THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN Frontman Talks Politics, Upcoming Studio Album

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN frontman Greg Puciato has posted the following message on his MySpace page:

"I'm gonna dive right into this. I hope you have about twenty minutes to kill. If you just wanna read some musical news and skip the rest go down to the bottom.

"I just read a new gallop poll, dated two days ago, that said 'the majority of Americans (53%) approve of the U.S. government's expansion to help fix the current economic crisis, but most of this group would like to see the government's role reduced once the crisis is over.'

"I hope if you are reading this and you are one of the 53% you PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS, because...NEWS FLASH...in case you haven't noticed.... it's not really a habit of government to EVER get smaller once it's allowed to get bigger. Government expansion in times of crisis NEVER dies back down once the crisis is over, it's a ratchet effect that only gets tighter and tighter.

"People believe this unrelenting expansion/intrusion is necessary, or they don't think twice about it, because this non-stop buffet of delusion has been presented to them by every major media outlet and every government run institution that you've ever encountered in your life, so why shouldn't they? Being naïve is understandable, especially when its so easy to be, thanks to the fact that the education you are offered about the subject serves no purpose other than to lead you to continue fulfilling your role as a well behaved taxpaying serf to the imperialist police/welfare/warfare state, in the process conditioning you to forget that we created and pay for them, thereby making us the boss, which in turn trains you to always be willing to give over your rights as an individual to the central government without resistance, and to continue to regurgitate and propogate those mis-teachings to others so that they too can continue to get bent over.

"If I could tell everyone to do one thing right now, it would be to buy a gun, preferably a non-traceable illegal black market machine gun, basically whatever gun you can find that comes the closest to the one Jesse The Body used in 'Predator' to level the ENTIRE JUNGLE (how rad was that?),buy a bunch of gold bricks, put that shit in a safe and be ready to shoot people in the face when it all goes down....even if they wear a uniform.

"Sounds like lunacy, you say?

"You ever wonder how prosperous countries fall? Or wish you could have been around for the fall of the Roman Empire? Well you might be in luck. Remember how psyched most of us were when Obama won? Well, it turns out he's pretty much George W. Bush lite, wearing a young black man costume, and it pisses me off waaaaaay more than W. did because at least George smelled like a dick coming into it. You knew he didn't know any better, he would be working at a tractor dealership or something if his last name wasn't Bush, so even though he pretty much screwed up at every possible opportunity, what did you really expect out of the guy? Obama, on the other hand, had every single possible thing he could ever have going for him: public sentiment for change, public disapproval for current government policies on just about every issue, charm, relative newness and lack of corruption from the system, youth, a different/hipper look....and with his overwhelming victory, he obviously had people's support, so really was in position to shake some shit up. So it's sooooo much more infuriating to watch him still pander to old white dorks who haven't had a fresh idea or uncorrupted brain cell blinking in their heads since my parents were born.

"Did you see him when they asked if he thought marijuana should be legalized? When he gave that bullshit answer, even though you know without a doubt that him and half his cabinet smoke? It's just a letdown to see someone so promising still be scared to do what he knows is right.

"I wanna talk about this shit because a lot of DILLINGER listeners and heavy/alternative/whatever music listeners in general are younger, full of piss and venom, and most of the time they don't have a clear place to direct it, or are just unfortunately oblivious to how royally fucked the society they are entering is.

"I don't view music or art as totally separate from this. If we were content and didn't have a thousand potential 'fuck-yous' to give out on a daily basis, we wouldn't have the fuel to keep making the art that we do with the attitude that we have. Good art always ties in directly to life, so if I didn't think this was relevant I wouldn't be opening my mouth.

"It's not that Obama isn't better than Bush. He is, though you'd have to try hard not to be. That's like trying to cook a dinner that tastes better than dog shit....not too tough. He reversed the ban on stem cell research right away, and is reaching out hard to foreign countries and making a pretty big effort to try to reverse our standing in the eyes of the rest of the world, and both of those are necessary and admirable steps.

"Having just recently been overseas with DILLINGER, it was obvious that the rest of the world already feels a little more at ease with our mascot than they did with the last boner. He's doing the best he can do without radically shaking things up and giving tons of people the one-finger salute. That's the point, though....that's what needs to happen, and he kinda acted like he was gonna do that, and really he's still just playing the same game, selling the same snake oil, just a little tweaked to make it easier to swallow. Same shit, different spin. I don't think he's evil, its just obvious that he comes from the same basic school that every politician has come from for the last century.

"Don't think for a second that Republicans and Democrats aren't both trying to lead us to the same end result: massive federal government and complete dominance of a central power over your day to day life. They might argue about little shit along the way, like sucking out fetuses or gay marriage or whatever else they cling to to try to pretend they are different, but really deep down they both wanna extend their reach as far as they can, be it through excessive taxation, excessive policing of victimless crime laws, or excessive military intervention, while in the process degrading us as human beings and stripping us of our naturally given self-worth and self-determination as much as possible.

