''No Gods / No Managers'' is the only studio album and final release by American

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band

Choking Victim Choking Victim was an American punk band formed in New York City, which lasted from 1992 to 1998. They played a mix of hardcore punk and ska (sometimes known as ska-core). Following the breakup of the band, which occurred the same day as the ...

. The album was released in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

through Hellcat/

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...

and re-released on LP format by Epitaph in 2004. Being the sole full-length album of Choking Victim, (they broke up immediately after recording the album), it became hugely popular in the punk scene. It inspired many nascent bands, and the band members of Choking Victim went on to form other bands, most notably

Leftöver Crack Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of Choking Victim. The band is currently signed to Tankcrimes for CD releases, and Alternative Tentacles for vinyl releases. Leftöver Crack spans several diffe ...

. The tone of the album is largely dark and pessimistic, with lyrics and artwork containing Satanic imagery. The cover does not contain a

barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly ref ...

, in accordance with their staunch

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...

message, and is decorated with various satanic and anti-Christian symbols. However, a later pressing includes a barcode on the back cover. The album's title is an interpretation of the

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

phrase/motto "

No gods, no masters Anarchists have employed certain symbols for their cause since the 19th century, including most prominently the circle-A and the black flag. Anarchist cultural symbols have become more prevalent in popular culture since around the turn of the ...

". The quotations heard on several tracks are recordings of

Michael Parenti Michael John Parenti (born September 30, 1933) is an American political scientist, academic historian and cultural critic who writes on scholarly and popular subjects. He has taught at universities as well as run for political office. Parenti is ...

, a leftist political writer. The songs "Suicide", "Fucked Reality", "Money" and "Hate Yer State" had all appeared on the band's previous

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

releases. However, the versions featured on this album are different recordings to those included on their E.P.s.

Critical reception

Robert Makin of the

Courier News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees *John Curley, former presi ...

highly praised the album, describing it as an essential release and rating it 3.5 stars out of four, while PunkNews.org writer Pete Vincelli, in a retrospective review, said that Choking Victim were continuing the legacy of

Operation Ivy Operation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests, coming after '' Tumbler-Snapper'' and before '' Upshot–Knothole''. The two explosions were staged in late 1952 at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Proving Ground in the Marshall I ...

by shaking up a tired scene and

Gallows A gallows (or less precisely scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sa ...

guitarist Laurent Barnard claimed it was a "masterpiece". Daniel Booth, writing in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', was more critical, rating it 0 stars and saying that it sounded like "1,000 dung-beetles gargling their own shit".

Track listing

("Money", "Fuck America", and "Praise to the Sinners" contain audio of

)

Personnel

*Musicians: **

Stza Scott Sturgeon, also known as Stza Crack or simply Stza ( ; born March 4, 1976), is an American musician and artist who has fronted several ska-punk bands in the New York City area, the best-known being Choking Victim and Leftöver Crack. The sta ...

- guitar and vocals **

Ezra Ezra ( fl. fifth or fourth century BCE) is the main character of the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was an important Jewish scribe (''sofer'') and priest (''kohen'') in the early Second Temple period. In the Greek Septuagint, t ...

- guitar and vocals ** Shayne - bass and vocals ** Skwert - drums and vocals **Tommy Trujillo - flamenco guitar *Mike Trujillo (Producer, Mixing) *Choking Victim (Producer, Mixing) *Geoff Sykes (Mastering) *Mike Dy (Mixing Assistant) *Phil Kaffel (Engineer) *John Srebalus (Assistant Engineer) *

Eric Drooker Eric Drooker is an American painter, graphic novelist, and frequent cover artist for ''The New Yorker''. He conceived and designed the animation for the film ''Howl'' (2010). Biography Drooker grew up in Manhattan's Stuyvesant Town, adjacent t ...

(

Artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

)

References

{{Authority control Choking Victim albums 1999 debut albums Epitaph Records albums