Disaster Strikes


Boston's Disaster Strikes cares about your safety and healthcare. They have a song called 'The High Cost of Happy Faces' -- which is about the unethical treatment of employees by companies like Walmart. When the punk band opened up for Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine at New Nork City's Europa a couple of months ago, they told the audience that when a company doesn't give their employees affordable health care, it affects everyone else. That night, frotnam J.R. Strikes said, "Every punk deserves healthcare.

"It's striking how many shows are happening these days to help friends and family members with medical expenses in times of crisis," Strikes told Noisecreep. Recently the band played a string of shows to help out a former bandmate's brother. J.R. did not feel comfortable "singling out" particular shows and people, but he feels that benefit shows prove the strength of DIY punk values.

"When folks don't have access to preventative care and health screenings, larger, more complicated problems come up which lead to tragic, unnecessary deaths and expensive ER costs," Strikes said. "The recent health care bill that was passed is far from perfect, so the fight to make healthcare access truly universal has really just begun its most important phase.

"Folks forget that when social security passed, it was only available to men and did not include minorities or people with lifelong disabilities. People had to fight hard to win a more inclusive social security system, so now we face the same challenge with health care, but at least some first steps are being taken."

Disaster Strikes have a split with Rentokill coming out. Both bands will be on tour together throughout June and July.

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