There are many types of music in this world and some of them have a lot of functionality. Disaster Amnesiac recalls a conversation with a guy, many years ago, in which we agreed that certain of our moms' favorite jams had a "vacuum track", ie they were mostly heard in tandem with mom's cleaning the house routine. Polka music also strikes this listener as a high function value music in that when it's being performed (and let's face it it's an inherently live form of music), it serves the function of getting people to socialize with one another. Polka gets people up and dancing, and all kinds of wonderful things can come of that: conversations, relationships, sex, children, breaks from the daily grind of adulting....on and on it goes. Thence, it comes as no surprise that there are long-standing bands that blend Polka with other amped up musical forms, in particular the strain of Punk Rock that also focuses on moving butts. Well on that last one, it's more accurately moving limbs but you'll catch the drift. Disaster Amnesiac has very fond memories of being in room that featured the live action of Ward Jablonksi and his wonderful Polkacide, a band with roots back to the early 1980's. If memory serves correctly they finally called it quits in 2019 or so. Long ass run, wouldn't you say? Another Polka-Punk mashup band is the Polkaholics, out of Chicago. They have a new release out on No Sides Records and it's called 25 Years of Polka for reasons that should be obvious. Over this CD's five tracks, the listener is treated to the group's tight and well focused blend of traditional Polka performance, both musically and lyrically, with the latter being best exemplified on No More Posin'-Time For Lederhosen and Punk, along with some of that Power Pop feel that comes so naturally to Chi-Area bands. Hallelujah I'm Drunk gets right to that point with funny descriptions of the moves a juicer has to make to find satisfaction. The title track summarizes The Polkaholics' travels: surely their audiences in Germany and Canada, along with those within these United States found much to love and to dance to while they kicked things live in front of them. So great that their sounds took them so far afield! Disaster Amnesiac imagines that it would not be too difficult for the Polkaholics to log enough hours for an eventual 35 Years of Polka, as they're tapped into a musical approach which will still have functionality a decade down the line.
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