A quick history of Propagandhi: The band originally formed in 1986, but it wasn't until six years later that their first album, "How to Clean Everything," dropped and arguably became an instant classic.
Snotty skate punk was in its hey day, ska was big and Propagandhi deftly blended the two with uncompromising lyrics. 1996 saw the release of "Less Talk, More Rock" and the start of lead singer Chris Hannah's record label, G7 Welcoming Committee.
A lengthy five years later what is arguably Propagandhi's pinacle, "Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes," was released and the band angled away from skate punk and focused more on metal. Add another four years and "Potemkin City Limits" is added to the discography. It was good, but arguably not great. Last year Hannah took a sabbatical from his label and this year saw the release of their newest album, "Supporting Caste," an arguable return to form.
I overuse the term "arguable" because I'm certain that a discussion of Propagandhi's politics has lead to quite a few. It's no surprise that these punk rockers champion the left, but these guys seem to leave a wake of protest in their path. Anti-Americanism. Anti-imperialist. Anti-war. Anti-religion. Anti-capitalism. Anti-meat.
Around the same time "A Speculative Fiction" won the ECHO Songwriting Prize, Hannah himself was voted as one of the worst Canadians in history. Their message is clear but instead of taking a you're-either-with-us-or-against-us stance, there is more of a feeling that you-can-be-with-us-or-against-us-but-we're-gonna-rock-either-way. Despite the politics, the members of Propagandhi were there to make noise and that was inarguable (okay, I'm done with that, I promise).
They stopped by Turner Ballroom Wednesday night in support of their new album and, as expected, most of the night's set was pulled from that album. Peppered throughout, though, were tracks from their previous albums, even including the oldest stuff from their very first album. I suppose that's not too surprising; it's hard to imagine ever getting tired of singing "Haillie Sellasse, Up Your Ass." Also among the set were "A Speculative Fiction," "Superbowl Patriot XXXVI," "Back to the Motor League," "Less Talk, More Rock" and most of the new songs from "Supporting Caste" including one of my favorites, "Human(e) Meat," a song about humanely killing an eating a person. "You know, humans are the richest source of protein," they prefaced the song.
Electrical riffs brought power to the set while hammering beats chugged along like a relentless steam engine, keeping the slam dancers and the circle pits moving. The songs, it seems, were designed with these fans in mind. They start fast and hard, break down to deliver the lyrics, and just when the crowd starts getting a little antsy, the intensity explodes again.
Beyond the frenzy I was standing behind a fascinating duo, John Gleason and Eric Eklund, whose enthusiasm for the music was all but contagious. They threw themselves into the music by dancing, pumping their fists, rocking out on air drums, and screaming on their air guitars. They were among themselves, but their dedication to the music was enviable. But even as the most dedicated fans Gleason admitted it was hard keep up with the band. "Man, they make me feel old, but they're older than me!"
When playing around with overly political music it's easy to date the your material but Propagandhi has proven that as long as there is a force to be reckoned with, they'll be here to do the reckoning.
Jason McDowell grew up in central Iowa and moved to Milwaukee in 2000 to attend the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
In 2006 he began working with OnMilwaukee as an advertising designer, but has since taken on a variety of rolls as the Creative Director, tackling all kinds of design problems, from digital to print, advertising to branding, icons to programming.
In 2016 he picked up the 414 Digital Star of the Year award.
Most other times he can be found racing bicycles, playing board games, or petting dogs.
