How To Clean Everything - Propagandhi > Reviews > Propa Punk

Author's product rating:   

Originality
Lyrics
Quality and consistency of tracks
How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Value for Money

Advantages:	Clever political songs with great hooks
Disadvantages:	Sweary, bit samey for the non - punk fan

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

There are no rules for punk rock, apparently. But if there were, and I’d made them up, they would be as follows:

#1 – Have an unfaltering political standpoint

#2 – Play fast

#3 – Disregard copyright

#4 – Never take the “easy way out”

#5 – Act in an informed manner whilst dressing like an idiot

Simple, eh?

With these in mind, Propagandhi live up to ‘em all. But then they would, wouldn’t they? After all, I made up all the rules, just to make my point. Ha!

***BRIEF HISTORY***
This is a 3-piece Canadian punk-rock combo with very clear political viewpoints – and this is their first CD. Beyond that, I know little else about ‘em! The best way I can describe the sound is – imagine what Mark Thomas would sound like if he were in a band. It’s political stuff, with a funny edge. Fast like No Use For A Name or Rancid on a good day…ah enough description already. Here are the tracks, and yes they *are* all spelled correctly – seems punkers also have a disregard for language!

***THE TRACKS***

#1 - anti-manifesto

At 3 minutes 33 seconds, the third longest track on the whole bloody album! Getting straight to the point, the band slag off the listener for coming to shows and ignoring the messages they try to get across. This is one of the things I find frustrating about Propagandhi – they’re a rockin’ band, but their core audience are the unshakeable mini-moshers with scant regard for political ideals – they just want to stand at the front of a show and punch people around in the pit. Still, for the home listener this shouldn’t be an issue, and it’s a pretty strong intro track with some good guitar riffery and double-time drumming leading into a pretty standard tune. No verse-chorus-verse structure, more like a rant set to music.

#2 – Head? Chest? ør Foot?

A nitty-gritty anti-establishment song, another stream-of-consciousness style song, more like a polemic than poetry. It’s fairly obvious that, this being a punk CD, you should except copious swears and “adult situations”. They’re not spread too wide-rife but if you’re easily offended – why buy a punk CD? >:) Great central riff in this song, but nothing else to set it apart as a strong contender for the finest track.

#3 – HATE, MYTH, MUSCLE, ETIQUETTE

This is my favourite. “We need a good kick in the ass,” shouts Jesus H Chris, the lead singer (real name Chris, but let’s humour him, okay?). Superb guitar work and very tight drum work, with one of the things I look for in a punk band – stop-starty bits! A song about realising you’re being held down by rules and starting to rail against them. As for the musical backdrop, the song builds towards the end, paralleling the mood of the lyrics. Sorry folks, went all serious then…

#4 – SHOWDOWN (g.e./p.)

A funky intro soon breaks down into a heavy guitar part, and then on into fast Hundred Reasons style emo-rock. Think the fast part of their “Silver” and you’re not far off. Then it all goes a bit more punk, with the stop-start guitars coming back with a vengeance. The cool part of this song comes after the intro, when John Samson (bass player) takes over with his lyrics and vocal talents. He’s a less fierce singer than Jesus, hence the comparison with Hundred Reasons. John’s lyrics are usually more about “feelings” and the like, making for a good contrast between this and the angry diatribes of Jesus. John will sing “Girls with the greenest eyes/The first time you have kissed”. Jesus’ style is more like “Welcomed to this world, imputed identity/Born, tagged, tattooed, pacified”. Strange song in that the music stays the same but the messages are very different.

#5 – ska sucks

Remember when I said about not talking the easy way out? Lots of punkers have a token ska song – quite often an “ironic” cover song like A-Ha’s ‘Take On Me’. This song exists purely to rip the p*ss out of them – it’s incredibly easy to write a ska tune and the guys have done so here, twisting into an attack on the whole ska revival. Do bear in mind that this was released in 1993 so it’s probably not as scathing! “A message to you, Rudi…f**k you Rudi!” screams Jesus, after which the song drops the ska stylings and gets back to the fast paced punk.

#6 – middle Finger response

My second favourite track on the album. Breathlessly paced double-time tirade against the military and parliament, with some great vocal harmony (in a snotty punk way!). Big sweary bit in the middle, which is made even better by the liner notes for the song, which lists alternative swears for you to use if you should so wish. Classy!

