“Which side are you on? / That of the boss or that of the proletariat?”

—”¿De Qué Lado Estás?”, Afterboltxebike

Afterboltxebike (named after a song by Basque left-radical ska/punk band Kortatu) are a self-described anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, anti-racist, agit-prop punk band from Nuevo León, Mexico. They’ve got a couple of releases under their belts: the eight-song No Pasarán cassette and, most recently, the three-song Agitación Marxista seven-inch.

Of the band, singer/lyricist Diego Armando has noted that “we seek to give a clear political message to all the people who want to listen to us. (…) More than hoping for something is to do something, to have a presence in the places we can to spread left-wing anti-capitalist ideas.”

Musically, Afterboltxebike play a rough and ready mixture of punk, hardcore, and Oi!—”classic burly Mexican hardcore punk” with songs that “pop like a Molotov cocktail.”

As far as subject matter goes, it’s been noted that “the lyrics are all in Spanish and are what you would expect from an anti-authoritarian band, with subjects such as killing fascists, living in an exhausting working class society, and the importance of reading (read to study, read to learn, read to liberate!).”

One of the first songs I heard by the band was “¿De Qué Lado Estás?” or, “Which Side Are You On?” For Afterboltxebike, the answer (and the way/the path) is clear: you’re either with the bosses or with the oppressed, and this band is on the side of the workers/the proletariat/the exploited. Afterboltxebike knows that class struggle is the motor of history.

Of the song, Diego says: “‘¿De Qué Lado Estás?’ was the first song I wrote. What I was looking for was a kind of declaration of our principles so that those who listened to us would know our political ideas and there would be no doubt about what kind of band we are. It’s also an invitation to question our own participation within society. We believe that the worker continues to be the revolutionary subject capable of transforming capitalism into a superior society in which we can overcome the relationship between the exploited worker and the exploiting employer.”

Important to me is the fact that the band walks the talk, with Diego being involved in a variety of political initiatives and punk rock projects over the years, including Incendiario, his record label and fanzine. Currently, he is writing Days of Fury: A Historical Overview of the Nuevo León Punk Scene, 1988–2009, and he’s working to create the Colectivo de Trabajadores Comunistas (the Communist Workers Collective), “with the idea of creating a nucleus of militants to do the work of spreading communist ideas with the aim of creating a Communist Party.”

“Class war, class war / We will never give up / Dead or alive it doesn’t matter / Our fight is eternal”

—”Class War”, Brigada Flores Magon

Brigada Flores Magon is a self-described “French anti-fascist and anti-capitalist streetpunk/Oi! band from Paris formed in 1996.”

Musically, Brigada deals in “gritty, anthemic punk rock with a message.” Between 1997 and 2022, the band released five albums’ worth of, as I put it, “militant/combative, catchy-as-heck, sing-along, up-in-arms, anti-capitalist, anti-fascist streetpunk.”

Founding member Victor says of the band’s early days: “We were young politicized punks, close to the anarcho-punk movement. We spent our days listening to music. Punk, of course: Conflict, Subhumans, Crass, Spanish punk too—especially from the Basque Country—Latin American punk, and of course French (anarcho) punk like Bérurier Noir, Kochise or Les Cadavres. But we also listened to French and American hip-hop and politicized Latin American music like Quilapayún, José de Molina or Víctor Jara. It was the DIY ideal that pushed us to create the group: it was about not being a simple consumer but an actor in the local music scene. The idea was to have a group to spread anarchist ideals but also to talk about our daily lives, to make visible the struggles that seemed important to us.”

Without a doubt, a pioneering band that, importantly, pretty much jump-started the whole Redskin/RASH (Red and Anarchist Skinheads) movement in Europe. Says Victor: “In 1999, we created the RASH Paris section and its fanzine, Barricata. Thanks to the presence of Julien (RIP 1968–2024), the drummer, who was a member of the Red Warriors gang (Nazi Hunters), we were an openly redskin group at a time when very few Oi! groups declared themselves left-wing. That said, the objective remained the same: to disseminate our ideals, to create safe spaces for all (by keeping fascists away from our concerts), to create links with other scenes in Europe and everywhere else in the world.”

