This was also going to be one of those "Worth the Effort" posts dedicated to an out-of-print record when I happily discovered that, there is a God. Manitoba's Wild Kingdom's glorious single album, ...And You?, appears to be available for purchase in current production. A breakneck ode to sex, drugs and rock-and-roll, this was an essential occupant in the cassette deck of my '83 Pontiac Bonneville in high school (if anyone else recalls, please confirm my memory that the album's sides were labeled "Pass" and "Die"). Long before Andrew W.K. ever presumed to party hard, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Andy Shernoff and company covered that ground, burned it down and tore away from the razed landscape 26 minutes later.
Possibly the only great punk rock punch in the balls in the '90s until everything fell under the grunge blanket, ...And You? offered no social nor political substance, just anthems to hard and fast living, such as the opening salvo, "The Party Starts Now:"
Still essentially the Dictators minus rhythm guitarist Scott Kempner, Manitoba's Wild Kingdom veered more into the realm of metal, albeit a lighthearted take, and Ross the Boss used every opportunity on this super-fast LP to show off the Manowar chops. A mondo re-take of the Dictators' own "New York, New York" differentiates the two entities best:
Every track is excellent. We anxiously awaited a follow-up, Seattle rock broke, and Manitoba's Wild Kingdom - and the Dictators - sort of disappeared. Now that rock and roll proper is slowly becoming distilled from "alt-" subgenres and their trappings, this is simultaneously a nostalgia trip and a breath of fresh air. This is a dumb, fun and timeless album. It no longer seems quite as edgy and dangerous as it did at age 16 but it still rocks like hell. There was a time post-alt-rock when it was littered in used CD bins everywhere but, hopefully, you'll have to shell out full-price for this sucker. Note-for-note, ...And You? is one of the soundest rock-and-roll investments you'll ever make. It's worth every penny. It's addictive as hell. It's the perfect high.
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