Indie rock band Viet Cong changes their name after months of scrutiny
LatestViet Cong is a good band with a decidedly bad name. The Canadian group (formed in 2012) has endured years of scrutiny for their name—one promoter in March canceled a show and apologized for “inviting a band with a name that deeply offends and hurts Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American communities.”
Criticism reached a fever pitch in the intervening months, and on Saturday, the band announced in a Facebook post that they’d be changing their name.
According to the statement, Viet Cong—after “having lots of valuable conversations with the members of the Vietnamese community about the name”—chose to announce that they’d be changing their name. They don’t know what they’re changing it to yet, but said they’ve been planning on changing the name for the last few months.
“Art and music are about creative expression,” the band wrote. “However, our band name is not our cause, and we are not going to fight for it. This is not what our band is about.”
They didn’t address, however, what they were thinking when they named themselves Viet Cong in the first place.
Michael Rosen is a reporter for Fusion based out of Oakland.