And, according to Victor: “Politics was an integral part of our lives. It was part of the project. The group was only one facet of our dissemination work, of our political work. We were all activists in the CNT (National Confederation of Labor, an anarchist union), and we participated actively in the university section as well as in the anti-fascist commission. We organized support concerts, debates, screenings of activist films and documentaries. We succeeded in creating a good network of musical groups and political groups in France and in certain European countries (Germany, Spain, Italy in particular). In a way, Brigada was the driving force behind all these activities—a tool at the service of our cause. And I think we succeeded in our challenge.”

Their most recent album, 2022’s Immortels, was a truly internationalist effort, with labels/political projects from Mexico, Brazil, USA, and Canada involved in its release. As one reviewer noted: “Immortels is a fantastic release that should be a part of every revolutionary’s playlist.”

I couldn’t agree more.

“Total war on the bourgeoisie / by all means, war, social war / social war against capital / general strike and social war”

—”Guerre Sociale”, Carmen Colère

Carmen Colère first came to my attention a couple of years ago via Facebook when singer Je sent along a video of the band. The video was for the song “Ulrike Meinhof.” Ulrike was one of the founders of the Red Army Faction, and the lyrics are from a letter she wrote while in prison. The song was amazing, and as someone who has long studied and written about the RAF, I was intrigued!

Based in Nancy, France, Carmen Colère are purveyors of what they call Boom Boom Punk, which I’d describe as a catchy and cacophonous mix of punk, electro, and jazz. Says Je, one of three vocalists: “Once, after a show in Nancy, a girl came and told us, ‘for real, what you’re playing is Boom Boom Punk more than electro punk!’ She was absolutely right, and now we say we make Political Boom Boom Punk.” In addition to the three singers, there’s also saxophone, guitar, bass, and drum machine!

The band has released a few EPs since 2017, and those have been gathered together on the 19-song Ferme ta Gueule album, released in 2022. Well recommended!

The band’s name comes from a collage seen on a wall in Marseille, France, that pictures a Spanish woman called Carmen C. during the Indignados / 15-M Movement of 2011–2012 (a series of protests, occupations, and demonstrations against Spanish austerity politics). Says Al: “Carmen Rage (Carmen Colère) sounded to us like a happy poem of destruction and resistance, exactly like our songs.”

I asked Carmen Colère what the main message of the band is, and this was their eloquent and inspirational response: “Carmen Colère, it’s more like an anti-message: anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti-racism, anti-sexism. These are our lyrics’ foundations. But Carmen Colère is also a monument to love, to self-management, of inclusion, of joy in the struggle. The destruction of capitalist society means also the hope of something else, of an anarchist society, which is conquering in brotherhood and sisterhood. We hope we give people a sort of class war joy, because joy is not only a part of post-capitalism—joy is here, now, in the class struggle.” Nicely put!!

And, in the here and now, band members are part of radical pan-leftist collectives and syndicates, especially anti-fascist groups.

“Our sweat—is their fuel / our hands—their tools / our fate—to take / our chains—to break”

—”The Great Divide”, Union Made

“Straight out of Montreal, this is revolutionary hardcore”—that’s how the intro to Union Made’s 2005 release Hard Grace begins, and that really sums it up succinctly. Or, as others put it: “old school Oi!-inspired tough hardcore with angry, lyrical righteousness with a left-wing, pro-working class tilt,” and, “thunderous hardcore with hard-hitting, intelligent, class-conscious lyrics that amazingly match the band’s sonic fury.”

Formed out of the ashes of two equally amazing (and well-worth checking out) bands—Street Troopers and Fate 2 Hate—the band released Hard Grace and then followed that up with Alchemists (both on Insurgence Records) a couple of years later.

Vocalist/lyricist Nic has said that “the band is strongly anti-capitalist and promotes collectivist values in every aspect of society. We promote a working class consciousness.” Asked what songs he’d recommend, he suggested “The Great Divide”: “It’s a solid class anthem I wrote after seeing a Jail For Sale in upstate New York with the promo ‘Amazing Business Opportunity’,” and “Some Watch the Trains,” off of Alchemists, which is an ode to his hero, Holocaust survivor Eva Olsson.

The band, and Nic in particular, were active in the left political scene in Montreal. Says Nic: “I was originally part of SHARP (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) in the ’90s. Our work with other organizations such as ARA (Anti-Racist Action) really made a dent in the fascist presence in the streets of Montreal and beyond. With idle hands, some of us created RASH Montreal to direct our energy. I was heavily involved in RASH during most of Union Made’s existence.”

