Eight years on from their last record, Canada's finest return on superb form!
First, a warning – although I’ve been lucky enough to see Propagandhi live a handful of times over the last couple of decades, I haven’t been great at keeping up with them on record, so you’ll have to forgive the relative lack of comparisons to their previous work. Here begins a somewhat casual Propagandhi fan’s (rare, eh?) perspective on ‘At Peace’. Please don’t put me in the stocks if I get this one wrong, folks. Your statutory rights are not affected.
The great thing about the Canadian quartet is that they’ve evolved musically over the years, whilst remaining unmistakably themselves. It’s been nearly a quarter-century since they released my personal favourite of theirs, 2001’s ‘Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes’, and although they’ve since eased up on the 100mph thrash-tinged hardcore assaults of, say, ‘Fuck The Border’, ‘At Peace’ absolutely does not see the band mellowing out at all. Nor would we want them to.
You may well have already seen the videos for the title track and ‘Cat Guy’. The latter track is described by vocalist/guitarist Chris Hannah as him trying to capture “a little bit of Judas Priest’s ‘Firepower’ LP as if SNFU’s Chi-Pig was writing the lyrics”, and indeed, few bands manage to infuse punk rock with razor-sharp metal riffs and biting social commentary as successfully as Propagandhi continue to do. Gems like ‘Rented P.A.’, with its nimble-fingered soloing, and the relentless chugging guitars of ‘Prismatic Spray (The Tinder Date)’ will also have you hooked; they sound huge enough on record, so they’ll probably utterly destroy live.
As with fellow Canadians Dutch Nuggets’ (who’ve clearly taken inspiration from Propagandhi) latest, perhaps a bit of editing wouldn’t have gone amiss. The quality control is high, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s an excellent 30-35 minute record lurking somewhere within the very good 48 minutes of ‘At Peace’. Again, though, that may well be because I’m way too easily distracted these days; goodness knows Propagandhi have probably already written (or will write) a song about our collective inability to focus.
Now approaching their 40th anniversary, Propagandhi remain as restless and relevant as ever. Contrary to what the title of their second record – 1997’s ‘Less Talk, More Rock’ – might suggest, ‘At Peace’ reminds us that it’s perfectly possible to eloquently and directly address the state of the world whilst also rocking out to a degree that would put many a metal band to shame. Times like these need bands like Propagandhi, and here, as ever, they haven’t let us down.
- Guiding Lights
- At Peace
- Cat Guy
- No Longer Young
- Rented P.A.
- Stargazing
- God Of Avarice
- Prismatic Spray (The Tinder Date)
- Benito’s Earlier Work
- Vampires Are Real
- Fire Season
- Day By Day
- Something Needs To Die But Maybe It’s Not You
Follow Propagandhi on Their Socials:
Need more Punk In Your Life?
Album review: The Damned – ‘Not Like Anybody Else’
The Damned have always been partial to a cover version. Recorded in a blistering five days of emotion and creative fire at Revolver Studio, Los
LOUD WOMEN support Resonance FM with fundraising live compilation album!
Female and non-binary music champions LOUD WOMEN are releasing a special compilation album via Bandcamp featuring exclusive live session tracks from some of the most
Punk lifers The Casualties share first new music in eight years with ‘People Over Power’
NYC punks The Casualties have broken an eight-year hiatus with their blistering new single ‘People Over Power’, the band’s first release via Hellcat Records. Starting
ill jill release debut EP ‘My Body Is Mine To Decide’
Swedish queercore band ill jill are an innovative new band to the local punk scene, forming back in 2023. Their musical background spans different genres
Album review: Goldfinger’s latest contains ‘Nine Lives’ of lived experience
Los Angeles-based ska-punk band Goldfinger have just released their new full-length album ‘Nine Lives’ via Big Noise Music Group, distributed through Virgin Music. Led by
Punk Rock Creatives Podcast – January update!
If you haven’t heard of Punk Rock Creatives before, it’s a podcast run by Marie Repulsive. This month she’s been digging through interview requests and
I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
Did you know that we are 100% DIY? We run our own game. No one dictates to us, and no one drives what we can or cannot put on our pages – and this is how we plan to continue!
