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Resistance is futile.
That’s what the Manics told us back in 2018.
That seems like a long time ago now…so much has changed and very little of it for the better. An environmental crisis, governments of all stripes, displaying gross incompetence on the good days and blatant corruption on the bad days, Covid, anti-vaxxers.
As Kenneth Williams said in his last diary entry; what’s the bloody point?
But hope is important and it can manifest itself in small acts of resistance. Which brings us to “Resist” by Found Object. A collection of glorious synth pop treats and delights that offer, in their beats and breaks, a commentary on the bleak reality of life today but that also offer some hope and uplift.
The tone is set in the album's opening moment as archive commentary of “Tank man’s” actions in Tiananmen Square in 1989. “One man can’t stop an army…” says the newsreader and yet the mood of “Be The Change'' which follows suggests that unless someone, somewhere, stands in front of one “tank” then nothing will ever change. “We need to be the change we want to see” intones a distant electronic voice.
This is electronic pop with the heart and soul of Woody Guthrie, songs with few words but that have so much to say. It is the mark of a genuine talent that political commentary can be offered without the need for traditional means of commenting.
Crucially “Resist” is never hectoring or lecturing, it is an album of pop songs first and foremost. Moments of dark reality are offset by the fact that these are thrilling and giddy pop structures. We should be glad that such a record exists, a record that encourages thought, debate and resistance.
Be the change.
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