scared to organize and act, and the system rolls on, crushing people underneath the wheels.

July 1991, Christ on a Crutch played with 411 and Spitboy in Rapid City, South Dakota. The show was awesome. I rocked the fuck out all night, enjoying every band. The singer of Christ on a Crutch had a hernia. During their entire set, he had to sing hunched over, with a hand at his groin, preventing his intestines from collecting in this nutsack. When you listen to this record, you will understand that his vocal style, his yell, is one that creates a lot of internal pressure that would result in downward pressure within his body. Nonetheless, he performed beautifully. After almost twenty years, my shirt from this show is threadbare. I wish I had a replacement.

Two of my favorite songs are “Fish People” and “In on Your Joke.” The former is a pissed off number focused on how inhumane Christian fundamentalists are. The latter is a catchy song, as far as this band is concerned. The vocals stand out, clearly articulating anger: “It’s your salvation that leaves me in eternal hell, it’s your complacent life of shit that leaves me choking on the smell of; ruined lives and wasted minds and doomed ideas, that leave people shot down in the street, children cold with nothing to eat, the homeless with their shoeless feet, while fatcats and their wealthy hags pass people living out of bags.” With frustration, the singer asks where can we find hope. While not necessarily identifying a means for change, the song ends on an interesting rant: “When generals are struck dead from the sky, and politicians are victims of their lies, when all cops are locked in jail, and all the priests have gone to hell, when lawyers rot in growing heaps, and all the world leaders are buried deep, that’s the day, that’s the day I’ll find my hope.”

Crime Pays When Pigs Die clocks in at less than twenty-six minutes. Each song is an explosion of energy, releasing pent up frustration. The anger is frank and rather refreshing, given the persistence of social ills and war. I would love to hear a record by a new band erupting with similar sentiments. While not the most innovative band musically, Christ on a Crutch made a classic punk rock record that kicks ass.