Photo via Jagjaguwar Records
Calgary, Alberta band Viet Cong has been under a lot of criticism for their band name as their profile has grown over the last year or so. The name, which they said they picked because it sounded cool but, obviously, has a loaded history referencing the violent Vietnam’s National Liberation Front, led to protests of their shows and cancellations of several events. Several months ago, the band acknowledged the problematic nature of the name and promised to change it. Today, they’ve officially gone through with their promise to change things and have announced the new name of their band will now be “Preoccupations.”
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The band made the following statement regarding the name change (via Pitchfork):
“After finishing our latest record and taking some time off, we are excited to announce that we will be performing and recording as “Preoccupations” going forward. We will be previewing new material from a forthcoming record in a series of festivals and shows in North America and Europe in the coming months. We apologize to those who were adversely affected by our former band name. This was never anticipated nor our intent. We are artists and not politicians, we understand that the name reflected pain to some individuals and we are happy to change it and move on and focus on our music. Thanks to all our friends and fans. See you all soon.”
