Kansas City post-hardcore/emo vets Giants Chair returned this past December with their first album in 23 years, Prefabylon, released on Spartan Records (order yours), and they've now got a video for its song "Russian Racehorse." Both the song and video carry a strong political message and resonate pretty strongly right now. Frontman Scott Hobart tells us:
As a middle-aged, white, midwestern guy writing songs, I’ve generally left ‘protest’ lyrics of any real political or religious specificity to the professionals. What do I really have to say that isn’t already being voiced more eloquently by sharper folks? Or maybe I just didn’t have the balls. But, as the ignorance and arrogance of the Trump era woke me to new, more dangerous levels of reckless absurdity everyday, I finally reached the point - maybe the obligation - that I needed to express my frustration in some way, if only for myself. I like metaphors because I think they let language do more work as they encourage more engagement on the part of the listener, so I didn’t feel the need to name names in the song. I guess it’s about politics AS religion and the frenzied futility of human beings telling themselves they have it together in the face of the unfathomable universe. Thanks for listening!