Propagandhi Challenge Don Cherry

03/10/09 1:45pm

by Shawn Despres (CHARTattack)

The press release for Propagandhi’s fifth full-length, Supporting Caste, describes the Winnipeg quartet as "visibly-aging prairie skids."

The punk act have made music together for about two decades now, and it's no secret that they're beginning to get up there in years. Have they grown any wiser as time has passed?

"If wiser with age means taking a shit in the yard of the studio we recorded in and getting in trouble for it, then the answer is 'yes,'" offers bassist Todd Kowalski.

"If knowing you will have to go to the bathroom in a while and getting to a toilet in time for that process to be successful, then the answer is 'no.'"

Keeping adult diapers nearby in the studio and on tour in case future emergencies arise may not be a bad idea, but judging from the dozen blistering, metal-tinged cuts of politically charged social commentary presented on Supporting Caste, these hard-rocking elder statesmen won't be looking for suites in retirement villages anytime soon.

Supporting Caste was written over the last two years and recorded at the band’s Illegal Combatant Studios and Bill Stevenson’s Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colo. The band were so motivated by how well everything went with Supporting Caste that they've already begun working on material for its follow-up. This should please fans who continue to be disappointed by the group’s history of way-too-long lapses between discs.

"The recording sessions were good," says Kowalski. "We all had a pretty good time.

"I think I only contemplated my own death about 666 times in those weeks. We practiced like crazy and went in with big plans. The focus on our playing was much more solid this time. We worked hard. My mood was total chaos.

"I was recording bass, trying to finish lyrics on a song I couldn't complete and we had to bail on, and trying to play this racing video game they had in the studio that would keep going in my head even as I tried to sleep."

Ron MacLean and Don Cherry, the co-hosts of Hockey Night In Canada’s Coach's Corner, unknowingly make a brief appearance on Supporting Caste. A short sample of the two talking introduces the fantastic track "Dear Coach's Corner." It's an open letter to the popular first period intermission segment and criticizes the spread of war propaganda. The outspoken, influential Cherry is referenced in the lyrics as the "sad old man beside you."

"Dear Coach's Corner" is streaming on Propagandhi’s MySpace page.

"If Ron hears the song, he will call us whimpering and apologizing for enabling society's war machine to march on under his watch," explains Kowalski.

"He probably won't hear it. That doesn't matter really, though. The way I see it, the hockey part of the song is the setting, but the real issue lies in the idea of people accepting 'war culture' at sports events and things like parades for kids.

"If it makes some people who watch hockey see this and take note of it in a way they may not have before, then that is good."

Propagandhi are in the midst of an American tour and will return to Winnipeg for CD release gigs at The Garrick Theatre on March 20 and 21 before heading to Europe in April. Kowalski says Propagandhi plan to perform about 100 concerts over the next nine months "if they can hold up," which will no doubt include more Canadian shows.

If Propagandhi ever become too decrepit for the punk game, the band members would probably be well-suited for nice, cushy government jobs. While that's unlikely to happen, Kowalski already has some basic ideas of what he'd like to do. And while many may appreciate the good he'd try and do for the country, Propagandhi drummer Jord Samolesky might not like all of his policies.

"If I could change things, I would clamp down on corporate crime, invest in environmental business practices and come down hard on Canadian companies that go to places like Congo and Sudan to capitalize on war and poverty. I would try to fix health care, too.

"I would also tie Jord Samolesky up naked in downtown Winnipeg and hand out coupons offering free face farts to anyone who wants to send some wind through his few remaining hair strands. This would be my only crime."

Here are Propagandhi's tour dates:

March 10 Virginia Beach, VA @ Peabody's w/Paint It Black
March 11 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar w/Paint It Black
March 12 New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom w/Paint It Black
March 13 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg w/Paint It Black
March 14 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theatre w/Paint It Black
March 15 Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East Restaurant And Nightclub w/Paint It Black
March 20-21 Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick Theatre w/Putrescence, Kenmode and Kursk
April 17 Sheffield, England @ O2 Academy Sheffield
April 18 Bristol, England @ Fiddlers Club
April 19 London, England @ O2 Academy Islington
April 20 Brighton, England @ Concorde
April 21 Norwich, England @ Waterfront (University Of East Anglia)
April 23 Cologne, Germany @ Essigfabrik
April 24 Munich, Germany @ Backstage
April 25 Solothurn, Switzerland @ Kofmehl
April 26 Bologna, Italy @ Estragon
April 28 Rome, Italy @ Forte Prestino
April 29 Venice, Italy @ Fucina Controvento
May 1 Prague, Czech Republic @ Cisarska Louka Island