Viet Cong
Biography
In the pantheon of post-punk revival acts that emerged from Canada's prairie provinces in the 2010s, few bands generated as much immediate buzz—and subsequent controversy—as Viet Cong. Born from the ashes of the critically acclaimed Women, this Calgary quartet crafted a sound so abrasively beautiful and politically charged that they managed to alienate and captivate audiences in equal measure, all while delivering some of the decade's most uncompromising rock music.
The story begins in 2010 with tragedy. When Women, the art-punk darlings who had earned widespread acclaim for their 2008 masterpiece "Public Strain," imploded following the death of guitarist Christopher Reimer, surviving members Matt Flegel and Mike Wallace found themselves adrift in a musical landscape that suddenly felt hollow. Rather than retreat, they doubled down on their commitment to pushing sonic boundaries, recruiting drummer Daniel Christiansen and guitarist Scott Munro to form what would initially be known as Viet Cong.
The name itself was deliberately provocative—a reference to the North Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War that the band claimed represented their outsider status and anti-establishment ethos. This confrontational approach extended far beyond their moniker into every aspect of their artistic identity. Their music was a calculated assault on complacency, blending the motorik rhythms of Krautrock with the angular aggression of post-hardcore and the atmospheric density of shoegaze into something that felt both familiar and utterly alien.
Their 2015 self-titled debut album landed like a sonic bomb in the indie rock landscape. Recorded with engineer Chad VanGaalen, the record showcased a band operating at the intersection of beauty and brutality. Opening track "Newspaper Spoons" immediately established their template: Flegel's deadpan vocals floating over a hypnotic rhythm section while layers of guitar noise built into towering walls of sound. The album's centerpiece, "Death," stretched across seven minutes of krautrock-influenced repetition that somehow managed to feel both meditative and menacing.
Critics were immediately smitten. Publications from Pitchfork to NME hailed the album as a masterpiece of modern post-punk, praising the band's ability to channel influences ranging from Joy Division to Neu! into something distinctly contemporary. The album's stark black-and-white artwork, featuring stark industrial imagery, perfectly complemented the music's cold precision and emotional distance.
However, success brought scrutiny, and the band's name became increasingly controversial as their profile rose. Critics argued that the term "Viet Cong" was culturally insensitive and inappropriate for a group of white Canadians, particularly given the historical context and ongoing trauma associated with the Vietnam War. The controversy reached a boiling point during their 2015 tour, with venues and festivals facing pressure to cancel shows.
Rather than dig in their heels, the band made the pragmatic decision to rebrand, eventually settling on the name Preoccupations in 2016. The transition marked both an end and a beginning—while they shed the baggage of their original moniker, they retained their uncompromising artistic vision and confrontational approach to songcraft.
Under their new identity, they continued to evolve their sound across subsequent albums "New Material" (2016) and "Arrangements" (2022), incorporating elements of electronic music and expanding their palette while maintaining their core identity as purveyors of intelligent, challenging rock music. Their live performances remained legendary affairs, with Flegel's intense stage presence and the band's wall of sound creating an almost religious experience for audiences willing to submit to their sonic assault.
The brief existence of Viet Cong represents a fascinating case study in artistic integrity versus cultural sensitivity in the modern music landscape. While their career under that name lasted barely two years, the impact was seismic. They proved that post-punk could still be a vital, challenging force in an increasingly homogenized musical landscape, and their willingness to confront difficult subjects—both musically and conceptually—influenced a generation of bands seeking to push boundaries.
Today, the Viet Cong catalog stands as a monument to uncompromising artistic vision, a reminder that the most powerful music often emerges from the intersection of beauty and controversy. Their legacy lives on through Preoccupations, but those early recordings remain essential listening for anyone seeking to understand how post-punk evolved in the digital age, controversy and all.
