There’s a tension in the word “victim” that most people don’t want to acknowledge. For the Dead Betties‘ Joshua Ackley, that tension became unbearable enough to write a song about it. The New York queer punk trio’s latest single, “What’s A Good Victim Supposed To Say?”, marks the first time Ackley has publicly addressed his experience as a rape survivor, and it’s as unflinching as anything the band has done in their 25-year career. The track arrives ahead of their Whitey EP, out November 21 via Rotten Princess Records, with an NYC release show at Union Pool the same night.
“It’s an experience that completely upends the rest of your life in ways that you don’t even predict playing out,” Ackley says. “There’s this role as a victim that people in society want you to play, and it seems like it’s getting more dangerous to play that role because people are obsessed with performative authenticity.” The song dissects the impossible expectations placed on survivors, particularly the toxic intersection of victimization and what Ackley calls “the cult of positivity.” It’s raw, confrontational work from a band that’s never shied away from difficult subjects, but this feels different. More personal. More necessary.
Ackley is joined by guitarist Eric Shepherd and drummer Derek Pippin on Whitey, a self-produced five-song statement that channels decades of righteous anger into some of their most immediate music yet. Kathleen Hanna described the EP as sounding “if Sonic Youth started a poppy hardcore band in 1989,” and that’s not far off. The Dead Betties have always occupied a unique space in punk, loud enough to make you flinch but melodic enough to stay stuck in your head.
“We’re ready to keep doing what we set out to do when we all moved to New York at 19,” Ackley reflects. “It’s our responsibility, because we’re the adults now. It’s on us as a society to do better and actually put out the art that we want to hear.” For a band that formed in 2000, that sense of duty feels earned rather than performative. The Dead Betties have been doing this work long enough to know that queer punk isn’t just a genre classification. It’s survival by other means.
Photo credit: Jonathon Marin
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