There’s no song, no movie, no article, no piece of media period that could ever accurately encapsulate the suffering of an entire people, but it stands to reason that they do have value in starting a conversation or keeping it going, to expose and name what abject horrors are happening to us as human. We are all humans, right? I don’t really play into the monster or demon narratives anymore that seek to separate the worst people among us from ourselves as the decent ones. Yes, genocidaires are human, and I don’t mean that in a sympathetic way, but to further damn the acts and beliefs of these people who fall under that category, for their failure to their fellow man has become so unquantifiable and beyond reason that most were left with the notion that they couldn’t possibly be part of humanity.
This premiere’s a little different than our usual ones, not fun or celebratory, but a mark of a great band releasing new music all the same. Bristol’s Sugar Horse should need little introduction if you’ve been with us through this decade so far – frankly, we’re big fans. We’re also very proud, honored even, to be able to share with you their latest track and video – one of two standalone singles releasing through Fat Dracula Records – “What’s Your ETA? Let’s Have a Tear Up”, a harrowing sonic dedication to the people of Palestine, their incalculable losses to Western imperialism and conquest, but also their unbounded resilience in the face of literal insurmountable odds and endless death for nearing a century.
The band give purpose to this track far beyond leaping on the bandwagon of the most important global issue of our time with the following statement:
‘Since 1948 the Israeli state has illegally subjugated the peoples of Palestine. Stealing/occupying their land and treating them as worse than second class citizens. Since 2023 they have conducted a genocide the likes of which cannot even be fathomed. Unbridled suffering and death has been inflicted on these proud and courageous people, and our government is selling weapons to the people conducting said genocide. They’re helping them commit these fucking horrendous crimes.
‘It disgusts us more than words can adequately describe and it fills us with a kind of despair that is unfightable. However, the bravery of the Palestinian people in the face of these horrors is something that I am utterly stunned by on a daily basis. Those who have been subjected to so much, are still willing to push through. To find joy and love where they can.
‘This song is for them and we would like to ask those who enjoy our music – to some degree at least – and who want to compensate us for these new tunes, to instead direct this help and these funds towards the people of Palestine. Please donate what you can to UNRWA.
‘Free Palestine.’
It genuinely doesn’t feel right to wax poetic as we usually do about the song, its sound, or composition when the point of it given all of the above isn’t so much to make an entertaining track, but call to action us as listeners and, I hope, empathetic individuals who no longer want to see people burned alive on their social media feeds, babies with their heads literally blown up by Israel’s munitions, and completely razed cities and villages that once bustled with song and life, all so the Western world can build seafront condominiums and hotels on the mass graves they filled directly or indirectly. We wish these images away not just because they make us uncomfortable, but because these are images that should never exist anywhere in the world under any circumstances, for any reason. To stand up for Palestine and condemn Israel and their co-conspirators to the highest degree humanly possible, because we are all humans, right?
Shout out to Sugar Horse for using their still burgeoning platform to speak out for what is right and just. I hope the next time we cover this great band it’s under better circumstances and in the same world as a liberated Palestine. Follow them as comrades in humanity on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Bluesky – share this song far and wide today. Fuck Israel, USA, Britain, Canada, Germany, and all of Western civilization that sustains on the blood of other nations as well as their own. Fuck imperialism, genocide, ethnic cleansing, xenophobia, racism, Islamophobia, Zionism, war profiteering, conquest, and capitalism. All glory, success, and eternal freedom to the people of Palestine forever. If any of this offends you, then fuck you too.
Band photo by Damien Sayell
