Song of the Day 10/16: Sonic Youth, “Youth Against Fascism”

The fascists running the country now think it’s OK to proclaim their love of Hitler and the Nazis, as evidenced by the reaction of JD Vance to the exposed group chat among the Young Republicans. His claim that it was no big deal is the best possible way for him to say “I’ve said the same things” without saying “I’ve said the same things” out loud.

Even for a pessimist like me this seems an outrage too far, if only because Hollywood still uses Nazis as their default bad guys. When the Hillbilly Doughboy assumes the presidency after the Orange Julius Caesar kicks the bucket, I think “Nazi lover” is gonna put a dent in his re-election campaign.

I’d express more worries about today’s youth if these yahoos were actually young, but they’re not. There’s plenty of anti-fascist sentiment among Gen Z, especially the women, even if their music isn’t as upfront about it as Sonic Youth was back in the ’90s. “Youth Against Fascism” was released as a single from the group’s 1992 album “Dirty.” Needless to say, it didn’t chart.