“CHEAP JAPANESE BASS” By Steve Lieberman (The Gangsta Rabbi)

Steve Lieberman,… The Gangsta Rabbi’s 85th studio album, “Cheap Japanese Bass.” Out now on every major platform including Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, and ReverbNation, the song features a title track that not only showcases anger and zeal, but provides a divinely raw glimpse into everything Lieberman has fought for over the decades, including self-expression: “Cheap Japanese Bass” is punctuated by courageous defiance and fragments that flow freely from Lieberman’s being. The limbs of his discography are always stiff with boundaries and unfulfilled expectations, but somehow this album changes everything.

Although militia punk remains highly underrated and does not receive a lot of mainstream attention, Lieberman shows us exactly why it deserves better. One more piece of art from him, like the title track of this album, has the potential to turn the tables because of his unique fusion of blaring flutes and brassy march-band horns, all laced over with frantic and fully packed aggressive basslines. “Cheap Japanese Bass” is indeed a milestone in the chaotic yet controlled world of Lieberman, and for adding to an already labeled chaotic masterpiece, he plays every instrument himself.

Nostalgic, yet provocatively somber, the album’s title, “Cheap Japanese Bass,” is a reference to Lieberman’s earliest years as a bassist and singer in the 1970s. It serves as a reminder of where it all began, growing into one of the most prominent outsider collections in the history of underground music. While it does make a nod to the past, there is still modern contention coursing through the track. Lieberman is both honoring and defying the silence that illness and time impose. Even in battle with progressive leukemia, the song feels like a war cry, a proclamation that the fight continues, etched in aggression and defiance.

Polished certainly isn’t in his vocabulary, but Lieberman’s voice is still powerful.

He and his lyrics are branded with emotion, frequently shouting in a rugged tone filled with vivid life experiences and underlying glimpses of faith, personal struggle, and candid outsider identity, a fusion that, unlike his sound, isn’t unfiltered, philosophical, raw, and intense. So to reiterate, this is not music for the faint-hearted or those seeking a mainstream touch. For devoted listeners, however, bereft of fervent authenticity, one thing remains certain. Lieberman, carrying the spirit that survives, captivates with intensity and pure sound that refuses to dim.

With “Cheap Japanese Bass,” Steve Lieberman offers us more than a song; it’s a piece of a legacy. Monument to self-expression, Lieberman’s work includes the Guinness world record for the longest officially released song alongside genre-defining subgenres like Thrash Opera and Punk-Thrash-Brass. A singular musician and trend setter who has made him a cult icon in the underground scene, this album is a culmination of over 85 albums that came before it, filled with perplexing and captivating genius.

Shout out to Steve Lieberman, The Gangsta Rabbi, who is still making history and still turning pain into punk, like no other. If you have not yet streamed “Cheap Japanese Bass,” do yourself a favor and head over to Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, or ReverbNation. It may only be a few minutes long, but it is a revolution within that time.