Last of a Dying Breed: Won’t Say Rabbit

What do you do when you’re the last of a dying breed? Well, if you’re Won’t Say Rabbit, you write a defiant song about it. Propelled by a growling bass line and a snarling lead vocal, the band’s “Just a Prisoner” takes aim at a world gone wrong or, as the song puts it, “a blue speck/In a small corner of the universe,” and gives us a choice: give into the temptation to just go with the flow or do something about the wrong we see in the world.

Curiously, the good folks of Won’t Say Rabbit never really come down on one side or the other of this conundrum, which is what gives the song some of its character and power. It’s an open-endedness that refuses to moralize or offer easy answers. Rather, like all good art, it forces us to grapple with the heavy issue that define our times.

We’re all prisoners of this ugly world, the song insists at every turn, “Where people think about number one/They’ll use others just to get rich/They think it’s all good clean fun.” Even so, we all have our humanity in common, or, as the lyrics cleverly put it, “We’re all made from the same batter,” and what we make of the situation is entirely up to us.

Musically, “Just a Prisoner” evokes the angry post-punk of my youth with echoes of Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Slits. Of course, this comes as no surprise, as the band was originally together between 1989 and 1997. They recorded the song during that run, and re-released it, along with a handful of others, in 2022. In other words, if they sound like genuine punks from a bygone era, it’s only because that’s exactly what they are!

None of this, of course, is to say that the song sounds dated in any way. In fact, given the state of the world, it’s the kind of music we need now more than ever: justifiably angry, groping for answers in a confounding, confusing, and greed-driven world, but never giving in to hopelessness or despair. To my ears, that’s the real—and timeless—spirit of punk: a do-it-your-damn-self attitude that always makes the best of an eternally imperfect situation.

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Thoughts from the Editor

We’re all big fans of Won’t Say Rabbit around here on AMS Radio! We have lots of their tunes loaded and in rotation during many showtimes including “Bandcamping” and “Punked.” Catch their latest single, “Live and Love” during Indie Anarchy’s “New Releases” segment on Wednesdays at 7pm Pacific, as well as “Just a Prisoner” on the LT1KF Indie Hour Tuesdays at 6pm Pacfic! There is a lot of interesting history behind this band, truly an indie great! I highly recommend checking out Marc’s interview with Beth from Won’t Say Rabbit on the “Abominations” blog to learn more about this awesome band!

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About the Writer:

At any moment on any given day, you can find Marc Schuster engaging in any number of activities: assembling his weekly radio show, interviewing musicians for his blog, laying down drum tracks for various artists, rehearsing for the next show with Philadelphia-based power-pop band Scoopski (in which he plays bass), recording music for his own wide-ranging projects (solo and otherwise), experimenting with film and animation, or designing album covers and concert posters for fellow musicians. On top of all that, he’s full-time college professor with a healthy catalog of publications to his name, including a book on the Beach Boys’ Holland album and an illustrated children’s book titled “Frankie Lumlit’s Janky Drumkit.” Our beloved host of the Tweetcore Radio Hour here on AMS Radio is one to keep busy. Learn more about him and connect online:

Abominations Blog | Marc Schuster Official Website