KENT CLASH DAY 2021: SUPPORT KENT CLASH DAY ARTISTS & SPACES

It’s been a year of lock-down and another International Clash Day is upon us. Kill the Hippies has been an active group since 1993 and during that time, we’ve not only  done KTH but also played in other bands (sometimes three at a time), attended shows, and recorded other people’s music in our modest studio. This will be the first year-long period where we have not played any shows or even practiced. Last band we recorded was Rabid Reason in March 2020. In the meantime, PP Envy and I recorded a track for a Jonathan Richmond tribute comp recently that will be out on SOMETHING PUSHED RECORDS soon. 

Otherwise, zilch, nada, nothing.

But now there is time to reflect and witness. Seeing what the Black Lives Matter movement has accomplished is an inspiration. We hope to see it sustained and throw support where we are able. A lot of our songs (not all) have a progressive political bent – and we’ll never pretend that our lyrics are going to do much to propel these movements. But we sing what we see and feel. Seeing what real organizing can do when it comes to these issues has been amazing.  

We’ve also seen what we are up against in sharper focus than ever:  Armed right wing gangs, glaring racism, attacks on journalists, and attacks on basic concepts of reality.  Are they emboldened or is this the first in a series of death throes?

The pandemic has shown the cracking points of our piss poor public safety net and health care system. Billionaires are raking in profits while millions of people wait month to month for another fix to unemployment or money to pay for essentials. Millions still go without adequate healthcare – even worse along racial lines. A more equitable system would have been more resilient and better prepared for this. Instead we have a patchwork of tepid and hastily created public assistance programs and moratoriums that vary depending on where you live and who you are.

Nonetheless, seeing people mask-up and do their best to stay distanced just to protect people that they may never meet has been pretty incredible.  

As lonely as it has been, we’ve been privileged to find the time to start organizing close to 28 years worth of side projects and one-off recordings. Some of it is crap – but we found some gems. 

Here are a few new and forgotten unreleased tracks from KTH and our side projects. 

(Stay tuned - constructing links)

KTH Bandcamp:

Phoenecian Microsystems (Label)