After preaching about the unity between a fist and a Nazi’s face in their previous single “Fuck These Fuckin Fascists”, North Carolina punks The Muslims have turned their satirical and often hilarious eye to the hypocrisy of those in the USA shouting for unity without acknowledging any injustice or culpability in their new track, “Unity”. The social gatekeepers referred to in the song have clearly decided we are all racially unified so that requires none of our further attention. Additionally, to point out issues is to cause divide, so let’s keep just the one narrative for simplicity’s sake. The Muslims have spotted this self-congratulatory delusion that bigotry left when Trump did, and seem determined to snuff it out before it takes root.
Musically, we are in familiar upbeat and raucous punk territory, power chords, bass fuzz and furious drums operating as one devastating unit. The distorted vocals snarl, sneer and soar, hammering the point home as is required in a current punk scene which willfully misses the point entirely most times. The Muslims have no time for a slow burner, with the situation critical as it is.
“Unity Unity
That is what they want from me
In the land of the free
Drenched in white supremacy”
In the music video, the message behind the song takes on a life of its own, showing a cheerful white Biden supporter patting himself on the back for solving all of America’s problems and treating himself to a feel of a black woman’s braids as a reward, only to receive a further reward of a well-deserved punch in the face. This seems to be a common way to end a Muslims video, and I can foresee a fever pitch developing around the release of every new video and intense speculation over who will be counting their teeth at the end.
Punk has always had a knack for pointing out inconsistencies and brutally parodying them to hold their perpetrators accountable while gurning at the camera. It truly is the perfect synthesis of high and low art. The Muslims look like they are having a blast while slaying false pariahs on “Unity”, which adds further insult to the melodic beatdown said pariahs receive on the song. “Unity” is taken from The Muslims upcoming album Fuck These Fuckin Fascists, released on September 24 on Epitaph Records. No one said exposing inequality and destroying faces couldn’t be fun.
