In the past few years, Los Angeles’ Total Massacre have been waving the flag of socio-political lyrical infiltration for the punk rock paradigm. With two albums at their fans’ retrieval, the latest being The System Works… from 2019, they have taken in part of releasing a slew of singles since then. While there is no hint to an upcoming full-length, the roster of singles they’ve released hold as significant buffers to fill in the cracks of the waiting period, the latest being Pro-Life Death Cult.
The title may suggest the stigmatic inflections attached to the word “pro-life” in terms of fetal abortion, but doesn’t follow through on that theme as the lyrics hold the term in a broader sense of its definition. Basically, the lyrics imply slander against politicians sticking to traditional standpoints and ideology to exempt their reasoning behind their harmful actions and to liberate themselves of any guilt, all set forth in a desperate attempt to maintain their virtuous representation in the eyes of their supporters. The references and idioms in this song’s lyrics are so thick that, despite the running time of 97 seconds, they leave such a significant impact in that they require deeper analyses to really let them sink in.
If this, along with the three subsequent releases, are any indication of a full-length release, the amount of thought and care going into each line should be predicated for what’s to come. If this much time and effort are going into the creation of one song, it stands to reason that Total Massacre is honing their craft in utmost integrity to properly be presented in an LP.
