God, Forgive these Bastards

Description

God, Forgive these Bastards is a jazz punk album by The Taxpayers. It is also the name of the book that inspired the album, Taxpayer vocalist Rob Morton's experimental novel about a life filled with contradictions-cowardice and bravery, falsehoods and candidness, glory and failure. The story is told from the perspective of Henry Turner, and spans his trajectory from local hero and star pitcher of the Georgia Tech Wildcats to an abusive, alcoholic drifter. After spending his later years in homeless encampments and psych wards, Turner turned his demons to his advantage and became a kind, beloved street story-teller, a friend of the down-and-out, and a public transit angel. God, Forgive These Bastards explores the brief moments that can shape our lives and the power of forgiving even the most wretched actions with compassion and understanding. This package includes a book + vinyl LP together in a slipcover.

Rob Morton teaches GED classes to prisoners and writes and plays music, often with his band the Taxpayers. He lives in New Orleans, Louisiana with his partner Elise and an assortment of cats and chickens. The Taxpayers is a punk band that formed in Portland, Oregon in 2007. They are known for their interactive performances and stylistic influences from diverse genres.

The stories are well-told with bright, colorful language describing things that are dark, scary, sad, and like the author states, the more unbelievable they are, the more they are grounded in truth. This is a powerful book and I highly recommend it. --Razorcake "Fucking bizarre...I like it!" --Jeff Rosenstock, Bomb the Music Industry "Here's how I see the reception of this project going: First, people are going to ignore it. Then, people are going to be confused by it. Some are going to hate it. Then, years later, long after the creators have forgotten about the whole thing, people are going to call this weird tribute to Henry Turner the most important thing to come out of punk since Zen Arcade. And other such hyperbole. But they're still going to be confused by it." --Dan Sizemore, Leviticus Press "A massive endeavor, beautifully orchestrated." --Sarah Kenning, author of 1,000 Eyes The stories are well-told with bright, colorful language describing things that are dark, scary, sad, and like the author states, the more unbelievable they are, the more they are grounded in truth. This is a powerful book and I highly recommend it. --Razorcake