ICE killed another American citizen on Saturday, so here’s a list of five anti-ICE songs you can listen to right now.
As music journalists we often struggle with how to respond to tragedies like this one. I don’t have unreleased facts to share, or some vast network of activists to call upon. What I do have is my anger, alongside decades of practice working through difficult emotions with music. Putting this list together helped me process the state of the world; I hope it helps you, too.
Here you’ll find huge artists with career-defining tracks, such as Zach Bryan‘s “Bad News;” smaller bands that I, frankly, don’t know much about, like Bent; and political barnstormers from longtime activists such as Tom Morello and Dropkick Murphys. The order moves from contemplative to incandescent with rage, and if you’re looking for artists to support right now, this is a good place to start.
01. Zach Bryan — “Bad News”
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An early contender for song of the year is also one of the finest tracks in Bryan’s expansive discography. “Every day on the news, someone else is shot,” he sings, “I got some bad news/ The fading of the red, white and blue.”
02. Jesse Welles — “Join ICE”
Witty satire with a biting refrain: “If you’re lackin’ control and authority/ Come with me and hunt down minorities/ Join ICE.” Welles fights authoritarianism with humor.
03. Tom Morello — “Pretend You Remember Me”
Morello has been on the right side of history since the earliest days of Rage Against the Machine. The release of “Pretend You Remember Me” raised money for Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).
04. Dropkick Murphys — “Citizen I.C.E.”
This reworking of their 2005 song “Citizen CIA” hits even harder than the original: “Too scared to join the military/ Too dumb to be a cop/ Citizen I.C.E.” A fun one to sing along to.
05. Bent — “ICE Killer”
This ripper from Bent is heavy as fuck and deserves to boost their profile. The first vocals aren’t what you’d call clean, but it definitely gets more metal from there. The song is off their 2025 EP, Sangre por Sangre.
