Chain and the Gang: Down With Liberty … Up With Chains! (K)

Calling underground music icon Ian Svenonius a political creature is
an understatement, as is the description “musical chameleon.” Past
Svenonius-fronted bands during the last 20 years include Nation of
Ulysses, Scene Creamers and Weird War; Svenonius’ latest celebration of
the absurd is Chain and the Gang.

Chain and the Gang’s introductory manifesto, Down With Liberty
… Up With Chains!, may be rooted in Napoleonic-era Spanish
politics, but Svenonius’ comedic timing is spot-on. While Sean Hannity
hocked (and Colbert mocked) his own irony-free “Liberty Tree” metaphor
this week on Fox News, on Chains!, Svenonius defiantly embraces
the shackles, burns his liberty card and puts bumper-sticker patriots
in their place.

As he illustrated with his former projects, Svenonius knows a
spoonful of sugar—or in this case, sleazy ’60s garage riffs, sexy
soul grooves and cool, mod-girl background vocals—helps the heavy
doses of satirical dogma go down. Svenonius swaggers and spits out
lines with the ego and libido of Prince. He skewers gossip rags and
blogs (“Trash Talk,” featuring touring Chain bassist Sara Pedal); and
our founding fathers (“Reparations”).

And if Colbert was Comedy Central’s answer to Bill O’Reilly, the
all-encompassing conspiratorial rants on Chain’s “Deathbed Confession”
prove that Svenonius could offer a left-wing parody of Glenn Beck
without missing a beat.

This article appears in May 14-20, 2009.