Preoccupations
Jagjaguwar
2016
Rating: 7.5 eco-warrior latrines out of 10
Preoccupations used to be called Viet Cong, a band I had never heard of until there was a bit of hubbub over their name. Apparently it was offensive to some folks - I'm guessing the Vietnamese - though I'm not entirely sure why, as it's the name of a group that fought with the North Vietnamese and not a slur I don't think. I think a good rule to follow is that if you're a bunch of white dudes, don't name your band after anything that in any way has any connection to another culture, even if it seems non-offensive. Non-white culture obviously - I can't imagine anyone would give a shit if you named yourself after somethingFrench or German or...er, well, maybe not anything Nazi related. Unless you're a Nazi band, in which case I guess it makes sense. Maybe don't be in a Nazi band though, okay? That seems like a dumb thing to do. Let me state for the record that Preoccupations are not Nazis, though they are Canadian. The Stampeders and Pilot are also Canadian, so that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Uh, where was I? Anyways, old band with a new name, first record I've heard by them, and I like it quite a lot. Sounds like the perfect combination of Wolf Parade, Constantines, and the Walkmen (token non-Canadian reference). One of those rare cases where I was in a record store and heard this album playing and actually asked the clerk who it was. I never do that - either I already know who it is, I'm too embarrassed to admit I don't know who it is to the music nerd clerk, or my desire not to talk to people is greater than my desire to know what it is. I guess I could have just used Shazaam.
This review has been almost entirely useless and pointless. Just check this record out, it's worth a listen for sure.
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