Holy Popes Return With New Single “Apples”

Bristol-based post garage punk trio Holy Popes have returned with their new single, Apples, that is available through streaming platforms via Man Demolish Records. The track is the first new material from the band since the release of their 2023 debut self-titled album. Apples is one of those serendipitous songs that just came naturally to guitarist Poppi (The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster), the song was finished in a few hours with the lyrics coming together all in one go, spewing forth with an anger that can be felt in both the delivery of the song, and the caustic, lurching barrage of storm-tossed riffs that swell and crash throughout the tense new offering.

“The arrest, and later conviction, of a serving police officer within the MET for two decades of horrific crimes against women summarised a rage that had been building for years. Combined with the murder of Sarah Everard—again, by a serving police officer—as well as the Casey review documenting institutional racism and misogyny within the MET police, there was no way this song could not spill out of us. Be it the travellers at the Battle of the Beanfield, the pickets of the miners’ strikes, or the horrific brutality at the Kill the Bill protests in Bristol and around the country—not to mention the continued use of stop and search practices in poor communities, mostly affecting young black men—there’s a history in the United Kingdom of police violence against those of a less privileged class that has gone on for too long. These aggressive practices, and specific officers, who are guilty of the murders of Blair Peach, Ian Tomlinson, Chris Kaba, and Sarah Everard to name just a few, are not found solely on the violent streets of America, but here in the UK. Too often we refer to these incidents as ‘rotten apples’…but with the evidence of corruption, silencing and solidarity within the ranks of the police, it’s not one rotten apple; the whole barrel is rotten. We do not consent to violence, racism or misogyny. If this is policing by consent, what is the option other than to oppose it?” (Poppi)