As poisonous as the inland taipan, as crushing as a boa constrictor, as intelligent as the king cobra – that could be said about Missouri Executive Order 44, one of the new up and coming hardcore bands from the Midwest. One could also say the same thing about institutionalized religion and hey, that’s the idea behind the band from Kansas City, Missouri. No co-incidence!
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Or simply the Mormons. One of these religious groups that everybody has already heard of and might have a mental image – one of misogyny and patriarchy – but let me tell you that generalizations will not get you nowhere with the Mormons. Their history is difficult and one thing that many people do not know is the fact that at one point these people also were victims of religious persecution. The major perception of the group is negative, while the image of other persecuted groups is completely different – think of the Christians or the Calvinist Pilgrims. Not wanting to judge any of these religious beliefs for their set of rules and ideas one must acknowledge the fact of that oppression; the Mormons were driven out of their original location through the American Midwest and into the salty deserts of what now is Utah at the hands of many Missourians in 1838 via Missouri Executive Order 44 which followed conflicts between the Mormons and the local population stating that every Mormon should either be executed or exiled. Harsh notion and somewhat not that far away from some ideas put forward by some politicians in several countries – looking at you Donald, Victor, Recep, Bjoern: “Country XYZ first” will bring us nowhere as it is the first step towards a fascist idea like “Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles”, so fuck that!
Kansas City Missouri-based quartet Missouri Executive Order 44 releases their “full-length” Salt Sermon through two highly credible Hardcore labels and they are taking a stance different to many other local punk bands who proclaim forms of criticism of organized religion. MEO44 takes the example of their namesake act as an example for government prosecution of religious groups, limiting religious freedom and thus limiting basic human liberties. Of course such ideas might be put forth in a rather calm way, but hey, that wouldn’t be the hardcore way, right? With poisonous grindcore-meets-noise songs (in the sense of they find their way into your inner core quickly) the anonymous quartet with the Mormon-like stage monikers (‘Esau Fullmer’ or ‘Malachi Hatch’, for example) are able to catch our attention as quickly as some of the old-school masters. The tracks are fast and don’t take no for an answer, very much like bands like the HIRS collective or Some Girls. When already dropping the Justin Pearson-comparison, we can also say that he’s a fan of the new record in all its nearly-16-minutes-glory, yes, eleven tracks in 16 minutes. This one is over quickly and you will find yourself hitting the play button again, because the crushing chaos of tracks like ”Wear Me Like a Mitt, Romney” or ”I Would Kill Anyone for You” is kinda addictive, like most good grindcore acts should. The usage of really clever samples from sermons, speeches and gospel songs creates the image of one longtrack because the borders between the tracks are basically non-audible, just listen to the connection between ”Let’s Jump a Cowboy Together!” and ”Milport’s Demise”! The other highly intelligent thing behind the concept of government criticism and musical rigidity is the lyrical content which indirectly shows the two-sided sword when talking about this episode of Missouri state history and the Mormons. Just take vocalist Jarom Johnson’s despaired line “What do you want from this life? Who do you want to love? Are you looking for something real?” (from ”Christian Pornography”): Of course this might be seen as criticism from the Mormon side of things back in the day: What do you want, freedom or death? The former means leaving, the latter means staying in Missouri! This could be an expletive against government control, however it could also be a form of criticism towards Mormon polygamy – who do you want to love?
Let me tell you, this band is one of the most exciting things to come out of the Midwest since Chat Pile, with whom they don’t share no musical connections, but surely a form of idea: MEO44 are here, they got something to say, they want you to think and they will scream their ideas into your face. Hardly have religion and history been used as a backdrop for current politics in a more clever way recently, because of course – this band is showing up wrong tendencies in today’s world when they talk about the past. Both ideas are wrong – total religious freedom but also state control. The truth for a good democratic society must be compromise – something that the 1838 Missouri State order definitely did not have, but rather showed a “let’s drive out the snakes” attitude. Missouri Executive Order 44 show all the difficulties and intricacies – in a highly poisonous, mighty crushing and most intelligent way!
You can purchase the record via Learning Curve Records or throughThe Ghost is Clear Records. Wherever you do it, enjoy one of the most interesting records of the year!
Here you can have a look at the video for “Wear me like a Mitt, Romney”:
