Alex Born To Be Wild – Nice Girls
I’ll be honest with you, this is not the best time to be a girl. And while your random history book should prove to you that “an ideal time” has never existed, and while you might be tired of hearing it, now’s the perfect time to remember ideals of equality and freedom for all.
Sure, you probably don’t like to hear people complaining, just like you don’t like to see people asking for help on the street. Yeah, this might inconvenience you and might even question why some get to air their grievances when you surely have problems of your own. And while that’s not entirely untrue, Alex Born To Be Wild might help convince you that you’re looking at it the wrong way.
For one thing, the concept of women’s rights is a pretty novel thing. Neither the French Revolution nor the American Revolution gave them the right to vote, for example. That happened in the 20th Century.
And while you might see a female president or prime minister in a Scandinavian or Baltic country, for the most part, women’s rights is a topic that hasn’t been seriously discussed in at least a decade.
Consider all of these, and it’s hard not to get angry. Alex Born To Be Wild’s “Nice Girls” utilises that energy for a brash, unfriendly punk-rock song about refusing to yield. Why should they? And what happens when a group asks for its rights? Those, eventually, go away.
Politics aside, “Nice Girls” is a rousing punk song, complete with a memorable, poppy chorus. It’s well-performed and delivered with the intention for it to be heard truly.
Agent 51 – We’ve Got X-Ray Vision
Politicians and spies are taught how to lie. They’re first indoctrinated, if needed, or shown what they can earn if they get really good at doing their job. Eventually, they no longer recognise the difference between truth and lie, or, at least, don’t see the reason why they ought to dwell on these matters.
But what’s really the difference between a politician, a spy and an admired rock star? All of them are responsible for disseminating information that serves their own purposes. All of them need to influence people. Agent 51, veteran punk-rockers, are sure that there ain’t much difference.
The other thing that all of these people have in common is the need to create a good back story. It needs to be believable, or, at the very least, to convince a minority that it could be true. Few successful rock bands have managed success without these kinds of stories.
Agent 51’s “We’ve Got X-Ray Vision” is a bouncy, fun punk song that betrays the group’s ska influences and obsession with government-sanctioned psyops. Or, is that just what they want you to believe? Maybe the spy-movie theme is just a cover in itself. Perhaps the catchy “Secret Agent Man” routine is merely designed to play on your expectations. Have the aliens infiltrated the White House? Worry not! Dance along! Your government is protecting you!
