Why Are You Not In The Street?

Shaun Owens-Agase and Tyler Peterson - World War Four (2006-2007)

I'm not quite sure why I feel it's appropriate to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with ambient rock sung by white New Yorkers who sound like the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz. Maybe because the drumbeats make me want to protest. Maybe because the song feels massive and progressive. Or because I'm always simultaneously reminded on Martin Luther King Jr. Day of all the battles yet to be won and the fact that battles are winnable. Perhaps because the track seems to sing with a clear direction that the passing young generations teach us (sometimes by dragging us along). But mostly because it's more about a challenge for the future than a documentary about the past. And because though justice must be done, a Justice track would just be too dance-y.

Battles - Atlas (mp3)