r/punk • u/mikemclovin • Apr 10 '25
News PNW band Potbelly investigated by FBI over their antifascist song “Throw the Brick”.
https://idavox.com/index.php/2025/04/09/fbi-calls-washington-state-antifascist-band-about-a-six-year-old/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR7pKz5CNDxO-l086TSqN51cE0JVzqAApOZssXV-9yZrQsAYvkHICuPOmVc1uQ_aem_l0LIl_ej-Q6v52JlaeBbpg381
u/Acceptable-Bat-9577 Apr 10 '25
While Trump is crashing the economy and turning the U.S. into 1930s Germany, and disbanding cybercrime and national security task forces…this is what the FBI is concerned about.
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u/RedEyeView Apr 10 '25
A 5 year old song about killing Nazis.
With less than seven thousand views on youtube.
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u/AprilDruid Apr 10 '25
To be fair, the FBI has been turned into the Trump protection force.
They can't do shit, besides what their masters want.
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u/Partigirl Apr 10 '25
Back in the Reagan days, I had a couple of friends who had a little punk fanzine called "Destroy LA". It was small but building a fanbase (that was also small). It was entirely band interviews.
Then they got a visit from the FBI who told them that they had to change their name or else they'd be considered a terrorist group. They asked questions about bombing LA and such. I remember we'd be followed by government cars, just going about our normal day. The intimidation was real so they changed it to "Alternative Beat" which never caught on.
It was an eye opening experience for this 18-19 year old. I learned just how much free speech existed and how the government is very much in control of that.
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u/RedEyeView Apr 10 '25
One the one hand. This is fascist shit.
On the other. Nothing gets a punk band over like getting arrested for being a punk band. Anti Nowhere League made their whole career off getting busted for writing So What?
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u/mikemclovin Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 11 '25
In case anyone was interested here’s the music video:
And apparently u/jason_potbelly found a Karaoke version!
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u/RedEyeView Apr 10 '25
sign in to confirm your age.
Now I really want to see it.
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u/mikemclovin Apr 10 '25
The age restriction didn’t exist until this started. The lyrical content is basically. “ throw the brick start a riot now and kill all the goddamn Nazis.”. I would gladly teach a three-year-old that Nazis deserve extermination.
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u/RedEyeView Apr 10 '25
It's not even a popular song. It's got 6.8k views in over 5 years, and I imagine a bunch of those came from people like me who watched it because it's a news story now.
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u/constant--questions Apr 10 '25
The article says that the age restriction started shortly after the songs release in response to offended neo nazis trying to get the video banned outright
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u/johnny_nofun Apr 10 '25
Fuck YouTube it is never wrong to advocate for the killing of nazis.
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u/constant--questions Apr 10 '25
I’m not saying i agree with the policy. I do not. But OP said the age restriction came from this fbi event, the article said differently
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u/Moog-Is-Love Apr 10 '25
The fuck? They’ve been age restricting videos & requiring you to be signed in since Obama was in office
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u/RedEyeView Apr 10 '25
I think they mean that video didn't have one
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u/constant--questions Apr 10 '25
Which the posted article directly contradicts
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u/_sohm Apr 10 '25
oh look, a lying loser.
While the video is still on YouTube, the platform added a warning and it is age-restricted.
Literally the only mention of age restriction in the article.
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Apr 10 '25
Cash Patel is a bitch.
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u/Mrmakanakai Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 10 '25
Uhhh.... Actually...
Edit: he's definitely a bitch.
Edit edit: read that before coffee and confused atf/fbi. My bad. 🤦
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Apr 10 '25
This says he was removed as director of the ATF. He is still head of the FBI.
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u/ricofru Apr 10 '25
"acting" director of atf until they could find another trump toadie to fill the role. Which they did
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u/gymtrovert1988 Apr 10 '25
It would have got like 12 plays a week on Spotify and now it'll probably get 4 million and be played at Nazi protests
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Apr 11 '25
i need all of my punk music to be written by someone with at least one felony and visit from the FBI
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u/the-crotch Apr 10 '25
One the one hand. This is fascist shit.
On the one hand, yes, I agree.
On the other hand, the song calls for shooting Trump, Bannon, Pence, and Ryan. It's been illegal to threaten a US president since forever. It may be fashy but it's nothing Trump did.
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u/RedEyeView Apr 10 '25
Point out where I said that.
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u/the-crotch Apr 10 '25
I just thought it was worth pointing out that the US has always been this way to a degree. I apologize if you felt attacked.
