Preoccupations

Preoccupations are a Canadian post-punk band, that formed in Calgary, Alberta in 2012 under the name Viet Cong. The group consists of two ex-members of the rock band Women, vocalist/bassist Matt Flegel and drummer Mike Wallace, as well as guitarists Scott Munro and Daniel Christiansen. The group's musical style has been described as "labyrinthine post-punk". The band frequently faced controversy over their original name, involving accusations of both racism and cultural appropriation because of the name's association with the original Vietnamese Viet Cong. In March 2015, the band was set to perform at Oberlin College, but the show was canceled due to their "offensive name". In September 2015, the band announced that they were going to change their name: "We are a band who wants to make music and play our music for our fans. We are not here to cause pain or remind people of atrocities of the past". On March 29, 2016, the Canadian music magazine Exclaim! reported that the band were still booking shows under the name Viet Cong, and began running a real-time "Days since Viet Cong promised to change their name" counter on the magazine's website. On April 21, 2016, Flegel announced in a Pitchfork interview that the band would henceforth be performing and recording under the name "Preoccupations". Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.