Photo credit: Luke Mouradian
Snag
It’s a well-worn cliché that troubled times make for great punk rock, but what does that mean for musicians who, like the rest of us, feel utterly powerless in the face of horrific polices enacted in our name? For Milwaukee-based screamo act snag, the answer to this timely query is to use their art to create both attention and resources for a group directly confronting the Trump administration’s inhumane immigration policies.
On Thursday, July 4, the group released “The Only Rational Response,” a heartfelt plea for listeners to pay attention to the atrocities being committed along the Southern border. All proceeds from downloads of the single will go to Voces de la Frontera, a group working to safeguard immigrant rights in the United States.
For snag bassist/vocalist Peter Murphy, the child separation policy implemented over the past year was the direct impetus for “The Only Rational Response.” Due to recent attention to conditions at the border, according to Murphy, “It felt like something should be done, with the revelation that there’s concentration camps right now in the United States on the border.”
That reality inspired the group to release the single on the Fourth of July holiday. “On the day that many people in this country are celebrating their so-called freedom,” continues Murphy, “there are kids in cages. The juxtaposition is pretty harrowing.”
Such subject matter highlights that snag is unafraid to tackle topics most bands shy away from, a reality that the band will further explore on their upcoming full-length LP. “When we started this band,” explains Murphy, “we talked about specifically being a band that is about climate. And that pretty immediately led to conversations and subject matter that was intersectional.” Since the 1990s, for example, migration to the United States has been fueled by climate change’s impact on the developing world, so there is undoubtedly an environmental side to the issues presented in “The Only Rational Response” (the song will be featured on the band’s upcoming album).
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The album will also feature a song about David Buckel, a prominent gay rights attorney and environmental activist who self-immolated in April 2018 to draw attention to the dire need to address climate change. Not everyone will make such a radical decision; direct action can take many forms. But, as Murphy concludes, “We should be doing anything we can.”
Snag performs at Hum by Humdrum Fest at Cactus Club, 2496 S. Wentworth Ave., at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10. Also on the bill are Cult of Lip, Tambourina, Blue Unit and Absolutely.
