Single Review: Debt Neglector – The Kids Are Pissed EP

“We need a lesson in dissent, so that the people don’t forget that it’s not OK to normalise this shit…”

To use a movie metaphor, the homogenised music entertainment business is Skynet: self-aware and endlessly replicating itself mechanically through TV talent shows. Bands like Debt Neglector exist in the dirty junkyards of this apocalyptic scenario, popping up to fire off an RPG at the machine. Protest music is alive and thriving and Debt Neglector don’t try to do anything but wear their protest on their sleeves. The Kids Are Pissed EP kicks off with a massive angry slice of self-loathing in Scared of U.S. in which the current domestic Trumpian dystopia is torn into shreds and set in a despairing global context.

And this is the theme throughout the EP: anger and despair at the decay and wilful ruin of a great nation, brutally expressed. No-one is spared from the barrage. I’d hate to be an alt-right racist prick around these guys. But they are a band and this is music. Angry music, yes, but full of hooks and commanding punk riffs. There’s no better way to mainline a powerful political commentary into the brain and this EP is a magnificent blend of the two conflicting notions: protest and entertainment. While comparisons are not always helpful, there’s a sonic and thematic kinship here – the band could be America’s Die Toten Hosen.

It is in standout track New White Roses that the two themes combine most effectively. Musically radio-friendly and lyrically needle-sharp, this is a song that crystallises the Debt Neglector paradox.  Don’t be fooled by their self-deprecating stance. This is a band with an important message wrapped up in musical Kryponite that it would be foolish to ignore.

The Kids Are Pissed can be pre-ordered digitally here and on picture disc & CD here