10 Hard Left Working Class Bands (Past and Present) to Check Out

Huge thanks to DY Conspiracy for giving me the opportunity to go on a great length about some great bands…

“DIY Conspiracy is a web journal for underground music and culture.

The site launched in 2005, and since then, we have tirelessly strived to embody the creative and community-driven spirit of punk rock, with a strong emphasis on political and ethical values. It is run entirely by a community of international punks for the sake of our enthusiasm. We don’t serve annoying ads and overpromotional nonsense, and we’re not owned by any corporate scumbags.”

Randy Smith of Rebel Time Records presents a list of hard left working class bands raising fists and voices for a combative International Workers’ Day.

“Songs are funny things. They can slip across borders. Proliferate in prisons. Penetrate hard shells. I always believed that the right song at the right moment could change history.”

Pete Seeger

This is a list of bands, some old, some new, that I feel play the right songs: songs of protest and resistance. It’s a diverse mix of hard-left and left-radical punk rock, hardcore, Oi!, hip-hop, and revolutionary folk. It’s definitely not an exhaustive list—there are plenty of other bands that could have been included.

What ties these artists together is that they all walk the talk. They’re all hands-on, socially conscious, and politically engaged. And since they’ve all got something to say, I’ve let them, for the most part, speak for themselves. To quote Pete Seeger again, “The people are on the march and must have songs to sing.”

Towards a combative Mayday!

Afterboltxebike

Afterboltxebike

“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.”

Brigada Flores Magon

Brigada Flores Magon

“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.

Carmen Colère

Carmen Colère

“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.

Union Made

Union Made

“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”!

Urban Vietcong

Urban Vietcong

“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.

Years of Lead

Years of Lead

“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.

Union Thugs

Union Thugs

“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.”

Autodifesa Proletaria

Autodifesa Proletaria

“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 Fallout

The Fallout

“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.”

Lee Reed

Lee Reed

“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.

Union Thugs – Folklore Ouvrier

“the people are on the march and must have songs to sing” (Pete Seeger)

… absolutely overjoyed to have Union Thugs added to the “left wing mob” that comprises the Rebel Time Records line-up / family …

Based in Montreal, and made up of members of punk/oi bands like Action Sedition, Riot Porn and Mayday, this six-piece combo plays amped-up, accordian-fueled revolutionary folk-oi. As they put it, they’re here to “rock folk songs and folk rock songs in order to present a revival of classic popular and working class songs, with an original flavour.”

Union Thugs concentrate on covers of working class anthems and the album is a musical journey through the pages of the revolutionary songbook. You get fighting songs / songs of solidarity and struggle, by the likes of Anne Feeney, Jaques Brunet, Leonard Cohen, The Almanac Singers (with Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie) and Molodoi.

Band members are active in organizations like the I.W.W. (International Workers of the World), COBP (Committee Opposed to Police Brutality) and RASH (Red And Anarchist Skinheads). and they’ve played countless benefit shows for anti-fascist, anti-colonial, community organizing and student movement causes. More often than not, you’ll find the band on the picket lines and the front lines, firing up the workers!

Folklore Ouvrier / Worker’s Folklore is an exercise in international solidarity and mutual aid, with the album being released via Discos Machete (Mexico), Dure Realite (Quebec), Fire and Flames Music (Germany), Kale Borroka Records (Basque Country), Rudy’s Back (France) and Rebel Time Records (Canada).

Comes with a big zine too!!

Of this release, the band says:

“A second release for the Thugs! This time, 6 songs including War on the Workers, Les piqueteuses de la gloire, Partisan, Union Maid, La complainte des ouvriers and The Preamble of SITT-IWW with banjo accompaniment.

This worker’s folklore album is part of our continued effort to develop a revolutionary working culture. Though modern popular songs have been omitted from our selection this time in favour of certain classics like Union Maid and Partisan, you will still find yourself in this mix of folk and punk-rock ready to wake up the striker in you!

