It's a question many ask in the current state of world affairs, but this terrific song by the New York band manages to pose political questions and still be enormously engaging in both music and lyrics. The essential message, with the title sharply ironic, is that that the problems of the day – the rise of the extreme right, in particular, can't be solved by passively shrugging your shoulders, clicking online or even by carrying your guitar case around in an aloof, educated way. The guitar alone doesn't, to quote the message on Woody Guthrie's, but by taking positive action. Their post-punk, art-rock sound has echoes of LCD Soundsystem particularly and the bass line and vocal delivery, but this is still fresh, vibrant work, and heralds a great debut album coming out on 1 June.
It's the world now don't discriminate
Everyone is equally a master and a slave
It's the world now don't discriminate
Everyone is equally a master and a slave
How did this happen?
How did this happen? (How did this happen?)
I see you walk past the demonstration
Two chips on your shoulder
You're a culture connoisseur and your pain is real
Two chips on your shoulder
Stuck wading through a crowd of radical daughters
Barricades armed by empty strollers
Basic slogans to combat controllers
See them dance from afar, to guitar on your shoulder
As you smugly walk past, think:
These people should be here regardless of outcome
As you smugly walk past, think:
Hey there's a half-off sale at the Barnes and Noble
As you smugly walk past, you ask yourself
How did this happen?
As you smugly walk past, you ask yourself
How did this happen?
You're cueing deep cuts as you glide escalator
Two chips on your shoulder
Face pressed to glass looking down at the mass march
Two cans on your shoulder
Your playlist knows you better than a closest lover
Your playlist always desert island disk
Your playlist will curate you songs of the oppressed
Look at the marquee in 1080p
As you smugly walk past, think:
These people should be here regardless of outcome
As you smugly walk past, think:
You've got an island of blue, you've got a nipple in water
As you smugly walk past, you ask yourself
How did this happen?
As you smugly walk past, you ask yourself
How did this happen?
It's new world now, don't discriminate
Everyone is equally a master and a slave
It's new world now, don't discriminate
Everyone is equally a master and a slave
As you smugly walk past, you ask yourself
How did this happen?
As you smugly walk past, you ask yourself
How did this happen?
This machine you know it don't kill fascists
This machine just softens what's hard
This machine it killed the dream of the sixties
This machine you know it's just a guitar
As you smugly walk past, you ask yourself
How did this happen?
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