Lung is an Ohio-based duo featuring Kate Wakefield on electric cello/vocals and Daisy Caplan on drums. This past September the pair released their digital LP All the King’s Horses via Sofaburn Records. The 14-track effort features a cover of the David Bowie/Brian Eno track “I’m Afraid Of Americans.” Originally written during the recording of Bowie’s 1995 album Outside, a rough mix of the track first appeared on the soundtrack for the film Showgirls. That iteration of the song contained the chorus “I’m afraid of the animals,” but by the time the cut appeared on Bowie’s 1997 album Earthling it had transformed into the more biting, and arguably prescient phrase/title, “I’m Afraid Of Americans.” At the time of its’ official release, Bowie explained: “I was traveling in Java when its’ first McDonald’s went up: it was like, “for fuck’s sake.” The invasion by any homogenized culture is so depressing…It strangles the indigenous culture and narrows expression of life.”
The world we live in is unstable and scary, and we should be making art about it- not just locking ourselves inside and pretending not to hear what’s going on.
A regular staple on Kate Wakefield’s car tape deck “during the Bush years when I went to all the anti-war protests,” she and Daisy would end up reviving it for a New Year’s Eve show in Lexington, KY several years back–before recording it more recently for All the King’s Horses. Featuring a more time-specific rework of the chorus, which you can hear below, Wakefield explains: “The song seems so contemporary to now, and so appropriate for where the world is at. We have played it all across the country in small bars up and down the East and West coasts, the Midwest and the deep south. The song resonates with everyone. We all feel this way in one way or another. The world we live in is unstable and scary, and we should be making art about it- not just locking ourselves inside and pretending not to hear what’s going on. Occasionally when we play it people will be uncomfortable. People who voted for Trump will want to come up and want to talk about everything. But that’s good too. It’s a good way to start conversation.”
Lung is currently on their 2018 Fall tour with a stop in Lynchburg, VA at Speaker Tree Records happening tonight. Check out the duo’s upcoming tour dates after the Bandcamp embed below…
Lung Fall Tour 2018:
11.5 Lynchburg, VA at Speaker Tree Records
11.6 Durham, NC, at The Pinhole
11.8 Winston Salem, NC at Monstercade
11.9 Charlotte, NC at Petra’s
11.10 Savanna, GA at The Wormhole
11.11 Statesboro, GA at Birdhaus
11.13 Atlanta, GA, at The Bakery
11.14 Athens, GA at Caledonia Lounge
11.15 Asheville, NC, at Fleetwood’s
11.16 Whitesburg, KY at Roundabout Music
11.17 Louisville, KY at Surface Noise
