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Musicians & tQ Writers On Anti-Fascist Anthems
Luke Turner , October 4th, 2016 08:32

Featuring contributions from Ben Durutti, Penny Rimbaud, Bobby Barry, Jeremy Allen, Ben Myers, Kevin McCaighy, Stewart Smith, Neil Cooper, Matt Evans, Tony F Wilson, Leo Chadburn, Emily Mackay, David Bennun, Phil Harrison, Arnold De Boer, Joel McIver, Russell Cuzner, Jeremy Bolm, John Doran, TV Smith, James Sherry, Jonathan Meades, Tristan Bath, JR Moores, Julian Marszalek, Captain Sensible, Andy Moor, Christine Casey, Nic Bullen and Stewart Lee

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Fishbone - ‘Subliminal Fascism’

“Subliminal Fascism gettin' under your skin – so you better wake up, US.” Fishbone can tell you all about prejudice. Legendary in certain circles but criminally undersung, this wildly inventive punk/ ska/ metal/ funk/ soul/ everything else band encountered hostility both from white rock crowds for being black, and from black crowds for playing rock (cf. the 2005 documentary Electric Purgatory: The Fate Of The Black Rocker). Great Rao, people… did Funkadelic teach you nothing? 'Subliminal Fascism', from 1988’s Truth And Soul, takes just 85 seconds to perfectly encapsulate the scapegoating and media manipulation that underpinned the sorry state of political and social affairs of its era. And nearly 30 years later, it remains painfully relevant in an age in which the line between politics and reality TV is horribly blurred, and a presidential race is dominated by painfully obvious yet predictably effective dullard demagoguery. Crucially, it does so with supercharged punk riffs, heavy funk attitude and a bizarrely incongruous, celebratory refrain built from carnival organs and circa-Them Or Us Zappaism. Just because you’re laying bare the soul of a diseased society, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a shitload of fun at the same time.
Matt Evans