The Theory of Intelligent Design

Album Review

Though his previous albums were largely acoustic, deranged punk-influenced folk-rocker Fish Karma plugs in for The Theory of Intelligent Design, sneering his way through an entire album's worth of garage rock blasts of criticism and humor. But the fact that Intelligent Design is a more electrified album than previous efforts just simply makes Fish Karma sound all the more crazed. There are a few acoustic stirrings ("Blessed Time," "Moving to New Jersey"), but it's not like the irreverent Karma becomes any less critical or audacious on any of these ditties. He spits out sociopolitically charged songs one minute ("Fifty Caliber Christ" confronts the use of religion as an excuse for war, violence, etc., with a gun-toting, manic Christ wrecking havoc over the world), and then blazes through the universal misery of having one too many drinks on another ("I Begged God to Kill Me"). Over the course of 15 tracks — there's a final hidden song not listed on the cover — Fish Karma manages to sound like a bizarrely unhinged Bob Dylan, with a smug Jello Biafra dancing close behind. It's no surprise then that Karma finally hooked up with Biafra's Alternative Tentacles for this release, as his music and the label are a match made in heaven. A weird, weird listen, but somehow, madly amusing all the same.