Today is election day in my homeland, Greece. As I live in the Netherlands and don't get to vote, I can only wish the voters a clear mind and courage to stand for their beliefs. It seems that a (true) left party will win the election and probably the government for the first time. They have promised to end the austerity policies dictated by IMF and EU, policies that wrecked the country's economy and have raised unemployment and poverty to third world levels. Supposedly that is the "bitter medicine" the Greek people have to swallow to cure their sovereign debt problem. In reality, the debt spirals out of control, wages fall and taxes rise driving the middle and lower classes to desperation while the corrupt politicians, bankers and oligarchs that benefited from the loans are left untouched. I sought an appropriate record for a day such as this. Well, Boston punk-rockers' "Voodoo Economics" may have been written 30 years ago for Reagan's America but it fits like a glove: "Voodoo economics/ force fed, hard to swallow/ the cure is worse than the illness/ this cure, worse than the illness/ pull yourself up by your bootstraps sounds so good in theory/ the poor must shoulder the burden/ pull yourself up by your bootstraps voodoo".
Even in liberal Boston, naming your band The Proletariat and dispensing Marxist propaganda with punk guitars in Reagan's America right in the middle of Cold War must have been asking for trouble. It certainly meant excluding yourself from any kind of radio play, not to mention MTV. No wonder you may have never heard of them, then. I hadn't either, but the band name and cover with the ragged american flag caught my attention. I'm glad I've followed my instinct and bought the CD, because it contains some of the best punk music produced in the US in the 80's. I'd recommend checking out their lyrics at: http://theproletariat.com/prolelyrics.htm, it's all fiery and eloquent anti-capitalist stuff. Fans of agitators like Rage Against The Machine and System Of The Down will certainly recognize a kindred spirit here. But even if you're unpolitical, if you like punk music you're bound to love The Proletariat. This double CD compilation gathers everything The Proletariat ever recorded in one neat package. At 45 songs, it can be overwhelming to say the least. I like this kind of music but too much can be headache-inducing. It has been described as a mixture of Wire and Gang of Four and the angular and minimal guitar sound does remind me of Wire, but the overall feeling is much heavier. I'd certainly add New Model Army, Killing Joke and Black Flag as reference points. Even Heavy Metal, at times - is it my imagination, or does the riff on "Decorations" sound similar to "Enter Sandman"? And while the likes of "Voodoo Economics", "Ten Years" and "Westernization" sound like an angrier Gang Of Four, there's also hardcore ("Allegiance", "Famine". "Blind", "Subsidized") and enough of that old school punk ("After The Rise". "Options") that Rancid love to recycle. Disc 1 covers 1980-1982 and Disc 2 1983-1984. The latter offers some slightly more melodic new wave and interesting collaborations, namely Laurel Bowman as guest female vocalist on "The Guns Are Winning" & "Homeland" and Mission Of Burma's Roger Miller in keyboards on "Uneasy Peace". Punk/Alternative Rock fans should seek this CD out and boast they had it before they are re-discovered and their albums declared hidden treasure. UPDATE 2020> I (only just) found out that the band has in the meanwhile reformed, had their debut LP Soma Holiday re-released, and even recorded a new album. Good for everyone, Trump's America really needs a band like The Proletariat! P.S. Regarding the political events I mentioned in the prologue, the leftist Greek government crashed and burned, having resisted for 6 months before capitulating to all of the EU and IMF demands. I guess there's only so much one can expect from politicians. You gotta stick it to The Man yourself if you can!
**** for Voodoo Economics, Ten Years, Options, Westernization, Splendid War, Decorations, Homeland, An Uneasy Peace, The Guns Are Winning, Piecework, Religion is the Opium of the Masses
*** for Abstain, Allegiance, After the Rise, White Hands, Famine, Events/Repeat, Another Banner Raised, Hollow Victory, Avoidance, Pictures, Bread & Circus, Blind, Subsidized, Torn Curtain, Purge, Scars, No Lesser of Evils, Choice, Death of a Hedon, Indifference, Better Man, Columns, Recollections, Trail of Tears, Instinct, No Real Hope, Marketplace
** for Embraced, Condition, Decide On Change, It's More Than Soil, Pride, Sins, No Real Hope-Prelude
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