And while the aforementioned bands are no longer around, members of Street Troopers and Union Made (including Nic) recently formed Over The Hill, a band which, according to a press release, “tackles the paradox of being old in a youth subculture, the trials and tribulations of adulthood and some classic punk topics, all in French and English with a few hardcore and street punk touches.” They’ve released an album, Older Not Wiser, on Une Vie Pour Rien Vinyles. Check out the song “Conformist Pawn”!

“We’ll charge together / we’ll attack the sky / we won’t miss the shot / we’ll sweep you away / with blood in our eyes”

—”Attacco”, Urban Vietcong

Urban Vietcong was born in October 2015 in Livorno, Italy, out of the ashes of another band called Trade Unions. They’ve released two records: 2016’s A Colpi di Machete and 2018’s Storie Tra Bottiglie e Ciminiere (the title song also has a great video).

I first came across the band when singer Bebe sent me a video of the song “Attacco,” off their first record. As I said at the time, it’s “a song which name-checks and acknowledges the struggles of the Black Panthers, the Viet Cong and the Palestinian resistance, a song that calls for unity, organization, prioritization and attack.” It’s a song that finds the band “always sitting on the wrong side, together with the exploited, behind a barricade.” Bebe said of the song: “In ‘Attacco’ we express our desire for a greater organization of the left movement, in order to, as Majakovskij said, ‘to attack the sky.’”

Left-radical punk/oi/core is kind of how I’d describe the band’s sound. Others have noted that the band’s songs are “full of rage against capitalist exploitation and fascism and about the struggle in the streets of a traditional working class town”—songs that are “full of energy, passion and rage as the self-described communists take on capitalism and fascism.”

Speaking to what the band is all about, Bebe says: “Music, as well as being fun, and a way to come together, is a means of communication and a way to convey our ideas. In Italy and also in other countries, capital with its means and methods (fascists, police and politicians) is increasingly depleting the less well-off classes. We are only a drop in the sea, but in our social centre and in our own little way we try to do something to combat this, such as defending historical memory (partisans), anti-fascism, the right to housing, and more.”

Urban Vietcong continues to “assault the sky,” most recently coming together this past month with other like-minded bands at the United We Stand anti-fascist fest in Paris, France.

“To end exploitation / Revolution / Against all oppression / Revolution / This is fucking class war”

—”Revolution”, Years of Lead

Years of Lead (the newest band on this list) quite appropriately had their first show this past October at Revolution Fest IX in their hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A yearly event, Revolution Fest bills itself as “three days of feminist, anti-capitalist and anti-fascist music.”

Named after the period in Italian history (late 1960s–late 1980s) marked by left-wing armed struggle (Red Brigades, Armed Proletarian Cells, Prima Linea, etc.) and extra-parliamentary opposition (Lotta Continua, Potere Operaio, Autonomia Operaia, etc.), the band released a DIY four-song demo in September 2024. It’s short, sharp, rising-up-angry hard-left hardcore.

They’ve also contributed a track to a benefit compilation for Riseup.net. Riseup.net “works to create revolution and a free society in the here and now by building alternative communication infrastructure designed to oppose and replace the dominant system.”

Former bass player Stakh says that the band “has influences from 1990s NYHC sounds and talks about the state of the world we live in and the tensions we have between a hope-filled revolutionary perspective and a nihilistic point of view.” Stakh is also a member of Union Thugs (see below), and the other members of Years of Lead (Julien, Karl, and Shep) have been in bands such as Action Sédition, Lingua Franca, and Mayday.

Outside of the band, members are involved in various initiatives such as the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), affinity groups, unions, and other political projects around Montreal.

“We’ve got to realize; it’s the system; capitalism / That creates monsters, resentment / The poor, the rich; bosses, employees / As long as they exist / The class struggle isn’t over”

—”Ça ira pas en s’améliorant”, Union Thugs

Union Thugs (who say that they “are not musicians, but workers that play music”) are yet another band on this list from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band started in 2017 with one purpose: “To rock folk songs and folk rock songs in order to present a revival of classic popular and working class music with an original flavor.” That said, most of the band’s six members have done time in political punk bands such as Action Sédition and Mayday.

