L7, the fast and furious L.A. grunge rock band of the mid-‘80s to late-‘90s, have released their first new song since 2001, and whaddaya know, it’s about Donald Trump.
“Dispatch From Mar-A-Lago” is a wickedly funny and joyfully loud fantasy in which the band trashes the president’s favorite Florida getaway, while he tweets from the toilet: “S.O.S. from the golden throne/‘Mogul’s’ in deep shit, he’s all alone/It’s not good, a riot in fact/The whole friggin’ country club is under attack.” Take a listen:
Singer Donita Sparks told Pitchfork contributor (and Flavorwire alum) Judy Berman that the song was more a lark than an act of protest: “We had the music, and then we were cracking up about [the idea of] “Mar-a-Lago.” But they’re well aware of the need for protest music at this particular moment: “It would almost be negligent to not make any sort of a comment on the current political situation, and our fans were just so devastated that we were like, ‘Fuck it. We don’t care if this is topical and, quite frankly, we’re one of the only bands that could actually fucking do it.’ Because we’ve got that humor and that furiousness, and we take on politics and society.”
Sparks also says that although the band has been touring together for the past couple of years, and appearing together to promote Sarah Price’s documentary profile L7: Pretend We’re Dead, they’re not quite ready to commit to a full album of new music just yet. “We didn’t want the pressure of, ‘L7 has a new album,’” she tells Berman. “This was just a fun track to throw out.” (They have another single scheduled for release later this fall.)
Read the full interview here.