Viet Cong to change name “as soon as we agree on one”

Viet Cong have posted a message online, in which they state they are to change their name.

Criticism has long followed the Canadians’ choice of moniker, with the most recent and visible an essay by Hooded Fang’s April Aliermo this week, in which she details responses both from the local indie-rock community and - importantly - those with ties to Vietnam.

“Art and music are about creative expression,” they say via a Facebook post, “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 reveal they had already been planning to change their name before releasing a second record - as soon as they come up with one suitable.

“We don’t know what the new name of our band will be, and we owe it to our fans to honour the concerts we have booked. We rushed into our last band name decision, we don’t plan to rush into this one, but know that will be rolling out a new name as soon as we agree upon one.

“We realize this won’t satisfy everyone, but that’s certainly not the goal of this band. We never expected this kind of attention in the first place and just want to return to playing music, which is the only thing we (kinda) know how to do.”

The band have a series of North American tour dates beginning next week, and appear at ATP’s Nightmare Before Christmas in Prestatyn this November.