Simply put, Union Thugs play amped-up, accordion-fueled revolutionary folk-Oi!. Originally playing only covers of old-time protest songs and working class anthems from the likes of Woody Guthrie, Anne Feeney, and Pete Seeger, their most recent release, the three-song EP Coup de Grisou, is all original songs. It’s music that is, according to one review, “simply drenched in working-class power and anti-capitalist spirit.”

Says the band: “We wanted to bring back the old tradition of a syndicalist music act that would speak to laborers everywhere. We kinda grew tired of singing revolutionary punk songs to an already convinced revolutionary punk crowd. We wanted to bring what we had to say about the system and how it can be changed a step further. It’s Joe Hill who said: ‘A pamphlet, no matter how good, is never read more than once, but a song is learned by heart and repeated over and over.’ And we think that does make a lot of sense!”

They’re a band that is always on the front lines—a band that has played countless benefit shows for anti-fascist, anti-colonial, union, student movement, community organizing, and other righteous causes. They’re involved with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), COBP (Committee to End Police Brutality), and RASH (Red and Anarchist Skinheads). They’re known for showing up at picket lines, saying: “We’ve taken up a habit of stopping by to visit striking workers, chatting with them, playing a few songs. It’s always a very rich moment of exchange, and we learn a lot.”

Spring Magazine summed up the band’s raison d’être quite nicely—and much better than I ever could: “It’s clear that Union Thugs see the need for cultural expression that represents the ideas of the proletarian, and not the ruling class. By creating art that is not just for, but by and relating to workers, we are able to actually share and communicate radical ideas while also creating platforms for organization.”

“Light the fuse of your passion / Your thought is an armed fist / Proletarian consciousness / Worker’s autonomy”

—”I Compagni Che Sparano Non Sono Criminali”, Autodifesa Proletaria

I first came across Autodifesa Proletaria, whose members hail from both Rome and Bologna, on December 15, 2023, when they released a demo entitled Assalto al Cielo (Assault the Sky). Says guitarist Gio: “The band was born from the urge to express our political point of view in the punk and Oi! scene, and to say that politics must be central in the punk scene and movement.”

The demo was dedicated to Walter Alasia, who was, as the band noted, a “communist militant, a fighter, a young son of the working class, a partisan.” A member of the Red Brigades, Walter was executed by police on December 15, 1976. One reviewer said of the demo: “This three-track EP deals a lot with the Red Brigades, both in the samples or the lyrics. Three tracks full of class hatred and a desire to strike back.” Others noted: “Assalto al Cielo expertly mixes hardcore punk and Oi! with some guitar solos with metal references. The powerful and hoarse singing conveys the anger with which the lyrics are imbued.”

The band’s latest release, 2024’s Autunno Caldo (Hot Autumn), confirms that this is a band steeped in and taking lessons from the comrades and revolutionary struggles of Italy’s autonomist and extra-parliamentary Left of the late 1970s/1980s—the “Anni di piombo” (Years of Lead), as they’ve become known. “To say it smells like gunpowder would be an understatement,” said one review. Says the band: “We are young and pissed off just like they were; we want to encourage people to become politically aware and overturn this rotten system.” And: “We put emphasis on that movement because it is a taboo in Italy to talk about that period, but we think it has been one of the best and most advanced examples of struggle in our country, and we think the analysis that those movements did about the developments of capitalism are still valid today.”

Musically, Autodifesa Proletaria are, as noted, a mix of hardcore, punk, and Oi!. The band is also quick to acknowledge its musical and political debt to the amazing Italian political punk outfit Erode. In fact, they cover an Erode song, “Orgoglio Proletario,” on Autunno Caldo. According to the band, Erode’s 2004 release Tempo Che Non Ritorna “is like the Bible and Capital in one work. Only, that album is better than both the Bible and Capital.”

“The time has come to claim our space / To make our mark and there won’t be no disgrace / Workers of the world there’ll be no mistake / When brothers and sisters are united today”

—”Another Way”, The Fallout

The Fallout (out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada) have been fighting the good fight since 2004, have seven releases to their name, and dole out, as they put it: “partisan and unapologetically political agitp(r)op punk rock, songs of unity, inclusion, solidarity and struggle.”

In essence, it’s catchy-as-heck, sing-along, three-chord, three-minute-long political punk rock. “The Fallout are a throwback to a time when protest punk was just as much about the tunes as it was about the message. These guys write catchy songs that are tailor made for you to shout along with.”

