Phoxjaw and the Unending Nightmare of a False Accusation

Innocence is meaningless in the face of Moral Cowardice

In my piece about Anti-Flag I made a point about how ignorance and dismissal of the wreckage of cancel campaigns allows not only for them to continue, but for the mob that perpetuates them to never have to confront anything past their initial attacks. I however, live in that wreckage, I’m sure partially because of the ways it’s affected my life, some kind of unhealthy compulsion, but also because I feel like it’s desperately needed. I follow these campaigns for weeks, months, years even, trying to understand the how and the why, looking for survivors, seeing how long they are able to survive. I’m trying to find some kind of pattern, I was a musician after all and that’s probably 95% of making music. I’m trying to find some kind of rhyme or reason, and now that this blog exists, actually document the casualties of this moral panic. Which leads me to the heartbreaking evolving story of Phoxjaw.

Phoxjaw are a UK based band that exist on the more Post-Rock end of Post-Hardcore, a mix of early Biffy Clyro, Mastodon and Cave In, with what I can only call Brit Rock flourishes that seem to exist in every alt rock band from that scene from Arctic Monkeys to Royal Blood, to Frank Carter & the Rattle Snakes that imbue an inherent undeniable cool most States based bands just can’t ever seem to capture. It’s solid stuff, they’ve put out a fairly impressive catalogue of LPs, EPs and Singles since their inception in 2017, and a casual listen through of their discography makes it apparent that they’re evolving into something very interesting, at least based on my tastes.

Phoxjaw was put on my radar a couple of days ago when they were announced as direct support for the UK leg of Better Lovers’ headline tour, the new supergroup formed primarily from the ashes of Every Time I Die’s spectacular implosion in 2022 along with former Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato and metalcore mega producer Will Putney. It’s definitely a good bill and something Phoxjaw would do well on. Within a few hours though, the tour announcement was removed, then reposted, without Phoxjaw on the lineup. This is almost always the sign of a cancellation campaign, which in the music world primarily pop up at one of two times; when the target band announces future shows or when a band announces a new record. There’s obviously outliers, but reliably the negative attention comes in immediate response to positive.

A History of Bad Men

A quick dive into twitter confirmed my suspicions, there were “allegations” against Phoxjaw, which had resulted in their pulling from the lineup in near record time. I couldn’t find any of the actual allegations though, just people saying there were allegations. Digging further revealed that these allegations weren’t actually new, they dated back at least a few years. The story got even stranger, upon the revelation that these allegations had been found false, retracted, and apologized for. It appears Phoxjaw was removed from this show because an allegation that had already been found false simply existed.

I eventually found the following 2 blog posts (1,2) from a British legal blogger who follows a variety of topics, including defamation, and at least appears to have been involved with Phoxjaw’s defense in some formal capacity. While I feel I’m at least fairly competent when it comes to understanding American Law, I am admittedly much less versed in the British Legal System and its’ lingo, I’m going to do my best to summarize here but if I get something wrong please reach out. It appears in late 2022 Phoxjaw were announced as an act on the British Alternative Music Festival 2000 Trees amongst other acts on the lineup. Nearly immediately, comments were left on the social media pages for the festival, alleging that Phoxjaw member Daniel Garland had committed a sexual assault. 2000 Trees immediately took the lineup announcement down, removed Phoxjaw, and issued a statement. Fast forward to January of 2023, 2000 Trees suddenly issued a new statement, apologizing for their previous statements, and apparently paying Garland a “substantial sum” for their comments. Additionally, other individuals who had made the allegations online would release similar statements apologizing and retracting their statements in February. I’ve been unable to find any actual first hand allegations, however according to these legal blog that apparently worked with the case, there is substantive evidence that shows that whatever allegation that existed against Garland was in fact a consensual encounter and no charges were ever filed. Seems like a fairly open and shut false allegation, though I’m sure like any of these things was hugely emotionally damaging for Phoxjaw. It seems that in the meantime Phoxjaw have both released a new record, and toured on that record in 2023.

So why were Phoxjaw removed from the Better Lovers dates? These weren’t new accusations, the situation had been settled, and while the apologies weren’t covered by the music press (who seemingly are always too busy when it comes to clearing up allegations or admitting they were wrong) it’s all been very well documented, it’s literally in the pinned tweet on Phoxjaw’s twitter. These tours are booked months in advance and headliners are usually involved in who is tapped for support, and even if they weren’t, UK venues, promoters, bookers, all had to be involved, it’s impossible nobody knew, so that means it was okay and then they folded the minute somebody brought up something, something that is plainly and proved false mind you. Why extend the opportunity to the band to not even stand by your decision and humiliate them further?

Maybe it was Better Lovers first time hearing about it and they made the decision but that’s such an insane level of cowardice, to say “we don’t care if it’s true or not, we’re throwing these guys under the bus”. Obviously you can kick a band off your show for any reason, but to cave to a mob who very obviously is lying because you can’t handle a little pushback by standing up to people, who are again, lying, is so fucking spineless it’s astounding. Better Lovers are CURRENTLY on tour opening for Bush Era Christian Nationalist Poster Child Boy Band UnderOath, The Ghost Inside, a band who themselves went through a whole cancel debacle based on past slur use (they did the right thing and brought the member accused back after hastily kicking him out) and We Came As Romans, a band who at one point had allegations against one of their members before he tragically passed away. Better Lovers obviously have no problem working with “problematic” individuals both accused and admitted when it gives them a big tour to open, yet they can’t engage in any discernment when it comes to a cleared individual? It’s so deeply hypocritical and cowardly.

