Iceage & Fascism: 5 Reasons To Hate & 3 Reasons Why It's Still (Maybe) Okay To Listen

2. They Have Generations Of Musical Forebears Pushing The Exact Same Buttons

Speaking of Joy Division, do you know what their name means? It refers to groups of Jewish women in Nazi concentration camps that were kept for their guards' as prostitutes. Their spinoff after Ian Curtis' death? New Order? English translation of a phrase repeatedly used by Hitler to describe his regime. These are beloved bands with crossover success, and they more explicitly used fascist and violent imagery than Iceage.

This tradition even goes back to the beginning of punk. The Sex Pistols were well known to wear swastikas at their shows, and there are apocryphal stories of the Clash borrowing those for their first shows. Neither of these bands are known today as violent racists. The Clash even went on to be known for their focus on social justice.

Iceage has been noted to come from a leftist music scene, and on top of that, they are young. I'm not saying they should be completely absolved from appropriating the symbols of oppression, but they don't really have a lot of musical heroes that say otherwise. At the very least, it demonstrates the mindset a group of kids like them can have that isn't discriminatory.

1. They Will (Hopefully) Grow Up

Lets take a look back at New Order. They have been playing music on and off since 1980 (though, to be fair, more on than off) and have never changed their name. That doesn't mean their attitude about it has changed. Peter Hook has called the name choice stupid as well as defended it, and Bernard Sumner looks back on it with a sense humor, of how stupid kids can be.

The point is, as a band they have moved on from whatever posturing and image making they were trying to do and become aware of their impact on the wider world. The Clash released a three-LP world music record. John Lydon (of Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd.) has put away his swastikas for good and is now in the business of making friends.

One can only hope that with a few more years and a little perspective, Iceage will be able to do this too. Perhaps they will stop making drawings and videos of people in Klan hoods, stop promoting violence at their shows with their merch, and maybe take a swing at the next kid who pops a sieg heil instead of posting the video on tumblr.

I'm fairly confident they will, but for now, it's important to not let them completely off the hook, or any of us, for that matter. The people who consume music are just as important to the world's artistic atmosphere as the people who make it, and as such, are just as accountable.

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