Mass Appeal-signed punk band The 1865 make music that unsettles. “Get Out,” taken from their latest record Don’t Tread On We! is a perfect distillation of their sound: breakneck-speed punk is augmented by unearthly, haunted-house wails and lead singer Carolyn Coleman’s upsetting, politically charged lyrics. The 1865 are so called because their lyrics are written from the point of view of a person living in America in 1865, and the effect of the lyrics in congruence with their thoroughly contemporary sound is chilling; there’s barely anything about The 1865 that sounds like it wasn’t written about 2019.
The video for “Get Out,” premiering today on The FADER, pulls threads from a very old issue that still plays out in modern times. Compiled of footage of white people wearing blackface, the video, directed by Christopher Frierson and John Tashiro and edited by Tashiro, is a pummeling and visceral document.
“Comedy is subjective. Racism isn't. Blackface, for some strange reason, still lives in a grey area where some people feel like blackening your face and brightening up your lips is the cat's meow. You would think that some people would know better,” bandleader and filmmaker Sacha Jenkins tells The FADER via email. “Many people actually do know better but they do it to push buttons. With that said, modern blackface makes me want to pour a barrel of soiled kitty litter all over an offender. Word to Heathcliff. Don't test me…”
Watch “Get Out” and find The 1865’s tour dates below.
The 1865 Tour Dates
June 13 @ Max Fish
June 22 @ Punk Island (Randalls Island)
July 13 @ PunkBlack Fest - DC
August 8 @ Mercury Lounge