George Lynch, legendary shred machine best known for his work with 80's metal band DOKKEN, has decided to retire the band name he has used since 1989. George's decision to end the LYNCH MOB name has come from decades of having to explain the difference between the band's benign designation and the negative connotations (see: Extrajudicial killings) associate with the phrase.
George Lynch had this to say in an interview with BODS Mayhem Hour:
"There's always been a problem with the name from day one. I remember doing an interview with The Village Voice the first year LYNCH MOB were formed and we decided to use that name. And the interviewer was a young black woman who was very bothered by the fact that I used that name and I had to try to explain it. And I found myself not really being able to explain myself very well — I knew my argument was disingenuous."
George continued; "I can make the argument that, yeah, it's my last name, I know that that's not what most people think about, 'cause I know what the word represents. So, in the younger younger days, I was able to just sort of rationalize it. It seemed to be less of a topical hot-potato issue. I've gotta say, in all the years that I've had that name, it's gotten more and more uncomfortable, and, of course, now, recently to the point of not being able to rationalize it any longer," George then adds, "In addition to that, though, there's some other things at play here. We finished this record right under the wire before the pandemic hit, and once the pandemic shut down touring for at least a whole year or more — who knows if we'll ever tour again — LYNCH MOB being, basically, my only touring act, the band scattered to the four winds, so I really didn't, in essence, have a band any longer."
George went on to talk about the positives of the final LYNCH MOB album, "[...] then I finished this 30th-anniversary record and really loved the way it came out and thought, 'You know, actually, this makes a lot of sense. I should end this chapter of my musical career now.' This should be the last LYNCH MOB record, because it mirrors the first one — it's a nice bookend. I can retire the name on a high note, going out with what I think is a good record. Kind of wrap it all in a nice, neat package and put the bow on it. And I felt like the time was right to do that. Everything sort of triangulated and events all just coordinated to come together at this point to make it pretty obvious it would probably be a good time to go ahead and move on."
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Written by Steve Knudsen
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