#7 – StiCK the F***ing flag up your goddamn ASS, you soNOFaBITcH

A slower pace for this song, with just as much vitriol towards the military once more. This is a thread that runs through most Propagandhi CDs, I think Jesus may have some issues with his father – he rails against being told that the military exists to provide freedom. He’s not so sure. “Romanticise murder for morale” is one line that always stands out for me – and sums up the message perfectly.

#8 – haillie sellasse, up your ass

A reggae-like tune, for a good reason. This track seems like a backdrop to inevitability with the laid back approach it takes, and speaks out on the situation in the West Bank/Gaza Strip and the eventual Americanisation of them. It also has something to say on Zionism – mainly “f**k it”. The guys are pretty much anti every religion, and the Zionist culture. “Your faith merely keeps you in line” they say. Works very well in that it’s so musically different from the rest of the material that it makes (made) you (me) listen harder.

#9 – f**k machine

Back to an issue the “kids” might understand, one hopefully imaginable in their teen-boy sex addled brains, that of not treating women as objects. Great message with an intelligent stance on the problem – you’re conditioned to think of them in such a way thanks to the media and whatnot. It also makes sure it addresses the fact that some women just let the ignorance continue. It carries on with a final image of hope as the female TV anchorwoman Jesus mentions through the tune clenches her fits and says “I’m not your f**king toy!”

#10 – this might be satire

Or at least, let’s hope so, because if not then this isn’t very funny! It’s a satire on the typical candy-ass punk love songs with a big metal riff intro and a refusal in the liner notes to list the lyrics. Nice touch. The inclusion of the word “not” in this song is a bit of a lightweight way to get out of sounding like a sexist a$$hole – but you have to take it with a cavern of salt anyway. It’s short and to the point - even if it does feel like cheese & grated onion in mayonnaise with some chives. Filler.

#11 – WHO WILL HELp ME BAKE THIS BreAD?

Back to the meaty stuff, quick, punk-melodic and p*ssed off. The message is still about being bullied into submission and refusing to accept stupid values. That said, this isn’t a lazy track by any means, and the final political track before the silliness kicks in. “Ignorance by choice?/Or just plain f**king dumb?” asks Jesus – and it’s a bloody good question.

#12 – i want ü to vant me

A cover of the Cheap Trick classic perforated with spiky punk guitars and OF COURSE – stop/start bits! And cockerel noises. Actually pretty good, and the band manages to not mention the originators in the liner notes at all – showing their total disregard for copyright. But then, I don’t know if Cheap Trick were actually bothered. Maybe they even thought it was cool. I do! The song ends with a bizarre barbershop style ditty about a girl called Megan, and the final 5 tracks (#13-#17) are very short snippets of the band saying “f**k” in silly voices. Hmmn.

* * * * *

Now, I bought this for completion purposes, way back when I owned Propagandhi’s second (and far more focussed) CD “Less Talk, More Rock” (now I only own a tape of it from my friend, the library). It’s patchy but good, not an easy listen in the same way that putting Rage Against The Machine on the stereo conflicts your ear and brain. On the one hand, moshing and pogoing is tempting but you also find yourself interested by the politics, and wanting to find out more. Of course, by “you” I mean “me” - or “I” if you want to get picky about it.

The booklet contains all the lyrics (apart from track #5, track #10 and track #12) printed in handwriting over what seems to be stock exchange listings. Sometimes the lyrics are inaccurate, and even add parts that aren’t in the performance – bit strange but it makes reading them worthwhile for once! The notes for “this might be satire” are brilliant – they read like this:

“I wanna chew my bubb--ah, what a f**king waste of space. Next…”

Now that’s punk rock!

The band also set out their manifesto in the back pages of the booklet, with some very forthright ideas on the state of politics in Canada, plus some lame jokes. The blue & yellow front cover boasts “25% more patriotic hymns that the leading b(r)and!”

If you feel curious about this band, check out their website first (www.g7welcomingcommittee.com/propagandhi/) to make sure you understand their unusual slice of anarcho-punk! You can also blag some MP3s from their record labels’ site – www.fatwreck.com. This is where I found out they don’t like being called “anarcho” or “punk”. Screw ‘em! If they don’t like being called punk they shouldn’t be on Fat Wreck Chords – run by Fat Mike from NOFX!

My copy of the CD was a whopping £13.99 from a local record store, which was a lot better than the £16.99 I’ve seen it on sale for in London’s HMV and the like. Worth shopping around for if you’re determined to purchase it, especially in our nation’s capital, where there seems to be a lot more space for anarcho-punk (HA!) than the major stores in Leicester (boo!).

Thanks for reading!

© P$ 2002

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They’re back up there in the opinion! Go back and read ‘em, Poindexter!