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| By Jessie Lynn |
How many punk bands can you think of who wear suits and fancy dresses on stage, and encourage their fans to do the same? How many punk bands can you think of who reference in their songs topics as varied as astral projection, Peter Lorre, Paul Robeson, The Master and Margarita, The Wild Party, Dante Alighieri, Leni Riefenstahl, Cabaret, The Three-Penny Opera, Philip K. Dick, and The Great Pumpkin? How many punk bands can you think of who sound less like punk and more like a circus cabaret jazz swing klezmer goth calypso ska orchestra, but whose ideals and energy are more punk than the crustiest d-beat band living in your local squat? I can only think of one: the World/Inferno Friendship Society.
This summer marked three anniversaries in one, for me: eleven years since I first heard the World/Inferno Friendship Society, ten years since they became important to me, and nine years since I first saw them live and became, dear gods, an Infernite. It seemed like a perfect time for me to write a column about the World/Inferno Friendship Society, and to maybe get you, dear reader, hooked on my favorite band and have them ruin your life, too. Yes, WIFS ruins lives, but I mean that in the best possible way.
The way I've arranged the songs in this column is a bit of a return to the old Mix Tapes from the Midwest format, but it's not supposed to be a mix tape. Consider it my ultimate World/Inferno setlist: if I could have them play any songs at one of their shows, these are the ones I would choose. Which is also why I've only included one song from their most recent LP - it's not that I don't love many of the songs on that album, but the songs in this column are ones I've lived with longer and love more. Also, there's no companion podcast this time - I'm on vacation, away from that sort of technology - which is why I've embedded videos.
Initially, I thought this column would go in a more traditional sort of direction. I thought I'd tell you how each song sounds, and fill you in on the long, strange history of the band. While writing the rough draft, though, I realized that I didn't want to write about all that. First of all, it's impossible to sum up their history, because there are so many stories about World/Inferno and how they got their start, most of which are lies...er, legends. Second of all, it's impossible to sum up the sound of their music in words, at least it is for me, and perhaps that means I am not very talented as a writer. All I know how to tell you is how the songs make me feel, and the legends of my own life that they remind me of. If the stories interest you, if they remind you of your own stories, maybe you'll buy some of WIFS' records, sit down and listen to 'em back to back if you can, live inside the songs for a while. And after you do that, hopefully you'll go see 'em live. See them live, and then you'll know. (We know. We know. We know.)
I don't want to exaggerate the Inferno's importance in my life, but I don't want to downplay it either. I fell hard for them because they gave me an excuse to indulge in all my bad ideas and do foolish things, and because they helped me fall back in love with punk by showing me that punk could be so much more than "1-2-3-4! Fuck the system! Oi oi! 40 oz.!" And since then, well, they've been there to send me off into each new chapter of my life, and to reaffirm for me that I shouldn't quit living my life, shouldn't quit doing foolish things; to reaffirm for me that it's more than okay to be my intoxicated, anarchistic, witchy self. Oh, World/Inferno. Because of you, I've met a lexicon of friends and enemies. Because of you, I've been watched by the government. Because of you, I've been hungover and heartbroken. But all of those things probably would've happened without you, you just happen to be a convenient scapegoat. So cheers! To bad ideas!
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