Music & Politics: Pussy Riot

The Only Band that Matters

By Fay Funk
QuailBellMagazine.com

Two of the members of Pussy Riot, Maria Aloykhia and Nadezha Tolokonnikova, were released from a prison sentence recently, the result of an amnesty bill. They did not want to be released. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Aloykhia says their release was not amnesty, but rather a PR move. The Sochi Olympics are coming up, and holding such notable political prisoners looks bad for Russia, enhancing their negative world image, along with their anti-gay legislation.

Pussy Riot is a Russian punk rock collective. Two years ago, several of its members were imprisoned for hooliganism following a protest criticizing the government and Vladimir Putin outside of Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a Russian Orthodox Church. They have been outspoken about women’s and LGBTQ rights, both of which have been severely oppressed in Russia. Their time in prison was harrowing. In the Guardian Aloykhia says the women endured forced gynecological exams. After writing an open letter denouncing the prison conditions she was in, including frequent beatings and 16 to 17 hour workdays in a sewing shop, Nadezha Tolokonnikova was moved to a prison in Siberia, and went missing for several days. Since being released, Aloykhia and Tolokonnikova have not been idle. They continue to criticize Putin, and have started a prisoner’s rights organization called Justice Zone.

The Clash has long been called “The Only Band that Matters,” but I don’t see how they can hold that title when a group like Pussy Riot exists. Pussy Riot matters. They make art that could actually make a difference in Russia, and in some ways already has. That doesn’t discount the music The Clash has made. They were integral to my political and musical development, and to a lot of other people, but with the rise of Pussy Riot I am realizing that they, along with a lot of other political artwork, falls short.

I like a lot of highly political bands and musicians. Besides The Clash, there’s Bikini Kill, M.I.A., The Sex Pistols and especially Rage Against the Machine. These are bands that have changed the way I think. They are bands that demanded that I think and demanded that I question authority, question the government and the power systems that exist in this world.

And none of them will ever be as important as Pussy Riot. All of these artists benefit from the very systems they are protesting.  So while the message may still be meaningful, it can never achieve full lift-off. The thoughts will not translate into change. Rage Against the Machine is a good example. The music video for one of my favorite songs, “Sleep Now In The Fire,” was filmed at the stock exchange on Wall Street. The video shoot closed the doors of the New York Stock Exchange for a few hours and got director Michael Moore arrested. Afterwards, politician Gary Bauer called the band “anti-family” and “pro-terrorist.”

On the one hand, it’s a great action and a great idea. This band used the video for their very anti-capitalist song to shut down one of the most corrupt and capitalist institutions in the United States. It brought my attention, and that of many other people’s, to how fucked up and greedy capitalism can be in a very potent and immediate form. I could have realized how bad the stock exchange is on my own, but not with the same impact as if I had not seen the video. It really brings the idea home.

And yet at the same time, it’s not really a protest at all. Rage Against the Machine still made a music video, and that music video made them a lot of money. The Battle of Los Angeles, this highly anti-capitalist album, made them a lot of money. When I go to watch the music video for “Sleep Now in the Fire” on YouTube, an ad for Demi Lovato’s upcoming tour plays first. Fighting the man is as fashionable as Versace.

Pussy Riot also made a music video of their protest at the church. “A Punk Prayer- Mother of God, Chase Putin Away!” is much more basic than the Rage Against the Machine video. It just shows the members of Pussy Riot performing at the church. The video is not attached to any VEVO account, but rather uploaded to YouTube by users. No ads play before the video.

Pussy Riot has not benefited from the system they are protesting. They made no money, and that was never the goal. They were not arrested and held for a few days; they went to jail for two years in a country notorious for its mistreatment of prisoners. The worldwide attention Pussy Riot received was not for their band but rather for their cause: human rights violations. The same potency of the message is present as it is in the Rage Against the Machine video, but is unmarred by the obvious personal benefit being political was to that band. In the Hollywood Reporter, Tolokonnikova and Aloykhia are not actively pursuing Pussy Riot, choosing instead to focus on Justice Zone. They have said they will never play shows for money, and refuse to take money, only ideological support, from Mikhail Khordorkovsky, a billionaire recently released from prison. Not only does Pussy Riot not benefit from the system to which they are subject, they actively reject it, and the possibility of musical success. And they have achieved so much.

I have seen punk rock activism like Pussy Riot’s before, but only on a local level. Most artists who reach an international stage have participated at least partially in current systems. I don’t blame them, artists like Rage Against the Machine and The Clash. It’s hard to get anywhere without participating, and money and glory are very tempting. And artists like them have a role to play in changing thought processes. I would not have been nearly as open to Pussy Riot had I not listen to these bands before. Pussy Riot, however, is the real deal. The band that could actually change the world, not just the way people think. The only band that actually matters.