Tonio K. - Amerika (Remastered) (1980/1997)

Happy nihilist Tonio K. returns after his critically acclaimed Life in the Foodchain with a stronger, even more sardonic record, Amerika. With tight riffs and intelligent lyrics, Tonio K. rocks hard on this one. But if an album's message can make one want to walk into traffic, this is it. Every song here espouses the end of all hope, the absence of values, the hopelessness of the human condition -- all sung with intelligence and wit (from "Say Goodbye": "The signs are everywhere/Only no one even cares/This paradise is dying/Say goodbye"). Most notable is the Dada tribute in the final track, "Merzsuite," which is divided into three sections ("Let Us Join Together in a Tune," "Umoré," and "Futt Futt Futt"). A lot of fun. Tonio K. is punk for academics. Lots of literary and political references. Lots of words in foreign languages (he admits in the CD reissue liner notes that he doesn't know what the foreign words mean, but he can look them up). A fun recording all around.