Good Morning Worm, Your Honor

If the response from Better Lovers was disappointing the response from the cattle over on social media was unsurprisingly stupid. People cheering on something they don’t even know about, thanking and celebrating Better Lovers for doing the “right” thing, the “right” thing here being throwing an innocent man under the bus you had no problem with until the dumbest people on the planet had a problem with it. I may be out of touch here, but I was raised to see that as what it is, rat behavior. When confronted with the facts and documentation that he was innocent, the response from the people accusing this man of a serious crime was “I’m allowed to make up my own mind.” Which, I mean, yeah, technically you are, but that isn’t supposed to mean you’re allowed to punish someone contrary to all evidence. There are obviously still some moron Q Anon people who believe McMartin was a satanic pedophile hot spot, they’re allowed to believe that, but a functioning society or even people with a modicum of morality wouldn’t let them continue that crusade.

But then of course within the scurrying of the rats, emerged a Rat King

Fun fact: Phoxjaw has 40000 monthly listeners, Ben’s current band has 400, 100 times less, and yet he feels entitled to say what people do and don’t want.

Meet Ben Biss. Ben’s claim to fame is apparently the founder of As It Is, a Pop Punk band that has been inflicted on the world since the early 2010s, born not out of artistic necessity, but because a lame ass youtuber named Patty Walters wanted to infiltrate the punk scene without lifting a finger and the record industry gifted it to him. Ben was happy to answer the call and put out Pop Punk songs so devoid of any originality, soul, or artistic value that it makes Simple Plan look like Fugazi. Not content with being a black hole of artistic value, Ben has decided to anoint himself hall monitor of a scene and stick his head into something that doesn’t involve him, letting everyone know that it’s time for Phoxjaw to wrap it up because he and the dumbest people alive have decided they don’t want them. To be fair to Benny here, he may have felt the need to scream his little snitch puritan bullshit into the void in order to drown out the possibility an original thought would enter his brain and he’d be left with no choice but to run into oncoming traffic out of sheer terror.

You don’t make art because people want it, you don’t make art because people ask for it, you make art because everything in your soul cries out for it to be made. If you’re making art so that people will like you, you’re not an artist. Now Benji here has never made a piece of anything that could remotely be considered art in his entire life, so it’s not surprising this is all lost on him. These are things Ben would understand if he put even a tenth as much effort into having integrity, artistic or otherwise, as he he does trying to suck 3 more social media likes out of Patty Walters’ cock. There’s always somebody ready to condescendingly point the finger, to cheer on the mob, because deep down they know it’ll help crush the competition. The only people made safer by kicking Phoxjaw out of the scene are people like Ben who will no longer have their mediocrity threatened by actual art.

In All My Years Of Judging

So many of those targeted already suffer without any ability to adjudicate their guilt Formal charges are rarely filed, they’ll be afforded no opportunity to defend themselves there, so it rebounds to the civil system. My Anti-Flag piece garnered a few responses of “just sue for defamation” which proves far more difficult in practice. Phoxjaw’s victory itself is a specific product of the English legal system which offers far greater defamation protections to its’ citizens. Crucially, English Law requires the person making the allegedly defamatory statements to prove they are true ,in stark contrast to the US system. In the American legal system, had criminal charges been filed the burden would be placed on the police and accuser to prove an assault happened. However the American civil system places the burden of proof on the accused to prove the statements are false, thus negating any form of presumption of innocence. Additionally, the First Amendment provides considerable protections for most speech, ironic considering that the kind of ultra lefties that buy into cancel culture the most are also very adamant about how free speech laws are actually deeply fascist while fully enjoying the robust defenses they offer to malign people with impunity. These factors, combined with the reality that civil litigation can cost tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, makes suing for defamation nearly impossible for most.

It’s all very disturbing, the idea that you can lose everything without a single charge is already ludicrous, but this band did literally everything they were supposed to do, cleared their names, and still have a target on their back. In the near decade since the Connor Oberst the scene has not only gotten more punitive and reactionary, but apparently done away with the concept of innocence entirely. This is not the only time the scene has gone after cleared individuals; Decapitated apparently are still having to combat fallout from a crime they were cleared of, Dustie Waring still has yet to be reinstated despite providing significant evidence he was falsely accused, significant evidence Dave Collis of Slow Mass was innocent emerged and was entirely ignored, Itch of The King Blues sought defamation charges that were settled yet they appear to be still blacklisted with none of the publications that spread the accusations following up, the list goes on and on. All are immediately found guilty, and it appears even the innocent will still be found guilty no matter the evidence, no matter how hard they fight.

These people are always the first to insist that false accusations are rare, but when faced with them they can’t even treat them any differently. There is no concept of innocence, the mob can only enforce guilt, it’s the whole point of the mob to begin with, so they must twist themselves into knots to continue the inquisition. There is no forgiveness, there is no innocence, there is only a mob and their crusade, their self righteous belief that they and they alone, are entitled to punish forever, without oversight, without accountability, without mercy. And we are told we must simply accept it.

This is who controls art now, liars, cowards and charlatans, enforcing it through interpersonal terrorism. There are plenty who will cower, who will kneel, who will join in with these psychos and let them destroy anyone and everyone they can. This only ends when people stand up.

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I’m generally not one to endorse consumption as politics, but one of the iron laws of the music industry is that money talks, and bullshit walks, and targeted artists need your support. You can support Phoxjaw by streaming their records on various streaming services, or purchasing their merchandise from their store or the Hassle Records Store.