Desaparecidos-Payola (2015)
Desaparecidos-Payola (2015)
“Revolutions are
always verbose.”
Leon Trotsky
By: Ghost Writer
Remember
that Paolo Sorrentino movie that featured Sean Penn in a Robert Smith like
character all dressed and painted in Goth costume? He was named Cherokee, I
guess in reference to Siouxie Sioux, a post punk Goth icon, in the movie Penn's
character a retired musician, once overcoming his fear of flying travels to the
U.S. in order to locate the Nazi tormentor of his Jewish father, bizarre? Yes, that’s
the cinema of Sorrentino, and Penn gave us here a great touching performance
(like always, he might be a heck, fan of Venezuela dictator Chavez, but he is a
great actor nevertheless).
It's not a surprise that pressure always brings out the best or the worst in all of us, and when world economy is summited to the level of stress created after the economic crisis of 2008, crowds started getting radicalized and things started being taken to the extremes, pressure on governments and politicians, welcome to the world of Occupy, Indignados and Yo Soy 132, also with quick opportunists looking for a way capitalize fear and anger in order to seize power fast track, so the new populist was born masked as “Socialists of the 21 Century”, in a way, music aside, Payola is a radical record mixing radical politics with fast and loud songs, it's populist and radical in an artist way, music that push you to the frontlines of a protest march just before Black Bloc starts rioting, throwing punches and Molotov cocktails, and hell breaks loose.
Desaparecidos comeback record Payola makes me think of Cherokee traveling all along Europe and America as populists, ultra-right, ultra-left and neo Nazis political parties start to rise in order to capitalize anger and fear, in the movie, Penn´s character was leaving music because of its impact on young fans (two of his fans committed suicide while listening to his music), but on Payola, it will be Cherokee accepting music capacity to transform reality and to start a major riot on the world.
It's not a surprise that pressure always brings out the best or the worst in all of us, and when world economy is summited to the level of stress created after the economic crisis of 2008, crowds started getting radicalized and things started being taken to the extremes, pressure on governments and politicians, welcome to the world of Occupy, Indignados and Yo Soy 132, also with quick opportunists looking for a way capitalize fear and anger in order to seize power fast track, so the new populist was born masked as “Socialists of the 21 Century”, in a way, music aside, Payola is a radical record mixing radical politics with fast and loud songs, it's populist and radical in an artist way, music that push you to the frontlines of a protest march just before Black Bloc starts rioting, throwing punches and Molotov cocktails, and hell breaks loose.
Desaparecidos comeback record Payola makes me think of Cherokee traveling all along Europe and America as populists, ultra-right, ultra-left and neo Nazis political parties start to rise in order to capitalize anger and fear, in the movie, Penn´s character was leaving music because of its impact on young fans (two of his fans committed suicide while listening to his music), but on Payola, it will be Cherokee accepting music capacity to transform reality and to start a major riot on the world.
Cherokee is
a based on the Cure's Robert Smith, and Desparecidos main man, Conor Oberst,
who also carries a respectable career as folkie singer songwriter sounds a lot
like Smith, so in a way it makes a lot of sense to me, but that's the farthest
the The Cure comparisons go, to get the music roots of this one, we must go
back to Spanish Bombs, Guns of Brixton and all other great turbulent and
militant songs by The Clash, but only a little more furious, but never going
into the territories of the true radicals Crass or Discharge for example.
Payola is the "revolution" for the free caring millennials, is furious punk rock, but it never gets to serious or to dangerous, radicals need myths and true people like The Underground Man (perhaps based on Greek radical of the moment Alexis Tsipras) and to Te Amo Camila Vallejo (a young Chilean communist protester), it succeeds as an intense record, capable of achieving the drive and power of the first Andrew WK record, in a way Payola is a concept album, is about activism, politics, revolution and agitation, it reminds me just in concept of that Catch 22 record named Permanent Revolution, but whereas PR was a literate informed record about Trotsky, Payola is a social network and internet news informed record about dissidence and political radicalism.
From the beginning The Left is Right starts at full speed, like crashing into a brick wall and then takes a detour into agitation pop perfection, launching diatribes against capitalism, ATM machines and stock market, and attempting revolution with Molotov cocktails and baseball bats, it never gets serious at all and even criticizes today´s pop activist who think that by donating a dollar at Starbucks or at Walmart they are crowdfunding the fight for animal rights or the fights against fracking, Payola is a fun and intense record, a chance to listen to Oberst the way we haven’t listened to him in years, the revolution for millennials sitting on their favorite sofa, drinking tea and playing X Box while the streets are set on fire, Canada is the real thing when it comes to revolution!
Payola is the "revolution" for the free caring millennials, is furious punk rock, but it never gets to serious or to dangerous, radicals need myths and true people like The Underground Man (perhaps based on Greek radical of the moment Alexis Tsipras) and to Te Amo Camila Vallejo (a young Chilean communist protester), it succeeds as an intense record, capable of achieving the drive and power of the first Andrew WK record, in a way Payola is a concept album, is about activism, politics, revolution and agitation, it reminds me just in concept of that Catch 22 record named Permanent Revolution, but whereas PR was a literate informed record about Trotsky, Payola is a social network and internet news informed record about dissidence and political radicalism.
From the beginning The Left is Right starts at full speed, like crashing into a brick wall and then takes a detour into agitation pop perfection, launching diatribes against capitalism, ATM machines and stock market, and attempting revolution with Molotov cocktails and baseball bats, it never gets serious at all and even criticizes today´s pop activist who think that by donating a dollar at Starbucks or at Walmart they are crowdfunding the fight for animal rights or the fights against fracking, Payola is a fun and intense record, a chance to listen to Oberst the way we haven’t listened to him in years, the revolution for millennials sitting on their favorite sofa, drinking tea and playing X Box while the streets are set on fire, Canada is the real thing when it comes to revolution!
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