This short album we dedicate to strikers and those locked out, grassroots activists, militants and delegates, professional shit-disturbers, and to everyone for whom taking it laying down has never been an option! ”

 

Of their mission, the band says:

“Hello Everybody! We are the Union Thugs, A Labor Folk band based in Montreal. Let’s get this out of the way, we are not musicians, but workers that play music. We travel far and wide looking for people like us, who are part of the working class and are pissed off!

Pissed off to always see the same fat cats getting all the wealth while our conditions stall or get set back. Pissed off to witness condos upon condos being constructed in the city while people still sleep in the streets. Pissed off to see that when we rise up, we’re getting stomped on by back to work legislation, the police and their batons.

Friends we come to you with a message. We are fed up and we want change! We don’t think that this change will come from ballots. Ignoring the problem and participating obediently and quietly will do us any good.

We think it’s through organizing our workplaces, our neighborhoods to take back control. To produce by the community for the community, without bosses to steal the fruits of our labor.

For this to work, we have to stop being afraid of differences, namely : religion, sexual orientation, skin color, gender, native language, among others. No, we have to realise the truth! The true enemies are the bosses that exploit our labor, landlords that harvest our rents every month, bankers that put us in debt and shareholders that throw workers out on the streets by voting to close a plant at the last board of directors meeting, It’s also politicians that introduce themselves as heroes of the people, but once they are in office they’ll cater to capital’s needs.

It’s high time we trust ourselves and we clean this mess up, It’s time for the revolution! If we organize properly, we’ll just have to cross our arms so every single person stops working to see that old world crumble like a sand castle, we’ll clean up the rubble after.”

The Punk Site had this to say about the new release:

“Montreal’s Union Thugs are a six-piece combo that are on a musical journey through the pages of the revolutionary songbook, one that on their latest release includes Anne Feeney, Jaques Brunet, Leonard Cohen, The Almanac Singers and Molodoi, that is delivered in seven songs of accordion fuelled revolutionary folk punk and oi. Union Thugs are active in organizations like the I. W.W., C.O.P.B and R.A.S.H and, more often than not, you’ll find them on the picket lines and the front lines firing up the workers. Union Thugs have now issued their second release, and their debut EP, “Folklore Ouvrier”“, via an international coalition of like minded labels scattered across North America and Europe. The “Folklore Ouvrier” EP is delivered in both French and English, whilst I only possess a tenuous grasp of the French language the message from Union Thugs comes through loud and clear, from the opening chords of ‘Intro‘ to the final notes of ‘Preamble To The I.W.W. Constitution’, a track that lays out a revolutionary manifesto.

Whilst there is a distinctly vintage feel about this EP, mainly because all but one of the songs on “Folklore Ouvrier” is an interpretation of vintage protest songs, there’s an appeal for this EP for any fan of blue collar pro-union rabble rousing punk rock from Dropkick Murphys through to Mischief Brew and Gogol Bordello, with my personal highlight being their interpretation of Anne Feeney'[s 1969 protest song ‘War On The Worker‘. This is an EP that isn’t just words, Union Thugs clearly back up their soundtrack with action and the final verse in ‘Preamble To The IWW Constitution‘ is a sentiment that is echoed within the seven tracks of “Folklore Ouvrier“. “It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organised, not only for everyday struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organising industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old”.

“Folklore Ouvrier” is now available for streaming and as a ‘name your price’ download via Discos Machete (Mexico), Dure Realite (Quebec), Fire And Flames Music (Germany), Kale Borroka Records (Basque Country), Rudy’s Back (France), Rebel Time Records (Canada) and Union Thugs‘ Bandcamp.”

And Spring Magazine also weighed in, at length, on the album:

“Union Thugs are a Montreal-based six-piece that play a mixture of folk and oi in the spirit of working class and revolutionary anthems. Their latest release, Folklore ouvrier (Worker’s Folklore), presents six of these anthems with a companion zine which details the history and meaning behind the songs and their importance. You can find info on Union Thugs on their Facebook, Bandcamp, and Instagram.