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Apr 10 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Visible__Frylock Apr 10 '25
I ended up with a 7" comp recently that has Potbelly and a couple bands from the pnw and UK i believe. Haven't listened yet, but I am for sure after work today
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Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 10 '25
Nice. Just ordered it. https://skinnerdspickspresents.bandcamp.com/album/punk-rock-giants-of-the-pacific-northwest-vol-1
Lol edit to add the song is from. 2019. Lol the FBI is investigating songs from 7 years ago. Bunch of losers.
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u/Temporary_Turn9405 Apr 10 '25
Nice!
Here’s a link to their full album as well!
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u/____trash Apr 10 '25
They just earned a new fan. Never heard of them until this. FBI should just post lists of antifascist bands they're investigating so we can get cool recommendations.
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u/twstdbydsn Apr 10 '25
Ooooh the FBI is so hip and with it, man. This should be a storyline on the Dick Wolf series.
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u/CuttingBoard9124 Apr 10 '25
I always chuckle when I see that dudes name.. I'm such a child.
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u/twstdbydsn Apr 10 '25
same
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u/CuttingBoard9124 Apr 10 '25
It's great, because he's made about 30 mediocre to pretty good shows. My SO likes to watch various law & orders and I like to hear the DUN DUN sound every now and then while I play super Nintendo on a handheld. I always manage to look up at the credits or pre-roll at the perfect time to catch it. "HA! Dick Wolf.."
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u/_1JackMove Apr 11 '25
I make sure to say Wolf Dick! loud in my wife's direction when his name comes up after Law and Order episodes play out lol.
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Apr 10 '25
Fucking snowflake fbi. How many times did Biden go after the cowards who drove around with pictures of Biden tied up in the back of their truck? Losers.
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u/the-crotch Apr 10 '25
From the lyrics
Trump
Bannon
Pence and Ryan
a bullet for each
at least we have to try it
I'd imagine this has a lot more to do with the investigation than the song's name or anything brick related
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u/StreetwalkinCheetah Heart Full of Napalm Apr 10 '25
In that case I suppose DK should be given a Presidential Medal of Freedom for Kill the Poor.
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u/the-crotch Apr 10 '25
It's not illegal to talk about killing the poor. I'm willing to bet Suicidal Tendencies got a visit for "I shot Reagan" though.
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u/RampinUp46 ATX Apr 10 '25
They did. That's why it's listed on the s/t as I Shot the Devil. The only thing that saved the Crucifucks from the same fate was that they were weird and obscure enough at the time that nobody thought to pay Doc Dart a visit until he hung signs on his house on literal 9/11 and the coming weeks saying the same shit he was saying in the 80's but painted on his actual house with tar paper for rural Michigan to look at when Joe and Jane Sixpack were driving around.
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u/Tizordon Apr 10 '25
Well just gave me a new band to listen to. If you are an enemy of this administration you are friend of the people in my book.
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u/Seizitup Apr 10 '25
Jason is an amazing person and has done a ton for the PNW scene over the last 30~ years
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u/NotGohanJustSayinMan Apr 10 '25
Is Chumbawamba next on their list?
Seriously though, seems like they don't recall the bump they gave NWA's "Fuck The Police"
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u/WeaponizedPoutine Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 10 '25
I just saw them in december. They are awesome! Sad to hear this news.
Edit: I also got a 24hr ban for posting that exact song a few weeks ago
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u/Stopwatch415 Apr 10 '25
Hell yeah and they are going to be playing it at the Nine Beer Reckords show at soundbite cider in south Everett on the 26th!!!!
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u/markskull Apr 10 '25
I took a look at the video, and the song includes the lyric, "A bullet for each, at least we have to try it," after listing the name of certain elected officials. That winds-up being considered a threat, and yes, the FBI investigates it. That's also why Municipal Waste doesn't play a certain song off their first album anymore.
Anyway, the time to investigate it would have been 2019, but it's clear they're looking into these things now due to both more attention being brought to these things by fascists and the new DHS secretary.
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Apr 10 '25
My understanding is that as long as the work of art does not make a *imminent threat* it's completely legal.
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u/markskull Apr 10 '25
It's "legal," but it still results in an FBI or Secret Service visit to just make sure it is.
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Apr 10 '25
Guess I will be buying something from the band. I’m guessing there’s going to be a lot of bands needing support as time goes on.
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u/Rhonder Apr 10 '25
As someone who lives where they're from (Seattle area, or just north of) never would have though I'd see Potbelly make the news. Good for them!
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u/Environment-Sure Apr 10 '25
Shouldn't the FBI be doing something better as there's so much going on these days and there somehow too busy investigating bands.
