Infamous
2013 | Metal
“We upload our status and beg for attention, while they're all eating cake up on Capitol Hill.”
Trivia
- Infamous hit #53 on the Billboard 200, #19 on Top Rock Albums, #9 on Top Independent Albums, and #5 on Top Hard Rock Albums charts.
- Infamous was the last release from the band to feature long time drummer and co-founder of the band, Angelo Parente.
- The music video for this track was directed by Clown from Slipknot.
THE HOT TAKES
Luke Tatum
It's a bit of the Owen-Glass track, "Here It Comes," in an entirely different style. The collapse of culture is a central theme here, as many people are more concerned with the lives of the rich and famous than with their own children. Murder is permissible for those in power, but the average man and woman can end up behind bars for violating arbitrary rules set by the elites in the opulent District of Columbia. To be sure, this song is far more cynical than I ordinarily allow myself to be. But there's something to be said for the blatant and severe nature of this. The reference to oil prices makes me suspect the band itself leans to the left, but that's not necessarily the case. We should all be opposed to OPEC and the madness that surrounds it. Lastly, I'll mention that "eating cake up on Capitol Hill" gives me a flash of visual memory from the Hunger Games films. Love them or hate them, they got that part right: The elites are absolutely siphoning resources from the average citizens to support their own lifestyle, and it's disgusting.
Sherry Voluntary
This Marilyn Mansonesque band brings the hardcore gothic vibes with this scathing expose of American culture. Mama likes! The verse, “ A-M-E-R-I-C-A / Home of the free, the sick and depraved / A-M-E-R-I-C-A / So why the fuck are you looking at me?” Really contains the most poignant thought, for me. With all of the problems that the country faces, people having to strip to pay the bills, downloading music can get you locked up, and if you’re rich and famous, you can get away with murder: why in the world are people looking to entertainers as if they are the illness or the cure. We have an epidemic in this country, but it’s not one of the ones the media or government wants to start a “war” on.
The real crisis is one of personal responsibility. State interjections into the lives of the populace have been devastating to families. Strong families are the backbone of any nation, and help to raise children into productive and self determined adults who can take care of themselves. The State has devastated fatherhood and taught mothers that they can rely on daddy State to provide for their children. All of the incentives are for more reliance on The State, not less. Welfare is not a “hand up” it’s a ball and chain. Family values need to be encouraged. Not the ones the “religious right” would necessarily want, but ones of looking to family and community to to help and be helped by. Hearth and kin are important foundations for stable people. It doesn’t matter what your family looks like, what matters is that it’s stable, and loving, and is a springboard for strong, independant, thinking children to move into adulthood and greater society with a sense of self reliance.
Nicky P
So goth! I was on the fence about this song but 2 little words make it legit in my view. Capital Hill. The song in general comes off as a preachy look at culture in America which I will agree is poisoned and possibly beyond cure, but manages to center that on the money and power in Washington. A very important distinction. From the libertarian values I come from I won't begrudge anyone from playing in the markets and creating things people enjoy and see value in. Unfortunately it's all too often that the winners are positioned through back room deals and nepotism. I've no problem with these things happening. My problem arrives when they can implement them at the end of a gun with governments monopoly on force.