“This short album we dedicate to strikers and those locked out, grassroots activists, militants and delegates, professional shit-disturbers, and to everyone for whom taking it laying down has never been an option!” Folklore ouvrier is Union Thugs’ second release and first EP. The band makes it clear in their introductory track, “[W]e are not musicians, but workers that play music.”

The band sees their music as a tool for organization and the mobilization of political action. All members are active members of groups such as I.W.W. (International Workers of the World), COBP (Committee Opposed to Police Brutality), and RASH (Red And Anarchist Skinheads). To further this message, the EP is delivered with a companion zine, as well as info about anti-fascist movements today and calls to action. The tracks cover work from Anne Feeney, Woody Guthrie, and more. Union Thugs are leading the way in showing that music can not only be a tool for change, but one of revolutionary change and working class solidarity.

I was immediately blown away by the passion and energy that covers this EP from start to finish. Ouvrier is simply drenched in working class power and anti-capitalist spirit. While I wasn’t familiar with all of the songs presented, each one was performed with an infectious energy, and the bilingual zine helped give insight and context into those written for specific struggles.

Music to action
I think it is sadly too common for bands, and certainly punk bands, to make leftist platitudes of political and social change without backing it up with action. The band is active with anti-fascist and pro-worker activities and heavily promote the struggles they are involved in, and those around the world. 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.

As mentioned before, the album’s opener, “Intro,” is probably the most pump-in inducing song I’ve ever heard. Like a youth crew singer getting ready for gang vocals, you can’t help but start pacing around the room and throwing your fists out. It also gives the band a chance to lay the cards out on the table: they’re here, ready for a fight, and ready to unite. “We are fed up and we want change! We don’t think that this change will come from ballots. Ignoring the problem and participating obediently and quietly will not do us any good. We think it’s through organizing our workplaces, our neighbourhoods to take back control. To produce by the community for the community, without bosses to steal the fruits of our labor.” They then turn to the need for international and intersectional solidarity and really get listeners engaged to not only hear what they have to present on the album, but take action afterwards.

The rest of the album is a great lesson in historical struggles, with the zine filling in the gaps and relating their relevance today. Part of what makes this album so great is learning the history of these powerful anthems and getting them stuck in your head for days. “War on the Workers,” is an earworm that gets any picket line shimmying. The track, by activist and composer Anne Feeney, is dedicated to Jim Beals and Karen Silkwood. Beals was killed on the job and Silkwood died trying to expose toxic working conditions. Today, workers are being forced to bear the brunt of the Covid-19 crisis, dealing with increasingly unsafe workplaces and being stripped of their pandemic pay, often in minimum wage positions.

Union Maid
Another highlight is their version of “Union Maid.” While the first few tracks on the album place the musical emphasis on the group’s oi sound, “Union Maid,” goes deeper into the folk side of their repertoire. The zine gives the background to the song, something I was unfamiliar with. In 1940, The Almanac Singers (of which Guthrie was a member) were touring with Bob and Ina Wood, who ran a political bookstore in Oklahoma city where Bob was the secretary of the state’s communist party and Ina was an organizer. The group was performing a series of concerts in solidarity with striking hooverville workers. Ina spent time with Guthrie, criticizing him for putting communist women on the periphery of his songs. He took the message to heart, writing and performing the song while on the same tour.

Folklore ouvrier is working class music for the working class movement. It’s inspiring, catchy, radical, and most importantly, good. By delving deep into the revolutionary songbook and providing context for today, Union Thugs are providing a solid memory of class struggle while also proposing organization and solidarity for those fighting for change in the present. If you’re looking for some punk and folk that asks more of the listener than to simply agree with the lyrics, but one that provides you with the next steps, then Folklore ouvrier is the perfect release.”

Union Thugs – Revolutionary Folk & Oi From Montreal

Here at Rebel Time Records, we’re big fans of Union Thugs … revolutionary oi and folk out of Montreal … former members of great bands like Action Sedition and Mayday.  Honored to have had them play a number of our shows over the last few years.

