Greta Kline, Shamir, Jay Som, and More Featured on Bernie Sanders Benefit Comp

*Bernie voice* Let me thank the Strange Rangers for their music.
Greta Kline, Shamir, Jay Som, and More Featured on Bernie Sanders Benefit Comp

*Bernie voice* Let me thank the Strange Rangers for their music.

Words: Mike LeSuer

January 15, 2020

In case you haven’t heard, the United States is choosing a new President at the end of the year, initiating this country’s recent favorite quadrennial reality TV show wherein the contestants for the job bicker over each other on a nationally televised stage. As with the last election, this crop of candidates features a handful of politicians and a grumpy-yet-affable old guy who runs around with stacks of folders and reminds us that the planet is, in fact, dying.

His name is Bernie Sanders, and tons of our favorite artists have just written songs about him. Following a headlining set that featured Ratboys as openers, Strange Ranger have compiled a collection of twenty tracks from their Bernie-backing peers—notably including Shamir, Frankie Cosmos’ Greta Kline (as LEXIE), IAN SWEET, Mannequin Pussy’s Marisa Dabive (as MZM) Justus Proffit and Jay Som (who go way back), Shady Bug, Double Grave, Wild Pink, and Kevin Krauter, not to mention Strange Ranger themselves—called Bernie Speaks with the Community.

“Climate change ravages, overwhelmingly affecting the underprivileged,” the band shared on the comp’s Bandcamp page. “Stagnant wages keep workers immobile. The U.S. ‘healthcare system’ preys on the vulnerable and another insane war hovers above the Middle East. As musicians in America, some of this affects us—some does not. ‘DIY’ is at once highly politicized and not at all. We hope that as the election draws nearer, the Sanders campaign and all that it represents will find its way into conversations at every basement show attended by young people in 2020.”

Finally, there’s a berniesanders.bandcamp.com! All proceeds benefit the Sanders campaign (and if for some reason you hate all twenty of these songs, the band also links directly to Bernie’s site for donations). Purchase the album here.