"When Republicans say they are pro huge military interventions, and pro the expensive and futile drug war, but somehow also say they are pro-small government and low taxes, they are delusional. How can you be into massive government spending and stripping of individual rights, but want low taxes and small government? It's not possible. At the same time, Democrats claim to want all these personal liberties and want the government to leave them alone, but oh by the way can we please still become dependent on you for health care and education? Don't believe the lie from both of them that high taxes and government interference and babysitting of our lives and our money is a societal necessity.

"If all that shit doesn't absolutely infuriate you, you are probably high as fuck. Just remember, though, that even if you are high as fuck, even if you are high as fuck in your own home (in which the word 'own' is also a joke, since you still have to pay property tax and if the government wanted to bulldoze it to make a highway they could),if the government knew about your activities and really wanted to they could kick down your door and put you in jail. All of which, by the way, the jail, the cops, etc... are all paid for by our taxes... taxes which by their very nature are degrading and dehumanizing. People are so excited to get their chunk of taxes back this time of year, so they can get a flat screen or whatever consolation prize they get for playing, that they actually think they are being given something. You aren't being given shit, you are just being given a moment of relief from the ass-raping that you take every week when you get shook down, in a supposedly capitalistic country no less, by the legal mafia known as the IRS, to collect an income tax that we never even voted on, which when put into existence was only supposed to be temporary. Now we have sales tax, state income tax, federal income tax, property tax, taxes on imports, business taxes, taxes on capital gains, taxes on gas, alcohol, tobacco, death tax (!!!),motor vehicle fees, the list is shockingly long. Call it whatever you want, economic enslavement, legal racketeering, grand theft, its disgusting. In case anyone has forgotten, the reason why we established our independence from Britain is because we didn't wanna be taxed by what we saw as a corrupt government.

"I got pulled over for speeding the other day and ticketed for the seventh time or so in the last three years...yet another form of bullshit tax. How ironic that we pay their salaries just to have them come take it back from us for one of the many nonviolent 'crimes' they've created for us. If the government didn't want us to speed, they would limit the top speeds of the cars being built. Instead, they deliberately make the speed limits ridiculously low relative to the potential speed of the cars being built, and then they add brainwashed and hungry tax collectors — sorry, traffic police/highway patrol — to the equation. They want us to speed so that they can ticket us and have yet another revenue stream. The whole speeding/ticket cycle is a farce. Police are supposed to stop problems or deal with emergencies. There is no speeding problem. The word problem implies that you can fix it eventually. They aren't trying to stop speeding, because that would be easy to do. Like I said earlier, they could easily impose speed restrictions on car manufacturers. They created the false problem as a means for them to continually generate more government revenue, to continue funding their reckless and destructive spending habits and bloated appearance. Speeding doesn't cause accidents, people driving like assholes cause accidents. More people get in accidents in parking lots than anywhere else, and its definitely not because they're speeding. Now, I either have to pay or go to court and get lectured to by some old dick who's been warped into believing he's a crime fighter by being a traffic court judge. Either way, my insurance will go up, insurance I've paid about fifteen thousand dollars towards in the last thirteen years but never had to use. Oh, did I forget to mention that I also went through a toll while I was driving? Shook me down there too. Sorry massa, I didn't realize you needed even more of my money. I be givin' it to you right away now massa.

"After all this, some people say they only oppose what the government does with the taxes. They don't mind being taxed, but in return they want free healthcare, or college education for everyone, instead of wars and whatever else. Sounds pleasant enough, but it's still insulting and dehumanizing. People that want that don't realize that by doing that you are still negotiating with the enemy and giving the government even more power over your life, by creating a nanny state where you will be sucking at their teet for everything. You are telling them that they know how you would want your money spent before you do. How about just stop the excessive taxing? If people didn't get a third to a fifth of their incomes stolen from them through all this taxing, maybe they'd be able to get healthcare, or pay for school, or not lose their house. Maybe businesses would be able to hire more people, and then, the people who live in shame on welfare from government redistribution of other people's money will actually have the pride of employment and pride of self-actualization!

"Taxation is immoral and personally degrading and has been from the beginning of time, only used to help bankroll the growing imperialist ambitions of corrupt beyond repair nations. The policy of taxation, by its nature, leads to a growing central government with irresponsible and ineffective spending habits, and an economically weakened populace, and is not sustainable. As our overseas ambitions and corrupt federal programs grow, the only way to fund them is to continue raising taxes. As taxes are raised, people have less money to spend, hence the creation of a credit based society with which people can spend imaginary money in a lifelong credit cycle most people will never be able to escape. Now, however, even the infinite taxation of everyone in the country in every way imaginable isn't enough to pay for our class-warfare welfare state, our overseas expansionist military policies, the idiotic money pit known as the drug war, and the federal government's imminent takeover of private business that they've disguised as 'bailouts' designed to help us. How do they fund those endeavors? By creating even more fake money with the federal reserve, crossing their fingers that we'll believe the bullshit that one day all of our tax dollars will pay back the deficit and balance out all of their spending. It's never gonna happen. Ever. Ever. In the meanwhile inflation is gonna skyrocket and the value of the dollar will soon be next to nothing (not that it hasn't been reduced to nothing already, the dollar is worth 95% less than it was at the time of the federal reserve's creation, this is the reason we need two incomes to do what one used to provide),and when that happens, historically one of three things happen: the government is overthrown by the populace, the country falls into civil war and splits apart into new countries or stays in a state of never ending civil war/in-fighting/third world hell while the rest of the world moves on without them, or, the country is invaded and taken over by another country who actually has their shit together. If there obviously needs to be some tax it should be the bare minimum to allow for defense, treasury, legislative, judicial, etc. That's really all we're entitled to pay for. As of right now all the taxes combined average out to about 35-40% of your income. Gross, right? Have you gotten anything beneficial back outta that? Didn't think so.

