Smoke Bomb
2010 | Metal
“Beneath the haze, our leaders they manufacture consent for control of the kingdom. -- And in their wake, the people break, they're vanquished, enslaved in a triumph of ego. -- We won't accept the hand we're dealt.”
Trivia
- The band hails from Melbourne Australia.
- They broke a world record record for the most money ever crowdfunded for a music video. (Aint That A Bitch)
- Smoke Bomb was produced in the home studio of the groups guitarist Stevic Mckay.
- Bär McKinnon of Mr. Bungle supplies the saxophone for this track.
- Check out this Alternate Acoustic Instrumental Version:
THE HOT TAKES
Luke Tatum
I'll leave breaking down the history of the title to Sherry and Nick. To get straight to the meat of the song: our leaders are shaping our opinion to ensure that they gain and maintain control. Meanwhile, the collateral damage is that the minds of people are permanently shaped in ways they would not have been otherwise. How many times have you found yourself in a discussion with someone, and when you suggest that maybe the government doesn't HAVE to do something, it suddenly takes a turn for the ridiculous? To take an example, how about delivering mail? "Why do you want it to be too expensive for people on fixed income to send letters?! Why do you hate the poor?!" This is a completely unreasonable response to the question, and yet this is where we find ourselves. What accounts for this phenomenon? The process of manufactured consent. We just recently did the song "Fuck Authority," by Pennywise. This song was taken off the radio following the September 11, 2001 attack. Again, when you ask why, the answer should appear easily in your mind.
Sherry Voluntary
This moody song has a smooth A.E.S.T.H.E.T.I.C. feel to it that I really enjoy. The title of this song is a phrase originally derived from the book Public Opinion, by Walter Lippmann. In it he proposed that public opinion should be managed by a “specialized class” who would analyze data from a variety of sources and present their findings to the “decision makers,” who would then use the “art of persuasion” to convince the public of what they thought needed to be done. According to Lippmann, this was necessary in order for democracy to flourish and society to be cohesive, since the world is just too big for most individuals to understand. Later in 1988, Edward S Herman, and Noam Chomsky wrote, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. In it they deal with the acceptance of government policies by people in the USA on the basis of the partial picture offered by the mass media, which serves to blind them to alternative views that might lead them to oppose the preferred policies of the political class. This is presented as the propaganda model in which the mass media select material in relation to the values of those in power. Very interesting stuff, and pretty deep for one little phrase. For me it all comes down to this, no the individual cannot know everything to make the best decision for every issue affecting “the common good,” but I think that very fact serves to buttress the libertarian position that there should be no overarching State controlling every aspect of governance. Those things which affect a community are better off left with the people of that community to decide. While the wider world and all of its facets cannot be understood by the individual, certainly his community can, and his agenda would be one of personal interest for his community to be a nice place to live, not the agenda of the political class to control and rob him.
Nicky P
If reggae infused saxophone laden metal isn't your thing, I'm not sure what you're doing with your life. Still even if musically it's not your thing, this song makes a solid obseration in it's lyrics. It's also a reference to one of my favorite books by Noam Chomsky. The book and in turn this song look at the ways in which the powers that move people around manipulate and massage them into seeing the world the way they require. It's not as simple as forcing them to believe, it's more about influencing here and there until a nice 3X5 card of polite discourse exists and those who step outside are labeled as heretics. I'm sure the 13-17 years our children spend in indoctrination centers doesn't make this job any easier. Wink, wink. As i remember Chomsky's take was that the media is run by the business interests to promote war. I think we can all agree there is no denying this from historical evidence (operation mockingbird) and simply looking out your window at the censorship and hysteria we see daily since the Trump/Clinton election.