Photo by Ben Kaye
Following the election, many felt a sense of shock mixed with a slowly swelling desire to do something proactive. Bleached frontwoman Jennifer Clavin took that disbelief and that urge into the desert to record a pair of acoustic covers, which the band has today released in benefit of Planned Parenthood.
Acoustic Covers by Jennifer features the guitarists’ takes on two protest songs that were written long before President-Elect Trump rose to power, but that carry disturbingly relevant messages for today. First is The Ramones’ “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg” from 1985, and the B-Side features Barry McGuire’s classic “Eve of Destruction”. All proceeds from the digital-only 7-inch will go to support Planned Parenthood.
In a press release, Clavin explained why she chose these two tracks and how Planned Parenthood’s services have positively impacted her life personally:
“After the election, I went to the desert with an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness, sadness, and anger. I decided to record covers of 2 songs that perfectly capture my feelings regarding our political state. ‘Eve of Destruction’ was written in 1965, and 50 years later could not be more relevant. It’s a warning of the fascist, racist, violent and unjust world we were living in then, and are living in now. ‘Bonzo Goes to Bitburg’ shares the embarrassed, offended, and disgusted feeling a lot of us have every time we see Trump on our television. We are living in a time where we can anticipate federal funding to public health resources terminated. I have been using Planned Parenthood’s services for 10 years. And hope to continue to. It is on us to ensure their services continue through public funding and donation. All the proceeds of this digital 7” will go towards Planned Parenthood, for a future of accessible pap smears, breast and cervical cancer screening, pregnancy testing, pregnancy option counseling, STD screening, colposcopies, birth control, sex education, LGBT services, and other necessary health services. FUCK TRUMP. FUCK PENCE. LONG LIVE RUTH BADER GINSBERG.”
You can purchase Acoustic Covers by Jennifer via Bandcamp to support PP. It’s also streaming below.
If you’d rather stream the music for free but still want to take part in Bleached’s benefit effort, you can snag a pair of the band’s new socks. Created in collaboration with illustrator Puppyteeth, the limited edition crew socks appropriately feature images of breasts, vaginas, and specula, and are one size fits all. Like the 7-inch, all proceeds will be donated to Planned Parenthood, and you can purchase the socks for $14 here.