"Some of you reading this already know all this shit. This isn't for you. This is for everyone coming up right now that wants to know what's really going on, and wants a briefing before it all goes down.

"Things are going to inevitably get really crazy in our lifetime, and I wanted to throw some ideas out there about what I see unfolding right now, just to get some brain cells boiling, to get some conversation started. They can only pacify new generations for so long before public consciousness reaches the breaking point and calls bullshit. That's what its gonna take to keep things from completely imploding, if it isn't too late already. That will, sadly enough, probably not happen anytime soon though, because we have all become pussies and traded the spirit we are born with, the spirit that longs for freedom and integrity and has a resistance for getting shit on. We've traded that spirit for infinite distraction, novelty and poison masquerading as entertainment, and the false promise of safety and comfort until we're dead. We'll trade anything, our hard earned money, our children's futures, our dignity... anything, we'll trade anything... just to maintain the comfort of our gluttonous and shallow culture 'til the very end. Honor, personal respect, protection of our basic human worth... that means nothing. We will gladly allow the threat of government punishment for dissent to completely lobotomize us, in exchange for the illusion of protecting the order and safety of our self-created jail cells, protection from ourselves.

"Do you know that in D.C. the other day a protest was planned and then scrapped, because they couldn't get a permit for the protest?! HELLO! IT'S CALLED A FUCKING PROTEST!! I know all those turtlenecked pussies were all scared to go to jail but asking for a permit to protest is like asking someone if they mind if you punch them in the face. 'Hey... City Hall? Hi I'd like to protest today and was wondering what form I'd need to... oh... I'm not allowed to do that there? There's no way to make it legal? We'll clean up afterwards.... so a mess won't be a problem and we'll definitely be respectful.......no? Ok, thanks...bye.' Just like the 'Born Against' song says... 'Are you a good team player? Remember....the boss is your best friend.' Only now the government is the boss, and everyone had better be a good employee. One day DEP is gonna take over some cool location and declare independence and we'll invite you all and we'll play loud music and do cool shit and barbecue every night and tell the rest of the world to suck it. 'Til then....read some books on anarcho-capitalism and build up your knowledge base so you can get more infuriated as you begin to realize how personally offensive our government has become.

"ALRIGHT! Now that half of you think I'm completely insane I'll move on.There's a bunch of musical news too! I got hot for a second there and went on a rant and forgot about shit you might actually wanna hear about!

"I did a remix for the band PRONG thats gonna come out on a remix album of theirs called 'Power Of The Damned Mixxxer'. Check it out when it comes out.

"I've been writing lyrics furiously for DEP songs, as well as getting going on some non-DEP shit with a totally different vibe, I'll let you know whats coming of that or what form it'll be taking when it gets a little further along in development, but it sounds awesome even in a fairly early stage. The big news, though, is that the new DEP is taking on the appearance of pure ferocity, and we still have 'till July 20th before we go into the studio to record.

"I imagine DILLINGER as being like Gozer at the end of 'Ghostbusters'. We kinda don't know what our album is gonna be like going into the writing process, and then our writing progresses, and its kinda like that part when she says 'choose your destructor'and then it manifested itself as the marshmallow man.....except we are manifesting as a giant tsunami of asskicking.

"We have a press release about to come out, all about our new album, complete with title and record label and other stuff, coming out any day now, so be on the lookout over at our MySpace page and on any other music news site that covers badassery.

"Ben is twittering away about our writing progress over on our official twitter, twitter.com/dillingerescpln, and I just signed up twitter.com/gregpuciato before some weirdo could get it first and start faking the funk. I haven't posted anything yet, but its inevitable that one day I might, so sign up if you are into reading COOL SHIT. One day I'll be in your hood and we'll organize a barbecue or something over the twitter. When we're on tour and then later when we're in the studio I'll probably twitter updates and cool shit on the daily. I also started writing a couple of books after being inspired by Eugene from OXBOW to get off my ass about it, the topics of which are top secret but will be revealed in due time. I'll keep you guys informed!

"Oh yeah....yesterday I did some background vocals on a new EVERY TIME I DIE song, I felt super-fresh and it sounded absolutely killer and made me itchy for recording some scathing new DEP vocals with the mighty Steve Evetts in July and August!!!!"