Last year, Molly Nilsson released Un-American Activities, which you could say is her L.A. album. The Berlin-based synthpop artist made it as part of a residency at Villa Aurora in Pacific Palisades and it’s inspired by a few specific moments where global events and local history come together. Moreover, the album, which is one of my favorites from 2024, really fits the mood in Los Angeles right now. It’s dark and, lyrically, she makes connections between European fascism of the 1930s, the Red Scare in the mid-20th century U.S. and contemporary politics. So, when I was pulling records to play at Bigfoot Lodge on Saturday, I immediately grabbed my copy of Un-American Activities and thought of the song “Jackboots Return.”
I love Nilsson’s lyrics. They’re on point and always delivered with a bit of wit. “Jackboots Return” is a perfect example, “Here they come/Always up rising with the inflation/Fashionably dressed for the occasion/Wipe away that smile/Jackboots are back in style.” She matches the lyrics with ominous synth melodies that sound like they were composed for a political thriller. It reflected the bitter irony surrounding Independence Day this year, even if no one was paying attention, which can very well be the case when you’re playing records in a bar on a Saturday night.
To recap for anyone reading this outside of Los Angeles, ICE raids have been ongoing for about a month now and they’re happening just about everywhere in the region. On our phones, we see shaky videos of masked goons terrorizing neighborhood after neighborhood alongside updates of the latest ICE sightings. There are “Know Your Rights” flyers posted up on light posts in my neighborhood and at the laundromat I frequent. People are on edge.
The Monday after Fourth of July, there was a raid at MacArthur Park. From what I’ve read, no one was detained, but the federal agents turned it into a big spectacle with horses, rifles and military vehicles. Mayor Karen Bass showed up to get them out of the park. In the Fox 11 report, Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol Chief, said, “better get used to us now because this is going to be normal very soon.” Mayor Bass responded, “Last I checked, I was elected to be mayor of the city. That did not include a federal takeover.” So, basically, the federal government is pulling some fashy flex and L.A. isn’t having it.
To get back to Un-American Activities, Nilsson writes on the back of the album jacket that the album commemorates the 140th birthday of Lion Feuchtwanger, the German Jewish author who resided at Villa Aurora with his wife Marta after going into exile. To summarize the history that’s provided in the album liner notes, Feuchtwanger opposed the Nazis, who, subsequently, stripped him of his citizenship. After heading to France, where he was imprisoned twice, he made it to the U.S. with some help from Eleanor Roosevelt. Feuchtwanger was part of the very political German ex-pat community in L.A. that grew while the Nazis were in power. With the onset of the Cold War, though, Feuchtwanger’s politics prevented him from gaining citizenship in the U.S. during his lifetime, although he remained an Angeleno until his death in 1958.
All these threads of history come together on Un-American Activities in a way that’s extremely relevant right now, and not just in Los Angeles. “The Communist Party” appropriates lyrics from 100 Things You Should Know About Communism in U.S.A., published by the House of Representatives Committee of Un-American Activities in 1949, and is set to a house beat. The lines from the pamphlet come across as campy today, but, you can hear echoes of the same moral panic if you’ve been paying attention to the mayoral election in New York or you read a comment section under any post that has to do with Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In “Naming Names,” seemingly another reference to the Communist witch hunt, you might notice parallels to today’s ICE snitch lines.
I would be remiss not to mention “Palestine,” a heartbreaking song with the lyrics, “There’s a wall around the city/Higher than the sky/Every life was lost within it/While the world stood by.” One year has passed since the release of Un-American Activities. As of writing this, Al Jazeera reports the death toll in Gaza as 61,709, including 17,492 children. More people are speaking out about the genocide now, but the attempts to silence people have also grown very intense, whether you’re talking about Mahmoud Khalil in the U.S. or Kneecap and Bob Vylan in the U.K.
The world is a mess and it has been for a long time and Nilsson gets to the heart of that on Un-American Activities. If you haven’t already picked up this album, you really should get into it now. I can guarantee that it’s smarter and more creative than whatever hot takes the algorithms are pushing to the top of your feed today.
Get Un-American Activities by Molly Nilsson. And, mark your calendars because Nilsson is playing The Echoplex on Sunday, September 21.
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram or Bluesky for more updates.
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