Tom Morello Says This Band Is “Clearly the Rage Against The Machine of Now”

Tom Morello, guitarist of politically outspoken icons Rage Against The Machine, has revealed the artists he believes are carrying the spirit and message of his now-retired band. Following the group’s short-lived reunion—cut short by the pandemic and officially dissolved again in 2024—Morello remains the band’s most publicly active member, frequently engaging in activism and lending his voice to social causes.

Speaking in a new appearance on ‘The Strombo Show’, Morello was asked whether he still hears younger artists who reflect the same urgency and energy as Rage Against The Machine. While some might expect him to name acts like politically charged rap-metalcore group Stray From The Path, Morello instead pointed to a handful of others—most notably Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap, whom he declared “the Rage Against The Machine of now.”

Morello stated:

“I just invited, like, the one most recently is a San Diego hip-hop duo called The Neighborhood Kids, [they] certainly [have] one bit of Rage Against The Machine in them. But they rap lived experience and they really mean it in a way that you kind of go like, ‘thank goodness somebody has the guts to say it,’ you know. And in the UK, Nova Twins are a group that I really like. They’re a young, young band.”

After Strombo suggested Kneecap, Morello quickly confirmed:

“[They’re at] at the top of the list, at the top of the list. I mean, they’re clearly the Rage Against The Machine of now, like there’s them, and there’s a gap to the next one.”

When the show’s host brought up the controversial terrorism-related charge against Kneecap stemming from a November 2024 performance in the UK, Morello defended the trio:

“What they’re doing in their art is what people could probably stand to do more in their lives: to really speak truth to power. And, you know, Kneecap are not terrorists. What is terroristic is, you know, 20,000 dead Palestinian children. That’s the story. Not, I mean, some Irish rappers who don’t like that that’s happening. [That] should not be the story.”

Kneecap have remained in the spotlight for their outspoken criticism of Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Member Mo Chara was recently charged in the UK over allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag onstage last fall. Their set at Coachella in April further fueled controversy, with accusations of genocide displayed onstage leading to the band parting ways with U.S. booking agency Independent Artist Group.

After praising those artists, Morello turned his attention to the enduring message of Rage Against The Machine, echoing sentiments shared during the band’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction.

“The way I look at is like, yes, the music of Rage Against The Machine still does serve the purpose. I hear it in the streets, and I see it on the signs and whatnot. But sitting around and waiting for Rage Against The Machine, you should form your own band. You should do your own thing, in your line of work you should be raging against the machine.”

Asked whether it was The Clash or Sex Pistols who first inspired him to fuse music and political thought, Morello answered:

“I mean, the Pistols made me pick up a guitar, but The Clash was the one that made me realize that there was a lane — a heretofore unseen lane — where the things that I believed and the music I loved could overlap.”

Later in the interview, Morello touched on how the band’s message has often been misinterpreted—particularly during the pandemic, when RATM’s postponed reunion tour was criticized for allegedly requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination. He also discussed the backlash he’s received for his critiques of Donald Trump, noting that his issues aren’t limited to one political party.

“I was out at dinner with my crew guys and and there was a very nice couple, they’re fans. They come up. They’re like, ‘We love Rage Against The Machine. And this lady, she couldn’t have been sweeter. She just was like, ‘I love that song, ‘Killing In The Name‘. I mean, it really helped me rage against my parents when I was a teenager, and it helped me rage against the jab during the pandemic.” I was like, ‘Oh, cool. Thanks very much. That song is about white supremacy and how cops employ violence against communities of color to bolster the racist capitalist ruling class, and that’s what that song’s about.’ And then she just like, blinked at me and ate, and that was the end of the talk. So the thing is, like, first of all, I don’t ever want any music that I’m in to exclude anybody. And you can like it for whatever reason you like it. You can like it and disagree with it. But to think the reason why some Rage Against The Machine fans like the band less now, is because some of us have been vocally against the their cult leader.”

Shifting focus to his time in Audioslave, Morello also revealed that the iconic riff from the band’s 2002 hit “Cochise” was originally intended for RATM’s ‘Evil Empire’ album.

“The ‘Cochise‘ riff — [this is] breaking news for you — was written for the second Rage Against The Machine record. So we were in Atlanta trying to make a record, very unsuccessfully, musically not seeing eye to eye, and I had a bunch of riffs, and that one didn’t land in fertile soil right then. So when we eventually did write the ‘Evil Empire‘ record, it was sort of from scratch. We sort of started and those [riffs] kind of all went [to the side.] Some of those, one of those riffs was in [Audioslave‘s] ‘Show Me How To Live‘. One of those riffs was ‘Cochise‘. A couple of them have found there [place.] One of them was ‘Sleep Now In The Fire‘. Like, they found their way, they later found fertile, fertile soil. But the way I’ve always looked at it is like is a great riff, is a great riff, is a great riff. The first music on the first Rage Against The Machine record, you put the needle down on side one, that little ‘doo doo doo doo’ before ‘Bombtrack‘ — I wrote when I was 19-years-old; a freshman at Harvard University in the freshman union rehearsal rooms down there. I recorded that on a cassette and just thought, one day I’m gonna put that in the song. And that’s the song that it ended up with.”

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