The Menzingers say goodbye to the America they knew

It is not often you find a common ground between The Menzingers and German industrial metal pioneers Rammstein. However, the pair now echo the sentiments of struggling to love their homeland.

The Pennsylvania punks often paint an idealistic portrait of the Americana they know, full of late-night diners, young love at basement shows and long road trips through the great plains of the US. However, the political turmoil the States is in with a pseduo-fascist in the White House and far-right nationalists killing protestors, Greg Barnett’s dulcet, optimistic tones come with a caveat of foreboding.

Their latest single ‘America (You’re Freaking Me Out)’ from the upcoming album, ‘Hello Exile’, sees Barnett share the same viewpoint of Rammstein’s Till Landemann. While Landemann proclaimed “Deutschland mein herz in flammen will dich lieben und verdammen” (Germany, my heart’s in flames, want to love you, want to damn you), in his inner struggle to find sense of his country’s decisions, Barnett too, opens up on his horror of what happens in 2019’s version of the US.

The kitsch nature of Barnett’s America may have been lost and after saying farewell to their twenties in 2017’s ‘After The Party’, The Menzingers may be using ‘Hello Exile’ to say goodbye to the America they thought they knew.