Get Numb - By The Front Bottoms
TITLE: Get Numb
ARTIST: The Front Bottoms
GENRE: Acoustic / Punk
MOOD: Frustrated / Proactive / Energized
SIMILAR TO: Modern Baseball
RELEASE DATE: June 6, 2017
Artists don’t have to get political. In fact, some listeners expect artists to remain unbiased. They expect artists to stay silent and produce art like a factory. To them, art is entertainment alone and nothing else. Their ideal entertainers give no sign that they are human individuals with their own opinions, living in the same political climate we are. Fortunately, art is often a reaction to the world we live in.
I remember seeing many artists react quite publicly to Trump’s election. I don’t remember seeing anything from The Front Bottoms. I remember searching for their take on today’s divisive politics and coming up short. I didn’t know how to feel about their silence. I, for one, believe we enrich art when we begin to encompass events and movements that cannot be ignored.
The Front Bottoms is finally reacting with “Get Numb”, a song whose proceeds will go to Make The Road New Jersey. Make The Road New Jersey is an organization dedicated to helping immigrants and working class communities. Almost as if The Front Bottoms realizes that their initial lack of action was wrong, “Get Numb” begins with the lyric “Now is not the time to GET NUMB even though you wanna be” and ends with “Wave of hate/Give and take/Realize/Way too late”.
You want to feel good! You want to block out the chaos and take solace in isolation. But “Get Numb” is a reminder that now is not the time to take the easy way out. Drastic changes are happening all around you, and it’s important that you stay active amidst the turmoil. Stay active, hold your ground, and support others who had the ground knocked out from under them.
“Get Numb” manages to blend in almost seamlessly with The Front Bottoms’ discography, minus the overly optimistic keyboard melodies featured on Back On Top. It’s good. It’s worth a listen with or without the message behind it, but made so much better for what it has to say. With endless energy and clever dynamic changes for emphasis, “Get Numb” embodies the authenticity and charisma of The Front Bottoms.
You can donate to the cause by purchasing “Get Numb” or a limited edition t-shirt here.