1994 studio album by Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon
Prairie Home Invasion is a collaborative studio album by Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon, backed by Nixon's backing band the Toadliquors. Released in 1994 by Biafra's record label Alternative Tentacles, the album's lyrics predominantly deal with political themes, as well as criticism of corporate rock and country pop.
Composition
Mojo Nixon's backing band, the Toadliquors, served as the backing band for the recordings. Although Jello Biafra provided most of the lead vocals, AllMusic wrote, "ultimately this is more Nixon's show than Biafra's".[1] The album's music is performed in a honky-tonk cowpunk style.[1] According to Louder, "Mojo Nixon’s musicianship provides Jello free rein to deliver some of his most sardonic derision in the style of the music most at odds with his lyrics."[2]
Half of Prairie Home Invasion consists of covers, including interpretations of public domain folk songs.[1] Many of the album's lyrics tackle political themes. "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" is an updated rewrite of socialist folk singer Phil Ochs' criticism of "fuzzy left-leaners"; these themes, according to AllMusic, show an influence from protest music.[1] "Buy My Snake Oil" criticizes "corporate rock", including emo, alternative rock and Don Henley, a recurring target of Nixon's.[3] Conversely, "Let's Go Burn Ole Nashville Down" criticizes corporate country music and country singers with manufactured images.[3] "Nostalgia for an Age that Never Existed" criticizes the romanticism of the 1950s, the hypocrisy of baby boomers and punk rock.[3] Other topics discussed in the lyrics include deforestation, atomic power, truckers, and "the divine drinking abilities of Jesus Christ."[3] "Will the Fetus be Aborted", sung to the tune of the Christian country folk hymn "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", satirizes the anti-abortion movement.[2] "Atomic Power" is performed in the style of Christian bluegrass.[2]
Release
The album's artwork included Biafra and Nixon staging a parody of Grant Wood's painting "American Gothic," news stories covering "business and government idiocies", advertisements and excerpts from the comic strip "This Modern World" by Tom Tomorrow.[1] The album was released on compact disc, audio cassette and vinyl record in 1994 by Biafra's record label Alternative Tentacles.[1] On August 26, 2022, Alternative Tentacles released a music video for the song "Will The Fetus Be Aborted", in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which made the song "hauntingly timely"; the video was directed by Ani Kyd of Sugar Skull Films Inc.[4]
Reception
In his review for AllMusic, Ned Raggett wrote, "Nixon has the better voice for the proceedings [...] his guitar kicks butt and takes names".[1] Punk News wrote, "when people look back at albums that were as indebted to country as they were alternative rock in the early nineties … this isn’t a release people are going to be bringing up. As good as it is, this album doesn’t compare to the best work by bands like Uncle Tupelo, The Bottle Rockets, or even the albums the Drive-By Truckers would be releasing just a few short years later."[3] Louder called the album "an irreverent cowpunk classic".[2]