They’re a band that has played countless benefit shows for anti-fascist, anti-colonial, union, student movement, community organizing and other righteous causes. They are involved with the Industrial Workers Of The World (IWW). Some members are also involved in the record label Dure Realitie (a self managed and militant Montreal association that wishes to promote a revolutionary culture through artistic outlets).

In 2018, the band released a fantastic 4-song demo:

Now, in 2020, we are stoked to be one of the labels (along with Discos Machete, Dure Realitie and Fire And Flames) helping to put out their upcoming release “Folklore Ouvrier.”

Here’s the song “Les Piqueteuses De La Gloire,” one of the tracks that will be on “Foklore Ourvier”:

And, here’s the first video for the song “Partisan” …

The band says: “composed for the first time in 1943 in the heart of the 2nd World War, the song was re-popularized by Leonard Cohen during the 90s. We are taking it up here in homage to antifascists from all over the world.

Freedom will come soon and we will emerge from the shadows … ”

Oh the wind, the wind is blowing; Through the graves the wind is blowing Freedom soon will come; Then we’ll come from the shadows

Les Allemands étaient chez moi; Ils me dirent “Résigne-toi” Mais je n’ai pas peur; Et j’ai repris mon arme

Personne ne m’a demandé; D’où je viens et où je vais Vous qui le savez; Effacez mon passage

J’ai changé cent fois de nom; J’ai perdu femme et enfants Et je tourne en rond; Dans la prison des frontières

Un vieil homme dans un grenier; Pour la nuit nous a cachés Les Allemands l’ont pris; Il est mort sans surprise

Hier encore, nous étions trois; Il ne reste plus que moi Mais j’ai tant d’amis; Et j’ai ma classe entière

Oh the wind, the wind is blowing; Through the graves the wind is blowing Freedom soon will come; Then we’ll come from the shadows

From their bio:

“Considering themselves first and foremost as workers and then as musicians, the Thugs are six syndicalists who moonlight as a six-piece revolutionary folk band. Union Thugs has a specific goal: to rock folk songs and folk rock songs in order to present a revival of classic popular and working class songs with an original flavour.

​ Averaging thirty concerts a year, the Thugs go where the fight calls them. The Thugs have been known to play concert venues, general assemblies, bar scenes, outdoor festivals, picket lines, you name it! With a set packed by covers of the likes of Woody Guthrie, Utah Phillips, Vilain Penguin, Corrigan Fest, Angelic Upstarts, Molodoi, Brigada Flores Magon and many others, the Thugs deliver an inspiring message of syndicalist revival that puts the emphasis on a boundless Solidarity. Through music, they continue to carry this message further, louder, and stronger.

For a union for all workers,
For industrial democracy and the 4 hour workday,
Abolish the wage system,
Down with a society based on class division,
For a fucking good Rock n’ Folk show!
SOLIDARITY!”

Here’s an excellent min-documentary about the band … :

Video – Rebel Time Records Punk Rock Matinee – February 2nd, 2020

As always, massive thanks to Steve and Stronger Than Ever Video for capturing the sights and sounds of our Punk Rock Matinees for eternity / posterity!

Below, you’ll find full sets videos of all 5 bands that played our February 2nd, 2020 Rebel Time Records Punk Rock Matinee Superbowl Sunday Edition!

THEY CALL IT CHAOS
(progressive / aggressive political skatepunk. Golden Horseshoe Hardcore)

BARBED WIRE BRACES
( old school street punk with something to say )

THE FALLOUT
(straight-up, stripped-down political punk rock)

BACK BREAKER
( working class anarchist oi punk )

UNION THUGS
( accordian-fueled revolutionary folk/oi/punk )

Spring Offensive 2019 – The Soundtrack

… Spring Offensive 2019 … three days of peace, love and anarchy … we’re putting together a bit of a digital soundtrack featuring (hopefully) all of the bands taking part in this extravaganza …

… here’s 5 of the bands / artists anchoring this event …  an eclectric and eclectic mix of punk rock, oi,  hip-hop and revolutionary oi/folk … songs for agitators, instigators, malcontents and mischief-makers …

… stay tuned for more tunes …