The Proletariat Wiki Information
The Proletariat
were a punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. They were active during the 1980s in the Boston Hardcore scene, despite their recorded output having a decidedly non-hardcore sound; The Proletariat show more strongly the musical influences of bands such as Wire, and Gang of Four in their angular guitar sound[clarification needed] and Marxist-themed lyrics.
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THE PROLETARIAT TICKETS
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History
The Proletariat gained notice in the 80s hardcore scene with obscene
Sex Pistols covers, eventually melding the styles of their heroes, the Pistols and
Gang of Four. In 1981 they released a 7-song demo tape they called
Distortion
, which became popular with
DJs and critics. Several songs from
Distortion
would end up on their first LP, and they gained wider exposure to the hardcore audience on the
This is Boston, Not L.A.
and
Unsafe at Any Speed
compilations that were put out by the Modern Method label.
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The Proletariat played vicious Hardcore punk
—HC fused with a jagged Gang of Four (band), Gang of Four/Killing Joke edge. Frontman Richard Brown wrote poetically oblique lyrics with a distinct Marxist bent - part William S. Burroughs
The band was made up of the British-sounding American singer Richard Brown,
bassist Peter Bevilacqua,
drummer Tom McKnight, and
guitarist Frank Michaels. Their sound was characterized by drums holding a militaristic steadiness while guitars alternated between jarring upstrokes and overdriven chords.
The Proletariat were a Hardcore band that had a Back beat
—backbeat you could dance to, the most Moshing, slam-dancable—they had that serious marching beat down. The were given the hardcore tag because they wrote short songs and kinda fit in.
The 1983 release of their first LP
Soma Holiday
was hailed by
Robert Christgau as "The hardcore debut of 1983" even as Christgau noted their sound was not hardcore per se.
[2] Named for the drug in
Aldous Huxley's
Brave New World
, the album demonstrates the band's artpunk roots, with lyrics examining social issues from Brown's distant,
Marxist perspective, critiquing capitalism without embracing determinist revolutionary dogma. The band itself were actually members of the working class, most of whom dropped out of college to drive trucks and work elsewhere.
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In 1985, the band released a 7" and a second full length LP.
Indifference
, on
Homestead Records, showed the band's softer side, including the layering of melodies onto the songs, with an appearance by
Roger Miller of
Mission of Burma playing piano on "An Uneasy Peace." They also brought in Laurel Bowman, whose soft-toned voice contrasted with Brown's (he would later find himself taking over vocals completely in a late, unrecorded incarnation of the band).
... the trio harmonics here are as wide at the butt as at the neck. 'N that's as OK as the occasionally whiny Angloist vocals (by a since departed windbag) are not.
—Byron Coley, "ref">[3]
After a hiatus, Richard, Peter, and Frank, with a new drummer, formed a new band called Churn, which disbanded in 1997.
[4] All recorded Proletariat material has been compiled on a double CD collection on
Taang! Records [5].
Discography
LPs
Soma Holiday
1983 release on Non-U/Radiobeat
#"Decorations"
#"Splendid Wars"
#"Famine"
#"Embraced"
#"Events ,Repeat"
#"Another Banner Raised"
#"Hollow Victory"
#"Condition"
#"Avoidance"
#"Pictures"
#"Bread & Circus"
#"Blind"
#"Subsidized"
#"Torn Curtain"
#"Purge"
#"Scars"
#"Decide On Change"
#"No Lesser Of Evils"
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Indifference
1985 release on Homestead Records
#"Indifference"
#"Pride"
#"Better Man"
#"Homeland"
#"Columns"
#"Sins"
#"An Uneasy Peace"
#"Recollections"
#"Trail Of Tears"
#"The Guns Are Winning"
#"Instinct"
#"No Real Hope - Prelude"
#"No Real Hope"
#"Piecework"
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7" singles
- "Marketplace"/"Death of a Hedon" (1985). Homestead Records
Compilation tracks
- "Options","Religion Is the Opium of the Masses","Allegiance", on This Is Boston, Not L.A.
(1982) Modern Method.
- "Voodoo Economics" on Unsafe at Any Speed
(1982) Modern Method.
- "Uneasy Peace", on P.E.A.C.E Compilation
(1985) R-Radical Records.
Compilations
The 2CD compilation
Voodoo Economics and Other American Tragedies
(
Taang!, 1997) contains all their recorded work, including the previously unreleased tracks "10 Years", "Abstain", "Choice" and "It's More Than Soil".
References
- Steven Blush (2001) American Hardcore: A Tribal History Feral House, NY
- Consumer Guide Feb. 21, 1984
- Record Reviews
- Official Homepage of Churn
- AMG Album entry