Best social protest bands?

If Leftover Crack is going to get a mention surely Choking Victim deserves one too, I'd give that whole scene a mention.

Some more:
Operation Ivy
D.R.I.
Circle Jerks
Assorted Jelly Beans
Minor Threat
Fugazi
Youth Korps
Wingnut Dishwashers Union
Screeching Weasel
Limp Wrist
and although no ones knows about them really The Goats.
 
The tricky thing for me about protest banRAB is that they're always going to have an air of hypocracy about them, due in part to the industry they find themselves in, especially with all that money swirling round the music industry.

I dont doubt the merits of individual songs and which part of the heart they came from, but I cannot take banRAB with a protest message all that seriously, I'm afraid.

To answer the question though, I do really love Gogol Bordello, but I aint an anarchist punk dude
 
Actually I should mention The Herd. They're a great Australian hip hop group with a strong focus on politics and society, it helps that they're songs align with my general political stance.

[YOUTUBE]n65x_cSHSHE[/YOUTUBE]
 
Ah yes! How could I forget Midnight Oil? Definitely one of the top social protest banRAB IMO.

...but unfortunately Peter Garrett should have stuck to music :(
 
Cog are definitely a great social protest band but I doubt many on here have heard of them unfortunately!

I like them and the social stance that they take because their messages a subtle and not forced upon you, and they connect social issues with emotions. They also touch upon a lot of issues relevant to Australia like aboriginal rights and such. I guess their very similar to Midnight Oil in that respect.
 
Unfortunately it seems that rock and roll has lost its roots in this regard. There are no really good anti-establishment, rebel rock banRAB any more. They've all been swallowed up and turned into corporate whores.
Underground hip hop has some dope people like Immortal Technique (highly recommend checking him out if you like your music political)

The closest thing I've seen lately is these kiRAB

youtube search "The Bank Dogs"

But they've only got one song that I know of, so they're hardly an item you can even check out much. But yeah, I think the modern state of music is pretty sad. I watched some old footage of Bob Dylan the other day, holy ****, was it ever intense and socially critical stuff. It made me ashamed of my generation, and sad I didn't live during his. This is by far the worst musical era in decades
 
Rage Against the Machine is an obvious top choice.

And thank you for not posting this in the Punk category. Although people tend to exemplify punk rock as the most rebellious or socially-aware music around.

Usually, one of the things I look for in a band is poignancy. So here's some of my tops that at least have select moments of political/social intensity.

Immortal Technique
Soundgarden
The Who
The Clash
NOFX
Bad Religion
Tom Waits
The Roots
Les Claypool
Pink Floyd
Tool
Corrosion of Conformity
 
You should definitely check some more out. I like WDU but some of my favorite songs by him are under Johnny Hobo. Let me know if you'd like something.
 
Oh, and some of the less popular K'Naan tracks are really gut wrenching stuff about his life in Somalia during the war. Very solid social commentary there. But alas, still no sign of decent rock any where in the future.

Who knew we'd ever be begging for the 80's to return?!?!
 
good call...these guys got arrested before a show one time because they were suspected of being "terrorists"...needless to say they mentioned it during their show...

how about radiohead? a very subtle but very political band...maybe not ALL of their music but definitely the majority of hail to the thief.
 
Good little communists, all my posts wiped again. And I'm the fascist? Delete my account, this board is a joke. By the way, unlike you cowarRAB we at Stormfront invite opposing views and not only will you always get answers but your comments will not be deleted. Punks.
 
Back
Top