Following the moving For Big Floyd benefit single from last month, Jim McHugh of Sunwatchers and Centripetal Force Records have teamed up again to bring you another powerful slab of socially conscious music for a good cause. All proceeds of this release will be donated to Black Lives Matter NYC and Black Lives Matter Nashville.
On The Masher Sez Abolish Work. End Employment Now!, McHugh takes the offensive, especially on the opening track, “The Soil and The Seed.” This striking protest anthem raises a fist and swears to take down all oppressors and dismantle the cruel, racist system that has been built into our society, once and for all.
McHugh truly knows how to cut straight to the point and deliver a clear message that provokes the listener straight into action. At the same time, his music is highly listenable and entertaining, which is not often the case with politically-themed music.
The importance of this kind of balance is something that McHugh knows quite well. When he was asked why it’s important for musicians to be involved in national discussions on issues like race, police brutality and revolution, he said, “making music and art in and of itself is not a revolutionary act; opposing police and helping people in need and participating in the radicalization of our communities are. However, music and the other joys keep us alive and keep us healthy, as artists and as listeners/participants. On macro- and microcosmic levels – psychoemotionally – the musician’s role in all this is to create art and language which assuages alienation and gives people the energy and motivation to stay healthy and fight.”
Even on the album’s two instrumentals, McHugh has zero issues with communicating his messages and intent. His guitar playing on this album, which ranges from a Byrds-ian shimmer to the fierceness of Sonny Sharrock and the ragged and embittered shredding of Neil Young, perfectly captures the anger, despair and hope that many of us have been feeling over the last month or so.
If you feel appalled by the brutality of the police that’s been clogging up your news feed and your TV, the flagrant hatred on display from people all over the nation (even within your very own communities), but you haven’t actually done something about it yet, just give this album a few listens. You’ll soon feel charged enough to go join the movement and hit the streets to finally make this country a safer, more just place to live for every citizen.
As I mentioned before, all proceeds of this release will be donated to Black Lives Matter NYC and Black Lives Matter Nashville. Seeing that today is another Bandcamp Friday, please be sure to buy this album before the day is through, so every penny spent will go straight to these utterly important organizations.
-KH
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