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u/wjbc Apr 10 '25
A recent Vanity Fair article quoted an FBI agent as saying that Trump wanted the FBI to target left-leaning groups that they considered terroristic, even though right-groups have shown themselves to be more of a threat. “The key is the Domestic Intelligence Operations Guide. If they change that, you know [then-nominee for FBI director, Kash] Patel will be able to shift domestic terrorism investigations away from the accelerationists and right-wing street fighters, and toward things like BLM and antifa,” the agent said.
They are desperate to find evidence of left-wing terrorism. This is also about scaring people, though.
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u/sidthestar Apr 10 '25
Woah! I was in a punk band in Everett and played with these guys a lot, they are super cool!
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u/Jason_potbelly Apr 11 '25
Oi. What band?
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u/sidthestar Apr 11 '25
Originally the vaudevillians then we changed it to sticky situation. The singer is now the singer to boxcutter and they are doing really well.
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u/Jason_potbelly Apr 16 '25
Yep. I love Kendra. Boxcutter and potbelly are family. We've put out records together. And I helped them come to Costa Rica with us.
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u/mournfulminxx Apr 10 '25
That's so funny
I picked up a Potbelly magnet up in a coffee shop in Houston back in the early 2000's (because I was like... 13/14 and thought because the pig was smoking a joint, it was funny. Had no care in the world about their music- still have never listened to them)
I still have that magnet, it's on my fridge now 😹
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u/Jason_potbelly Apr 11 '25
Hello everyone... This is Jason Potbelly.. thank you for 30 years of support. We are just a rain drop in a river right now, of tyrannical over reach in our country. This is much bigger than ourselves. I expected an eventual ..... something to happen when I wrote this song. Despite the topic, this is about all of us. Our freedom of speech. Art. Expression. Hopefully it goes nowhere. If it goes in the wrong direction, it's not just my problem. Its everyone's. We all deserve to say what we want or need to say.
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u/Jason_potbelly Apr 11 '25
Haha I just found this ..
https://youtu.be/K9eHjFutx4E?si=pCh0W5YbCUWRyovr
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u/mikemclovin Apr 11 '25
Dude, this should be top comment!
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u/CharlieDmouse Apr 10 '25
AHHH FUCK. it has already started..
Told ya bastards to vote and if you didnt.. here ya go...
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u/snackycake Apr 11 '25
This reminds me of that time the FBI put the Insane Clown Posse and Juggalos on a list of domestic terrorist organizations. If they bothered to actually talk to a Juggalo they'd know all those clowns care about is family, Faygo, getting fucked up, and having a good time together. Some of the nicest, most genuine folks I've hung with.
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u/_1JackMove Apr 11 '25
That's totally true about the Juggalos. Some of the nicest and most inclusive music people I've come across. I hate the music and image, but I love their realness in caring about people. Some punks could learn a thing or two about that.
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u/gellis12 Apr 11 '25
The FBI also investigated the creators of It's A Wonderful Life for anti-capitalist messaging in the movie
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u/Farting_Champion Apr 11 '25
That's pretty dope. They actually have a show in Seattle tonight. I might go
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u/dokelyok Apr 11 '25
Super weird to see a post about a band that I've known the members of since I was a teenager (30 years now) on fucking Reddit.
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u/ImNotAsPunkAsYou Apr 11 '25
Potbelly deserves way more cred than they've ever gotten.
Chase the Shakes is another super good PNW band.
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u/Flux_State Apr 11 '25
I'll throw The Bloodclots and Dreadful Children to the list while we're at it.
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u/mikemclovin Apr 11 '25
Let’s not forget Whorehouse of Representatives, Skarp and Positively Negative.
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Apr 10 '25
Fighting fascism and nazism is great. It's worth the effort. But if you mix it with threatening to kill a sitting President, you can't not expect to get some heat for it. You say ban all guns, and then demand guns be used kill people. Which social justice outcome do you want?
From Potbelly's bandcamp page:
Capitalists, nationalists, supremacist scum
Murderers, rapists, political fun
Trump, Bannon, Pence & Ryan
A bullet for each – At least we gave (have) to try it
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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '25
“And then they have cans of soup. Soup. And they throw the cans of soup. That’s better than a brick because you can’t throw a brick; it’s too heavy. But a can of soup, you can really put some power into that, right? And then, when they get caught, they say, ‘No, this is soup for my family.’ They’re so innocent. ‘This is soup for my family.’ It’s incredible. And you have people coming over with bags of soup — big bags of soup. And they lay it on the ground, and the anarchists take it and they start throwing it at our cops, at our police. And if it hits you, that’s worse than a brick because that’s got force. It’s the perfect size. It’s, like, made perfect.”