There’s no shortage of reasons to feel angsty nowadays. That’s especially true for young people, for whom the future doesn’t feel nearly as rosy as it did for past generations. Whenever our world has hit those heavy inflection points, young people have often produced correspondingly existential and angsty art movements. Think of the anti-Vietnam War rock of the 1960s and 1970s, the hyper political punk of the 1980s or the George W. Bush-era musical counterculture. Heck, there was even a fair amount of it during President Donald Trump’s first term.
It’s very possible it’s just because I’m getting older, but I haven’t seen that same kind of fire lately. That’s likely not a fair assessment. After all, politics is no longer reserved for three–chord punk bands or hip-hop lyricists – it’s often alive and well in the poppiest of pop music. So, having said that, I think what I’m really missing isn’t politics, it’s the angst.
This week, I found a song that scratched that itch, but I’m still starving. Please, slide into my inbox and get me some more.
SLACKER, “Velvet Worms”: It’s all well and good to write something political, but at the end of the day it has to actually sound good. Bad songs are often made even worse by political pandering. Luckily for SLACKER, “Velvet Worms,” rips. It’s an under two minute anti-capitalist punk jam that feels both nonchalant and scathing. “Terroristic pests festering at the top of a skyscraper. A fish rots from the head, I think it’s time to cut it off,” lead singer JP Houle sings over loose, distorted electric guitar strums.
Like what you hear? Check out SLACKER Wednesday, April 9, at Whistle Stop. Do you have a “Song of the Week” suggestion? Shoot us an email and a sentence or two about why you’ve been bumping this song lately. Friendly reminder: all songs should be by local artists!