Legendary alt-rockers, Motorcycle Display Team (MDT) have released a remastered version of their stomping single Mexicans 2024, which tackles US immigration.
As the band prepares for the release of their highly anticipated compilation album, the latest track is a call for compassion and humanity, offering a glimpse at life for the unseen thousands, forced from their homelands and enduring daily turmoil in transit.
The legendary band, which consists of Dublin drummer Morgan Condon, singer Steve Hinds and bass player Brad Larroquette, have carved their own niche, self-releasing a collection of idiosyncratic records, and never taking themselves too seriously. Bringing a fun sensibility to their candid live act at hundreds of shows across Europe, their songs tackle themes from the personal to the political with a wry and self-deprecating humour.
Mexicans is a simmering potboiler exploring the necessity for migrants forced from their homes in search of a better life and, crucially, what they might find at their destination. Stevoknievo's lyrics are a poignant narrative of resilience and hope, with a chorus that pays homage to Heinlein's sci-fi classic Stranger In A Strange Land, echoing its themes of mutual alienation with unfamiliar territories and cultures.
Opening with a deliberate guitar stomp and a raucous chain gang chant, the growling sub bass drops the listener as though into the shoes of the migrants as they grind over inhospitable terrain.
We hope it will resonate with all those who flee for a better life. If it draws a spotlight to the cause of those suffering in their homelands, it might create a better understanding as to why people flee their home . Empathy and understanding is what we're hoping to achieve.- Morgan Condon (Drums)
And when it comes to the video for the single, which will appear on a compilation by the band later this year, Morgan said: The music video for - Mexicans 2024 - features the striking photographs of American anthropologist Levi Vonk, who traveled alongside a migrant caravan in Mexico. The evocative images capture the minutiae of the journey, providing the complement of realism.
The single, Mexicans 2024 is available through all streaming platforms.
Photo Credit: Atomic Press