While there’s no shortage of items in the news to get worried about– and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, just check the BBC real quick– things are still going down in Wisconsin. Remember Wisconsin?
No matter which side(s) of the collective bargaining/union busting/budget balancing/rules-of-legistlature debate(s) you fall on, if you like a nice slice of “post-punk” (I do not think “post-punk” is really a thing, but hey– music-writer shorthand) by Milwaukee’s Ifihadahifi. Released as a one-off download for now, with a physical EP/ 7′inch to follow, “Imperial Walker” is a slicing track of low-end synth damage and crunchy guitars that strikes a hot balance between straight-faced protest well-played goofing. The title is, yes, both a joke on Governor Walker’s name and Star Wars. You can read their statement (and the lyrics) and listen to the song at the link above. The track is catchy and snarky and gathered enough attention that it actually pissed off some Republicans. Which sorta got me to thinking– what exactly does a “political” song need to do in order to be “successful?” The National Review article takes some pretty fair shots at Rage Against the Machine and the 2004 Kerry campaign, but maybe it misses the point with regards to art and politics? At what point is art simply propaganda? These are hardly new questions, but they’re still worth chewing on.
This would be interesting to hear Ifihadahifi’s take on as well; their 2008 record “Fame by Proxy” (which has some pretty sweet jams, btw) largely dealt in meta-commentary on being in a little-known band, abstractions and darkly funny one-liners. Direct politics were rarely addressed. As things start ramping up for the 2012 election will we be seeing more formerly a-political bands getting serious, or will, like in most of the ’00s, the commentary stay between cuts, rather than in the music itself? Which do we want at this point? I’ve heard it lamented that the ’00s produced very little trenchant social commentary by independent artists, but many of the people complaining readily dismiss anything with a whiff of a direct message. So . . .
