Whether or not you agree that Primal Scream succeeded in their mission here, it's probably best to give some context. This year marks the 25th anniversary of what's arguably the band's masterpiece, XTRMNTR, which is also the band's most aggressive and paranoid album, or at least that's how it scanned back in 2000.

The album, its graphics, title, subject matter, and abrasive sonics all center around broadly dystopian themes; two of its most well-known (and greatest) tunes are called "Kill All Hippies" and "Swastika Eyes". This story concerns the latter.

At the time of XTRMNTR's release, the band did a lot of press talking up their newfound interest in revolutionary causes, including a campaign to free Satpal Ram, a man convicted of murdering his own allegedly racist attacker in what is now widely believed to have been self-defense. Bobby Gillespie's noble political interests were also entwined with conspiracy theories about Princess Diana's death. So it goes.

But at the time, no one really knew that a quarter-century later we would really be talking so much about rises in fascism and AI technology, which makes XTRMNTR look eerily prescient. Either way, it took big artistic liberties with loaded themes à la Public Enemy.

Fast forward to Primal Scream's recent 25th anniversary show for XTRMNTR at the London venue Roundhouse, where they performed two versions of "Swastika Eyes" as per the album sequence. Unsurprisingly, they displayed footage of Gaza's destruction during the song as well as anti-Palestinian political leaders such as Trump and Netanyahu onscreen with guess-what in their eyes. (If you guessed the Star of David entangled with a swastika, you'd be right.) You can see how this happened. The footage ended with the message “our government is complicit in genocide.”

A British charity for Jewish people called the Community Security Trust released a statement saying it had reported the band to the police, and they told The Guardian, “Entwining a Star of David with a swastika implies that Jews are Nazis and risks encouraging hatred of Jews.” The concert venue also issued an apology for hosting the concert and claimed they were “appalled that antisemitic imagery was displayed.”

Today, Primal Scream took to Instagram and denied that any of this was antisemitic. You can read their statement below. Based on their music's leftist bent and rejection of encroaching fascism, it's easy to see where they're coming from. Also, "Swastika Eyes" is an absolute banger.

This film is a piece of art. It clearly draws from history to question where the actions of current world governments sit in that context. It is meant to provoke debate not hate. In a free, pluralistic, and liberal society freedom of expression is a right which we choose to exercise.

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