Photos by OCW Staff OVER THE COUNTER INTELLIGENCE
SOBRE EL MOSTRADOR INTELIGENCIA
(SELF-RELEASED FULL-LENGTH CD)
The first full-length CD released from Orange County's Chicano punk movement doesn't betray the scene's incendiary ethos. Over the Counter Intelligence's (OTCI) songs about brutal cops, destructive governments and the promise of resistance explain exactly how to overwhelm the War on Terrorism. This Molotov cocktail of an album burns bright on every track, especially on slow, seething numbers such as “Exit the Zócalo” and “Somnambulism” that urge a dormant-but-not-dead nation to fight oppression wherever it lurks. Musically, OTCI doesn't deviate much from its trademark sound: Matt Martínez's screeching guitar, Rafael Ramos' vicious bass, Andre Sandoval's furious screams and José “Mansun” Reyes' blistering drums. But try to ignore this must-mosh music at least once so you can appreciate the lyrics of Sobre el Mostrador Inteligencia, which reveal the quartet's evolution from simple fuck-the-pigs-ness toward something more complex. Take “Silent Movie Stroll,” in which lead singer Sandoval laments the loss of freedom of dissent, then painfully confesses, “All my heroes have been persecuted/All my heroes have been incarcerated/All my heroes have been assassinated.” The best song is “Off the Reading List,” their interpretation of Dr. Seuss' “The Lorax.” If you think OTCI is all posturing, just listen as Sandoval's simultaneously hopeful, menacing and sardonic voice takes on the various roles of Dr. Seuss' anti-development classic. After hearing it, you'll make sure to buy the book and CD for every child in America—to breed a new generation of activists.
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