Silversun Pickups Tell Mitt Romney To Stop Using Their Song, Say They Don’t Like Him

Rock band the Silversun Pickups have sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Mitt Romney campaign to ask them to stop using their hit song “Panic Switch” at campaign events. They also released a statement criticizing Romney and his campaign for the Presidency.

Sliversun Pickups frontman Brian Aubert wrote:

“We don’t like people going behind our backs, using our music without asking, and we don’t like the Romney campaign. We’re nice, approachable people. We won’t bite. Unless you’re Mitt Romney!”

Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul sent a statement to the Huffington Post saying:

“The song was inadvertently played during event set-up before Gov. Romney arrived at the location. As anyone who attends Gov. Romney’s events knows, this is not a song we would have played intentionally. That said, it was covered under the campaign’s regular blanket license, but we will not play it again.”

The Band suggested that the use of the song was ironic because “he is inadvertently playing a song that describes his whole campaign.”

Here’s the song’s chorus:

When you see yourself in a crowded room
Do your fingers itch, are you pistol-whipped?
Will you step in line or release the glitch?
Can you fall asleep with a panic switch?

The Silversun Pickups full statement to the press is as follows:

“Seems as if the GOP is once again whimsically ignoring our great nation’s laws to do whatever it wants to do, and shooting itself in the foot in the process. Without any regard for copyright or intellectual property laws, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has, without permission, begun to use Silversun Pickups’ 2009 smash “Panic Switch” at campaign stops across the country. Neither the band nor its representatives were contacted to gain permission for the use of the song and the band has no intention of endorsing the Romney campaign. The band’s attorney issued a cease and desist today.”

“We don’t like people going behind our backs, using our music without asking, and we don’t like the Romney campaign. We’re nice, approachable people. We won’t bite. Unless you’re Mitt Romney! We were very close to just letting this go because the irony was too good. While he is inadvertently playing a song that describes his whole campaign, we doubt that ‘Panic Switch’ really sends the message he intends.”