New York indie legends LCD Soundystem have released a new cover of Heaven 17’s “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang.” This is the first track off the band’s upcoming Electric Lady Sessions live album that is set to be released this year.

Unlike most of LCD Soundystem’s tracks which feature James Murphy performing the lead vocals, Nancy Whang, the group’s keyboardist and secondary vocalist, serves as the lead singer for this track. The song structure holds true to the band’s high energy, hosting the band’s typical indie rock vibe with some funk flavors thrown in, with a similar to their other tracks like “Time to Get Away.”

While the song serves as a cover of the 1981 synth-pop classic, some of the lyrics were changed to reflect the current presidency of Donald Trump and political situation in the United States. These lyrics include: “Democrats are out of power/Across that great wide ocean/The orange one is President/Fascist God in motion.

While the band has been political throughout its career, with songs such as “New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down,” eviscerating local New York Politicians, this song holds significance in this current political landscape.

Last month, the current presidential administration sought to remove federal protections from people who identify as transgender across the nation. This legislation would directly affect over 1.4 million people who identify as transgender in the US, including LCD Soundsystem’s synth player Gavin Rayna Russom, who came out as transgender in 2017.

“For anybody who is struggling with their gender identity or who wants to come out and is afraid to,” Russom began in 2017, “what would be better than giving someone permission to do that through my performance? That’s the ultimate. It’s what other people gave to me, so I’d love to pass that along to other people, too.”

Electric Lady Sessions was recorded at the legendary studio of the same name in 2017, while the band was touring for their latest studio album American Dream. The studio was founded by Jimi Hendrix in 1970, but has served as recording studio for many albums from artists such as Arcade Fire, Lady Gaga, J.Cole, David Bowie and The Roots.

American Dream was released back in September 2017, and served as the band’s first album since their “break-up,” in 2010. Upon release the album was a huge commercial success, scoring the band their first number one album on Billboard and their first Grammy for the track “Tonite.”

According to James Murphy the band’s short-lived “break-up,” was more of a farce, that was started when the promoters were pushing the band to sell more tickets at the Madison Square Garden back in 2011. Murphy stated that he had clashed with the promoters numerous times on how to sell-out the venue, becoming upset that someone as big as Big Boi was chosen as an opener for the act to give the show “an extra element.”

After returning, Murphy expressed regret for publicly announcing the group’s break-up. “For the rest of my life, now matter what happens in this band, we’ll never ‘break up’ again. One day we’ll just stop making music, but no one is going to say a fucking word about it ahead of time,” Murphy explained.

Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna