Smash The Windows is the first full-length album from the DIY folk punk

Folk punk

Folk punk , is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was pioneered in the late 1970s and early 1980s by The Pogues in Britain and Violent Femmes in America. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in that decade...

 band Mischief Brew

Mischief Brew

Mischief Brew is a band from Philadelphia which plays DIY anarcho-punk music, also incorporating a variety of styles including American folk, swing, Gypsy-punk and country. It was started by Erik Petersen as a solo project, but eventually grew into a band...

. The album was released in 2005 by Fistolo Records (US), and in 2006 by Gunner Records (EU). It was recorded in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY at Vibromonk Studios by Tamir Muskat

Tamir Muskat

Tamir Muskat is a musician/producer-engineer who was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel as son of a Romanian immigrant. As a teenager, he was already a prominent rock drummer and percussionist...

 and Danny Shatzky, December 2004-January 2005. The album has guest appearances from members of World Inferno, Guignol, Evil Robot Us', and Leftöver Crack

Leftöver Crack

Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of the ska punk band Choking Victim. Primarily playing an amalgam of ska and hardcore punk, they classify themselves as "crack-rocksteady". The band is currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords for CD releases, and...

.

Track listing

1. "The Reinvention of the Printing Press" - 2:41

2. "Citizens Drive" - 4:28

3. "Lightning Knock the Power Out" - 3:43

4. "Nomads Revolt" - 4:04

5. "The Lowly Carpenter" - 3:04

6. "Ten Thousand Fleas" - 3:52

7. "Swing Against the Nazis" - 3:04

8. "From the Rooftops" - 4:37

9. "The Gypsy, the Punk, and the Fool (A Tale)" - 6:21

10. "Roll Me Through the Gates of Hell" - 3:36

11. "Ain't It the Life?" - 3:20

12. "A Liquor Never Brewed (with Guignol)" - 3:21

13. "Departure Arrival" - 2:39

Critical reception

Reviews for 'Smash the Windows' were mixed, but mostly favorable. Punknews called it, "DIY folk punk at its finest," while HeartattaCk Zine praised the lyrics: "Poetic anthems to a downtrodden life and the hope for a brighter tomorrow that inspire you to throw a wrench in the gears and enjoy what little of the natural world is left." Razorcake Magazine, however, described it as "Sub-Pogues pseudo Celtic

Celtic music

Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

 style balladeering," claiming that it "[never] really rocks out; it just plods along like a campfire singalong."

Shortly after its release, The Village Voice

The Village Voice

The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...

 rated Erik Petersen/Mischief Brew "Best Anarchist Political Folk-Punk Singer" in their Best of NYC 2005 Issue. Alternative Press rated "A Liquor Never Brewed" one of the "Top Ten Essential Folk Punk Songs."