“Fist-pumping punk rock anthems railing against injustice, inequality, and the systemic oppression of the people. It’s music in the grand tradition of late ’70s/early ’80s political punk rock and the protest folk that inspired it.”

Singer/guitarist Byron says: “We typically play songs that have something to say, very quickly.” As they say about themselves in the song “In This Land,” they’re “just another punk rock band” that’s written “some songs, about protecting rights and correcting all the wrongs.”

One thing I love about the band is that a lot of their songs focus on or deal with issues from a Canadian perspective—like gun violence in Toronto, migrant workers in the Niagara region, and raising Canada’s minimum wage.

Says Byron: “I guess we think that local action everywhere amounts to global action. More than anything we sing about concerns we have and can hopefully do something about as Canadians. I see a tendency to focus on US crimes while thinking Canada doesn’t have its own shame to bear. It’s easier to point fingers than to look in the mirror. It seems more productive to rage about something we can affect with our votes and our numbers.”

As reviewers noted: “These guys are true believers in the idea that songs can change the world—or at least that songs have the power to inspire the people who will change the world.” Echoing this, Byron modestly points out: “Chant-along working-class hymns don’t create change. At most we’re bringing awareness to social issues. Real changes are being made by real people every day at union halls, the United Way, Canadian Blood Services, the Daily Bread Food Bank.”

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite reviews of the band: “The Fallout make you wanna get up, dance and then go and do nasty but well-deserved things to animal abusers/fascists/cops while happily humming one of their delightful ditties.”

“This is defiance / The slingshot rock that fought the Goliath / That full-blown riotous violence, / Smash the system and its tyrants / This is a fist up!”

—”Killshot”, Lee Reed

Lee Reed, from my hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is, in his own words, “Kanadian Hip-Hop’s oldest and grumpiest revolutionary rap loudmouth.” Lee’s been at it for over 25 years, first with his seven-piece band Warsawpack, which was signed to Propagandhi’s G7 Welcoming Committee record label, and now as a solo artist making far-left radical hip-hop—or, as he puts it, “old-timey boom bap hip-hop, with a batshit radical leftist lean.”

While a hip-hop artist, Lee is no stranger to punk rock. In fact, he’s played a few of the local punk shows I’ve put on over the years: “From my early days with Warsawpack, getting signed to G7 Welcoming Committee, and growing up in the Hamilton music community, I’ve always had a great musical and personal relationship with punks and the punk community. The ethos and DIY spirit of punk has had as much of an influence on my writing and performance as hip-hop has.” He’ll actually be playing with another band on this list, Union Thugs, here in Hamilton later this month!

Lee is also no stranger to activism and organizing, especially locally. “I’ve played and organized tons of fundraising events over the years, with particular attention paid to indigenous solidarity work, and housing and anti-gentrification work. Raising fists and funds for local causes/orgs/campaigns is a big part of what me and the squad do. We’re always happy to take the stage for comrades!”

Apart from his solo work, Lee is also part of the hip-hop collective Rymethink Collective, whose mission is: “To create and disseminate expressly revolutionary Hip-Hop: to soundtrack & support the frontline efforts of freedom fighters and social movements; to popularize anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, anti-fascist and anti-authoritarian politics in Hip-Hop; to wield words as weapons in the fight for social and environmental justice; and to fly a phat musical middle finger at all would-be masters, and the thugs & sycophants that serve them.”

Asked whether he considers himself a musician or an activist, or both, I think Lee captures perfectly what it’s all about, not just for him, but for the bands on this list and other like-minded artists:

The song itself can act in the way a pamphlet or zine might, spreading radical info and awareness about something. There is that.

But, I think, for me, the true crossover of music into real activism/organizing comes when artists give and use their music for the material benefit of a struggle. Use their performances and recordings to bolster the work of frontline resistance and sites of struggle.

Like, running fundraisers for organizations. Selling recordings where the proceeds go to radical organizations and campaigns. Donating music or songwriting for a campaign site or video. Using music as a spectacle for blockades and occupations. Using music and concerts to help refuel and invigorate organizers in the trenches. That sort of thing.

I think when you can use your music to support struggle, in meaningful and material ways—you are properly using your art as activism. And I’ve always worked hard to do that.