Yellowcake

Review by Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis (7/23/04) :
"Unapologetically political and hyper-critical of George W. Bush -- the name comes from the administration's bogus claim that Iraq tried to procure uranium from Niger -- Yellowcake isn't quite as slick at leftist propaganda as Michael Moore, but it makes its point with considerable energy on the D.I.Y. album "Since You Ruined the Earth," and it's not nearly as didactic as, say, Rage Against the Machine. The three musicians are all ultra-accomplished players -- think of a harder, more metallic Primus -- and songs such as "America, We Need a New President," "Come Election Day" and the title track are timely, indeed. (www.yellowcakeband.com)"
- Chicago Sun-Times

The debut album from Yellowcake titled "Since You Ruined The Earth" is an all out audio assault on the Bush/Cheney administration. Yellowcake wrote, arranged, and recorded the 10 song CD and accompanying artwork without record label assistance over a 9-month period. The cover art looks like a 3-dimensional cartoon featuring a plastic George Bush doll outfitted in naval aviator flight suit giving a mighty thumbs up in front of a crashed Apache helicopter in the desert. Fires burn in the distance, and a plastic soldier lays face down in the sand. This hard-edged protest album is thick with lyrical sledgehammers directed squarely at the Bush administration. Yellowcake drew inspiration for their name from President Bushes’ January 2003 State of the Union address (President Bush claimed intelligence reports indicated an Iraqi effort to procure yellowcake uranium from Niger Africa. The CIA and IAEA established the papers as crude forgeries almost a year earlier. The CIA warned the White House not to use the false claim in the State of the Union address. The scare tactic of insinuating that Iraq had a nuclear program helped garner support for the march to war with Iraq.)
Doug Ackman, lead vocalist for the band is accustomed to working on the other side of the recording studio glass, his day job being chief recording engineer of a project studio that serves Chicago area talent.
Ackman shares responsibility for guitar and bass parts throughout the album with lead guitarist Andy Bachar, and Ackman points out that "Bachar did the heavy lifting when it comes to guitar textures. He’s also a whiz kid with any technology you throw at him. Andy is responsible for the totally switched-on images that make up the CD booklet. We had as much fun with that as we did with the music. The whole production was created on the Apple Macintosh G4 computer. No loops- we played everything you hear.".
Brad Schlueter, an exceptional drummer whose articles appear in drum magazines internationally, provides the foundation of Yellowcakes’ groove. Schlueter enjoys a deserved reputation as an excellent drum instructor at arguably the finest drum and percussion store in the Chicago area- the Drum Pad (Palatine, IL.).
Joe Gross lends his extraordinary trumpet skills as guest artist on two of the songs on the CD. Joe served in the United States Army from 1995-2003. Joe was a top-notch trumpeter in the United States Military Academy Band (based out of West Point, New York) performing big band jazz for national and international dignitaries. In addition to his role as a brilliant musician in the military, Joe performed general military duties, supervision duties as a non-commissioned officer, and inventory duties as a supply sergeant. Joe Gross states, "Since voting in my first election, I have always considered myself a Republican-leaning independent, and have never voted for a Democrat for President. In 2004, for the very first time, I will be voting a straight Democratic ticket. The Bush administration is against everything America stands for. It is anti-democracy, anti-freedom, anti-civil liberties, and anti-freedom of speech and expression. And don’t think for a second that the multi-national corporations who control the administration’s agenda owe one ounce of loyalty to the United States. They are destroying our wealth, world leadership, diplomacy, and quality of life as you read. An administration full of people who shirked their military duties when it was their time to serve is now sending the brave men and women in the US military, with whom I was so privileged to serve for 7 1/2 years, into harms way, under absolutely false pretenses. These same people call those who disagree with their policies unpatriotic. All they need to do to see truly unpatriotic people is to look in the mirror."
