Fucked Up Enlist Vampire Weekend, Broken Social Scene For "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Cover

When Fucked Up's The Chemistry Of Common Life won the Polaris Music Prize earlier this year, the band said they wanted to use the $20,000 prize to put out a charity album that would benefit Aboriginal women's organizations.

Now, the Toronto hardcore five-piece have announced that they'll make good on this promise by releasing a cover of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

The single doesn't have a release date yet, but Fucked Up vocalist Damian "Pink Eyes" Abraham told New York magazine's Vulture blog that it will include appearances from comedian David Cross, Bob Mould, GZA and members of Vampire Weekend, TV On The Radio, Broken Social Scene, No Age and Yo La Tengo. Abraham told the magazine he's waiting for confirmation of involvement from Feist, Jarvis Cocker and M.I.A. as well.

"We wanted the biggest people we could get," he said. "If we could get a Jonas Brother on this, I would get a Jonas Brother."

Proceeds will go to Justice For The Missing and other organizations working to raise awareness about 500 (Abraham says the real number is probably closer to 3,000) missing or murdered Aboriginal women in Canada.

"We're not taking on world hunger this time, but something that's much more marginalized," he told Vulture. "So I liked the idea of somewhat marginalized indie rockers coming together for a marginalized cause.

"But if Bono wanted to be on the record, I'd say yes, because, at the end of the day, it's about raising money and awareness. As terrible as I find his music and as reprehensible as I find him as a person, I would definitely have him on."

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" was originally released in November 1984 and was written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. It was part of a campaign to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia and "Band Aid," the ensemble that performs on the track, included Paul McCartney, David Bowie, members of U2, Duran Duran, Culture Club and Big Country, among others. It's been re-recorded two more times since, most recently in 2004 for a Darfur benefit that included Coldplay's Chris Martin.

The song has been criticized as "self-righteous" by people like Morrissey and its view of Africa has been called "patronizing" by international development organizations.

"There's a kind of cavalier colonialism to the original, like the west has to go in and help this poor Third World country," Abraham told Vulture. "But the charities that we're trying to help are exactly a product of this colonial history. People who have been subjugated and oppressed for so many years are going missing. So there's an irony to using the song."

You can see Fucked Up here:

Nov. 26 London, England @ Barfly
Nov. 27 Brussels, Belgium @ Le Botanique
Nov. 28 Utrecht, Netherlands @ Le Guess Who Festival
Nov. 29 Leipzig, Germany @ Conne Island Cafe
Nov. 30 Krakow, Poland @ Drukarnia
Dec. 1 Vienna, Austria @ Arena
Dec. 2 Graz, Austria @ PPC
Dec. 3 Dusseldorf, Germany @ Rotkompot
Dec. 4-6 Minehead, England @ Butlins Holiday Resort (All Tomorrow's Parties Nightmare Before Christmas)
Feb. 23 St. Catharines, ON @ Level 3 Nightclub w/ Leatherface, Yesterday's Ring and Orphan Choir