Bob Vylan call out “cowardly” Sleaford Mods and IDLES for not speaking out on Palestine

10 November, 2023

IDLES, Bob Vylan and Sleaford Mods

Bob Vylan have called out “cowardly” bands Sleaford Mods and IDLES for not speaking out in support of Palestine.

The comments against the bands came during Bob Vylan’s show in Dublin last night (November 9), when the frontman spoke directly to the crowd to share his support of those caught up in the Palestine/Israel conflict.

Referring to some of the distressing scenes shown on the news and social media of those in Gaza, they recalled their annoyance at the “cowardly” bands who claim to be politically-motivated and left-wing, but have stayed silent about the war.

“It’s not just local, its world-fucking-news, and we are watching fucking babies being burned…Children being pulled from the rubble of fucking buildings that have been absolutely levelled after spending days under that. How the fuck can you call yourself a political left-wing band if you are not fucking speaking up for people that have no voice at the moment?” they said.

“It’s a cowardly fucking thing. So fuck IDLES, fuck Sleaford Mods and fuck every single one of those fucking apolitical bands that don’t want to fucking speak up when there’s something a little bit iffy, a little bit touchy, a little bit sensitive [because they’ve] got a fucking bullshit album to sell.

“Fuck that. We can’t fucking respect that at all. Fuck them. This is the prettiest song we’ve ever fucking written, because Bob Dylan would fucking fight you fucking cowardly bags,” they added, going into a rendition of ‘Pretty Songs’. Check out fan-captured footage of the moment below.

The comments towards Sleaford Mods follow reports that the band recently cut a concert in Madrid short after a Palestinian scarf was thrown onto the stage.

Speaking about the incident shortly afterwards, the band took to social media writing: “Don’t be asking me to pick sides for something I ain’t got any real idea about, at a gig. I’m a singer. My job is music.”

After Bob Vylan’s set in Ireland last night, the band also took to X/Twitter to reiterate their stance, adding that the bands who “made a career out of being ‘the underdog lefty that speaks up for the marginalised’” have more of a responsibility to speak up than most.

“This idea that ‘a band won’t end a war’ is such a foolish way to view using platforms of visibility. If you have a level of reach that not everyone is afforded, maybe you should use it in a way that is beneficial to the world? Even if only to show others that it’s ok to speak up,” they wrote.

“Believing ourselves to be useless to any meaningful cause because we’re musicians, actors, sportspersons etc? That is the defeatist approach of a coward,” the threat continued. “But I forget some of these lot are only playing dress up and will go back to their quiet conflict free life when it’s no longer trendy or financially beneficial to wear that costume.”

This isn’t the first time the duo have taken aim at IDLES either. Speaking with NME back in 2020, Bob Vylan recalled that they found themselves “caring less and less for IDLES after seeing how they’ve handled certain things”, particularly to do with racism.

“I think it’s very cowardly when you create a living on being outspoken and challenging injustice, to then shut your mouth when you have an album coming out and a man is dead in the street,” they said. “Protests are happening around the world and you have an album coming out and a fanbase of, let’s face it, majority white men, but you keep your mouth shut to sell your album. That is the problem. That is what we need to change. Wondering about the fall-out shouldn’t be an issue: it’s either wrong or right.”

Responding to the criticism later that year in an NME cover story, the band said: “It was important we did things in the right way. There was a lot of virtue-signalling and we wanted to make sure that anything we contributed was going to be [helpful].

“A friend of mine works for Black Lives Matter and we had a conversation about how to deal with it appropriately online. That meant we didn’t post something on the day George Floyd was murdered. We didn’t post something the day after.”

Bob Vylan are just one of many famous faces to speak out against the conflict in recent weeks and share their support for those caught up in the conflict. Earlier this month Macklemore delivered a rousing speech at a pro-Palestine rally calling the conflict a “genocide”, while Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Michael Stipe and more wrote an open letter to President Biden, demanding “an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost.”

Selena Gomez’s makeup company, Rare Beauty, also announced that it will be donating funds to the relief efforts in Gaza, and over 2,000 names from the arts world, including Tilda Swinton, Massive Attack‘s Robert Del Naja and Miriam Margoyles, signed an open letter calling for ceasefire.

Similarly, Madonna addressed the situation on stage at The O2, while Tom Morello called for the condemnation of harm to all children “no matter who they are”.

People search through buildings, destroyed during Israeli air raids in the southern Gaza Strip on November 10, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza.
People search through buildings, destroyed during Israeli air raids in the southern Gaza Strip on November 10, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. CREDIT: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images

The Comet Is Coming last month announced that they will no longer be playing their last-ever live show in support of Palestine, and Caroline Polachek released a line of limited-edition merch to raise money for Palestinian refugees.

More recently, Kid Cudi expressed his support for Palestinians caught up in the ongoing conflict, Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha was seen participating in a pro-Palestine march instead of attending the band’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

According to a report by Al Jazeera, at least 10,812 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7. In Israel, the death toll over the same period stands at more than 1,400.

According to the report, the Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital has been attacked twice and the Palestinian Health Ministry spokesperson said an Israeli attack hit a car in the yard of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City but the exact number of casualties is not yet known.

The US has also said that Israel agreed to suspend fighting for four hours per day to allow Palestinian civilians to flee from northern Gaza.

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