Jun 22 : "F****** New York" - Trash Boy (Philly)

Philly Music

GENTRIFICATION and DISPLACEMENT

True Story: Chris Fortunato of Philly punk-rock band "Trash Boy" wrote the lyrics of how his father and grandfather and ancestors before them all lived in New York, and of how the city changed and how his family was driven out. And how he later set up his own life by moving to Philly. ... These are the basic story lines that are behind the lyrics in the band's song "Fuck New York", which is the lead track on their 2017 album, "The Future Is Trash".

The song is about how New York is changing with rising gentrification and income inequality (although these dynamics could be applied to many places). It talks about a city where there's enough money and resources for 10,000 more dorm rooms for rich kids but only obstacles for average people who are struggling to survive and achieve a dream of their own. This particular song singles out New York due to the band's personal experience, but they move on to talk about this injustice in a larger context.

It's in our society where the public is told not only "not to watch" as more income is transferred to billionaires, but, in another one of the band's songs, "Government Skatepark", where they might be taking aim at City Hall in Philly, they accuse the government of trying to channel people into mindless recreation so that the people won't be out in the streets protesting these economic outrages.

The band rejects the upward mobility when it is tied to maintenance of the order of inequality as the price to be paid. In the song, "40s and Blunts", they sing:
dont wanna be a boston aristocrat
dont wanna be a dc diplomat
or an ass kissing journalist who gets paid a lot to be wrong

Many bands are becoming more topical in their lyrics, and Trash Boy brings talk about income inequality as a main issue in a lot of their songs. In their live performance I saw them go after injustice with even a more piercing anger than what can be seen or heard through their web presence.

Chris Fortunato along with Dan Baggarly and Nolee Morris form this Philly three-piece. If I were to say these folks were "out from the underground", you might say well that's cliche, but they really are, for, in addition to their performing, they've also operated the South Philly basement venue, "Slime Time Live". That was where I saw them for the first time do a show back on May 11 (same night as Madam West, in my previous writeup). It was undoubtedly the nicest basement venue I've ever visited. No loose hanging wires from the ceiling at this place!

So here was the band's good riddance to New York :::

And if you would like to read the lyrics as you listen, here is a click to the words: Read and Listen (CLICK HRE)

The band is currently on their "Summer of Trash Tour". They have a couple more shows coming up soon. And where are they going to be? In New York! Yikes!The first is tomorrow on June 23 at Punk Island, and June 27 at The Bowery Electric". And, if you would like to visit them on Facebook, here is the click ::: Trash Boy on Facebook (CLICK HERE). So they'll be presenting this song in New York? Are they trying to recruit more people to move to Philly? If that's what they want to do, then, hey, they better not keep singing that Philly has "shitty pizza". haha.lol

In this song the only villain that's named specifically is NYU. If the band wants to look at Philly through those same lenses, they might find some ripe topics in questionable actions by universities here. For example, there was (maybe still is) the recent controversy about Temple's attempted encroaching into its surrounding neighborhood to build a new stadium.

Personal Note: And while I also moved from New York to Philly, that was decades ago and I don't share the band's animosity towards NY. But the band's work is important as they talk about these economic issues.