Prophets Of Rage: New EP heralds the return of protest songs

Last time Rage Against The Machine (RATM) bothered the British charts was in December 2009, after a successful campaign to use the US rap/rock band's “Killing In The Name” to keep X Factor winner Joe McElderry from the Christmas top spot.

A tirade against police brutality and alleged Ku Klux Klan membership used to stymie the career of a TV talent show munchkin suggested protest songs had become somewhat devalued. Yet now RATM’s hard-hitting, expletive-ridden anthem is back, a sign that in America at least, politicised lyrics are making a comeback.

A live version of “Killing In The Name” punches out of the new EP from didactic supergroup Prophets of Rage, compromising a chunk of RATM, Public Enemy’s Chuck D and members of Cypress Hill. For the rock fraternity at least, this may be a belated, if welcome, arrival at barricades occupied until recently by artists from the R‘n’B and hip hop communities. The US has been in tumult for months thanks to the rise of Donald Trump, a fractious Democrat primaries season and the Orlando massacre, yet the Black Lives Matter movement had been attracting musical support for two years before.

This exploded into mainstream consciousness during February’s Superbowl halftime extravaganza, when Beyoncé debuted the affirmative “Formation” backed by dancers in Black Panther berets. In 2014, though, D’Angelo returned after 14 years with his most socially engaged work to date, Black Messiah, sounding remarkably prescient on track such as “The Charade”. More recently, Prince wrote the bruised “Baltimore” in response to the death of Freddie Gray and Kendrick Lamar's “Alright”, from last year's To Pimp A Butterfly album, has become an anthem for protesters, just some of the numbers released or posted in response to the killings of black people.

To be fair, ex-RATM guitarist Tom Morello was inspired to post the track “Marching On Ferguson”, but his latest venture takes on a wider range of targets. Along with former bandmates Tim Commerford, Brad Wilk, plus Chuck D and Cypress Hill's B-Real and DJ Lord, Morello has formed Prophets of Rage, an agitpop supergroup that played a protest show in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention. Now the band have embarked on a national tour and released an EP that includes a version of the Public Enemy number they took their name from, new song “The Party's Over” and a handful of live numbers, including “Killing In The Name”.

While playing in Prophets Of Rage, ex-RATM bassist Commerford also leads hardcore outfit Wakrat, who have unleashed their own response to the general malaise “Generation Fucked”. A higher profile stand comes from Green Day, returning with their first album in four years, with frontman Billie Joe Armstrong promising Revolution Radio marks a return to topicality for the punk-pop trio after the sprawling three-disc series ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré!. Armstrong told Rolling Stone that the new album's title track was directly inspired by his joining a Black Lives Matter protest in New York, while Trump’s candidacy elsewhere sets a tone of fear and anger, including on lead single “Bang Bang.”

A more pensive response to police violence comes from southern rockers Drive-By Truckers. Lyricist Patterson Hood wrote “What It Means” a couple of years ago, in disgust at the killing of Trayvon Martin and the decision not to prosecute in the wake of the Ferguson shooting. Hood recently told Rolling Stone, “Unfortunately, the song is still timely today. I hope and pray that one day it won't be.” Furthermore, Hood has found the number fits well on his group’s forthcoming, and most directly engaged work to date, American Band. Drive-By Truckers have long riffed on issues such as class and race, though normally explore them through more narrative or conceptual means. Now, Hood explains, “This time out, there are no such diversions, as these songs are mostly set front and centre in the current political arena.”

During this year’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, the Truckers played an event organised by Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, herself the victim of a shooting five years ago, to raise awareness around gun control. The same issue has also inspired a voice less familiar in Hood's “political arena”: solo artist Sharon Van Etten, whose last album, 2014’s Are We There, was described here as “Unflinching before love’s stormy weather”. In the wake of the Orlando massacre, the Brooklyn-based musician felt compelled to pen the stark “Not Myself,” posted on Bandcamp to raise funds for the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, which aims to counter America's powerful pro-gun lobby through research and developing evidence-based policies.

Van Etten says, “I haven’t been this overwhelmed with sadness and disbelief in a long time. The victims were only trying to be themselves and be comfortable and safe in their surroundings. That safety was violated out of fear and with a gun.” She originally wanted to raise money for the victims and their families, but realised the issue was much bigger, saying, “I wrote ‘Not Myself’ for the victims of this horrific event, but I chose to support the research and awareness work of ... a movement of Americans working together to end gun violence and build safer communities.” It is a quiet statement, but powerful nonetheless – showing protest songs continue to evolve and come in unexpected forms.

Prophets Of Rage’s Party’s Over EP is available now on Caroline.