Doug Ackman says "I wrote the first song purely for selfish reasons- as a way of coping with the frustration I felt with the direction Bush was taking us. The right wing spin machine was in full gear with Bushes’ march to war with Iraq, and anyone who questioned their policies was ridiculed as being unpatriotic. It was such an un-American response to an attempt to have a serious debate and a national dialog over the decision to rush into war. I think they sensed that if reasonable people were allowed to view the bogus rationale for going to war in the light of day, then the game would be up. So Bush stopped discussing, pulled out the UN weapons inspectors that were doing their job on the ground in Iraq, and went straight to war. No hesitation. He’s extremely brave with other peoples’ blood. When 10 million people around the world protested the war, Bush said that he doesn’t base his decisions on focus groups. Ten million people –that’s one hell of a large focus group. Just how many people does it take to even register as a blip on the radar screen with this guy? Bush is clearly not impressed with large numbers of people, even if (as far as millions of Americans are concerned) he is theoretically employed to serve on their behalf. He is, however, quite taken with those that write checks to him with large numbers of zeros. Like the largest contributor to the Bush campaign, Enrons’ very own Ken Lay. " Ackman continues,"I know I’m feeling the same way informed patriotic Americans are feeling- betrayed. Betrayed by Bush. Betrayed by Cheney. Betrayed by the supporting cast of crooked clowns. One couldn’t make up this level of blatant corruption by our top leadership and believe it could happen right in front of our eyes, with no consequences for their actions. I aim to give voice to the outrage that so many patriotic Americans feel at what Bush and Cheney have done to the reputation of our country around the globe." According to Ackman, "The Bush administrations’ term in office has destroyed relationships that were fought for and earned through decades and decades of hard work by people from both political parties, as well as independents. When we take the revolving door of reasons we were given that we must rush into war with Iraq, what do we find? No weapons of mass destruction. No link between Al Qaeda and Iraq. No link between Saddam Hussein and the events of 9/11. The 9/11 commission revealed that their thorough investigation found no credible link between Iraq and Al Qaeda, but Bush and Cheney chose to ignore the evidence and continue lying about it. When you remove the reasons Bush gave for going to war that are false, what remains must be true. And what remains is the potential for hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars of profit. Cheney continues to collect money from Halliburton. Halliburton received a huge contract to provide services for the war, and no other companies were even allowed to bid for the contract. This is the definition of corruption. Where the hell is the outrage from the Republican House of Representatives, or the Republican dominated Senate? Doesn’t Illinois House Representative Henry Hyde think it’s important any more to preserve the rule of law? He and the rest of the Republican Party insisted preserving the rule of law was imperative while they pursued the gravely serious matter of whether Democratic President Bill Clinton may have lied about his sex life. They did everything in their power to cripple the Clinton Presidency, but despite their bitter partisan treachery Clinton and Gore created 22 million new jobs, eliminated the deficit and created a surplus for the first time in the country’s’ history, established record home ownership, and lower interest rates." Ackman continues " I want to motivate more voters and potential voters to get involved, and the first step is to make them aware that there’s a huge problem living in the White House. If Bush is re-elected, I have no doubt the military draft will be re-instituted. That makes this election a matter of life and death for so many young Americans and their families. Listen closely and you’ll hear them seeding the clouds of fear about Iran next. If they can keep the wars going they can keep the war profits coming as well. The trouble is boy George already cried wolf. Now, when real threats face our nation (and I’m certainly not claiming Iran is a real threat), and this administration wants to act on them, who the hell is going to believe them? Add in the torture of Iraqi prisoners (90% of who were deemed to be innocent of any wrongdoing by the Red Cross) and you have failed leadership of immense proportion. We have already witnessed George Bushes complete lack of hesitation or concern when it comes to spilling American blood so an elite few can amass personal fortunes at the expense of future generations. They don’t want people to feel the true impact of their corrupt decisions, so they gave huge tax refunds to the top 1% wage earners, a few hundred bucks to us working slobs, while they put half a trillion dollars of debt on a charge card, to be paid for by others on another day. Meanwhile, the debt grows because of the interest on that debt. Bush and Cheney are an unprecedented failure by every measure, and must be removed from office. Over 800 American lives lost, and thousands maimed for life. Hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money stolen. All the while not a whisper was heard from the Republican controlled Congress. Scientific progress remains in a holding pattern because the primates in the White House fear stem-cell research. Perhaps their campaign theme should be Leeches and Abstinence for this Century and Beyond. Mission accomplished? "
Yellowcakes’ CD "Since You Ruined The Earth" is available now at CDBaby .com
For more information visit www.yellowcakeband.com

- PR Web