Another Republican caught using music without the artist's permission. Nothing new in that, right? Well, in this case there is an ironic twist.

via TMZ

Mitt Romney's been engaging in illegal activity -- playing the rock tune "Panic Switch" on the campaign trail without permission from the band Silversun Pickups -- this according to the band which fired off a cease and desist letter to the candidate today.

According to the band's frontman Brian Aubert, Romney has been using their 2009 hit ... even though no one ever asked them for permission, but it's pretty clear he wouldn't have gotten it even if he asked.

Aubert says, "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!"
...
Aubert also says Romney's a victim of irony ... because "he is inadvertently playing a song that describes his whole campaign."

Ouch. A song with a chorus like this probably wasn't the best idea for Romney's wayward campaign.

And 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?
Do you think she'll sleep with the panic...