Ungrateful Little String Band - Tired of Being Relevant

Ungrateful Little String Band doesn't hold back with their new album, Tired of Being Relevant. "We’ve got invisible chains wrapped around our necks / We’ve got bricks strapped to our feet," the lyrics spin out in the opening track "End Times." The Minneapolis-based queer band unleashes hell right out of the gate. They square up to the scorched earth literally outside their homes, with a fiery determination never to stay silent.

"If these are the end times, I hope they end soon / I hope they go quick / I hope they go clean cause the world outside is so ugly and mean," the refrain rises like sulphur off the pavement. It's that kind of radical anger that will actually lead to the end of all things evil. With "Oy Gevald!," the group languishes in the muck and mire that's piled up in muddy stacks. An accordion mourns in this deadly funeral march, with strings running like mascara in its moaning gulps.

"On the news, they're talking about Jews, and lots of people seem to have unhelpful views, pits us against the other oppressed," this particular lyric grates against the skull, forever a chilling reminder that we are doomed to repeat history. "The same old storyline repeats / I feel distressed."

The final album sampler, "Boots," gazes into the annals of wartime and the lingering aftereffects that contaminate everything in sight. "You don't want to hear my stories from the war, most of them are tragic, and the rest are just a bore," the images tangle to never be untangled ever again," but I'm living proof they couldn't stamp us all out."

Ungrateful Little String Band perfectly primes the listener for a raucous rebellion for the end of days. "End Times," "Boots," and "Oy Gevald!" are the kind of songs we need in 2026.

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