Song of the Week #13
At the time of writing (although not the time of release, apologies for drafting a small handful of these in batches ahead of time), the USA is going through a huge shift in public perception of the police across all 50 member states. Protests campaigning for ‘Black Lives Matter’ are scattered all over the globe - including in the UK, where unfortunately many counter protests have arisen from the far-right sub-human scum of the English Defence League. The protests have stemmed from a “singular” incident in the US, the killing of unarmed George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th. Due to cumulative anger building over several years following the unchecked, and often unapprehended racist attitude and stereotyping of an undertrained, yet lethally armed police force, the public have - in no uncertain terms - decided to take action. Currently in the USA, people have to undergo longer training courses to become a barber, than they do to become a fully fledged police officer, where they are given a gun, and are told to go patrol the streets - and people are protesting in the hope that real change can happen, and that funds currently allocated to a broken police system across the US could be better used propping up other suffering sectors of the community, such as housing and education.
But of course you already know this. I don’t want to patronise, its simply the best way to introduce the message that is already heavily evident when you listen to this Song of the Week.
You also probably already know that so much musical expression (particularly from the oppressed minorities) across a variety of genres has shed light on the unchecked institutional racism in the USA. From Tupac’s famous last words being “Fuck you” rather than give information to a police officer determined to find out who had shot the rap superstar, to the well documented incident where the NWA were arrested outside the recording studio during a small break from recording their first album. So you could ask, what happens when you combine political statements from hip hop with the sheer rage and social disdain of punk? If you answered Rage Against the Machine, you’re probably half right (or were, before Rage became a reported cash cow in 2019/20), but this week’s highlight is the L.A. hardcore titan Downset.
Truth be told, the song I wanted to highlight was the anti-establishment Code Blue Coma from the same title EP in 2000, but safe to say, it is extremely hard to find the original recording online - you instead end up with the remastered ‘Cold Blue Coma’ track that was released in 2012, and loses some of the punk edge of the original. So instead, I have gone with the next best option, and have chosen Downset.’s “Anger”, the first track from their first self-titled album. Unfortunately, the ‘unmixed’ recording of this was only available on YouTube - everything on Spotify or otherwise is a newer version, sorry!
It is amazing listening to Anger (or the entire first 2 albums for that matter) how ahead of the curve Downset. were, combining political themes and hip-hop vocals with the backing of a fast and aggressive metal band, which would ultimately shape much of the hardcore scene as it stands today. It’s also amazing to think now that they rank among the veterans of punk, rather than the current innovators - only one album in nearly 20 years will do that to you. Regardless, the theme behind the lyrics still rings eerily true today, talking about the LAPD killing vocalist Rey if they got the chance like they did his father years before. Fun fact that the original pressing of the song addressed Zach de la Rocha and Rage Against the Machine in the verse leading “what does that fake know about motherfucking South Central?”, and despite the musical and thematic similarities between the 2 bands, Downset. have always tried to distance themselves from the rap rock behemoth.
Enjoy!