With the release of Propagandhi’s new record, Supporting Caste, and their impending CD release concerts, I can’t help but mirror singer-guitarist Chris Hannah’s sentiment on The Banger’s Embrace, the 11th track on the new disc: “We were fucking stoked unlike we’d been since we were pimpled, pubeless teens.”

Although Hannah is waxing un-poetic about thrash legends Sacrifice, his lyric perfectly captures the adolescent excitement I am feeling about Propagandhi’s return.

I remember being a pimpled, pubeless teen, skateboarding during lunch at Gordon Bell and blasting the group’s 1996 sophomore release Less Talk More Rock on tape.

Propagandhi had everything I needed from a band in Grade 8: speed, melody and an unflinching, articulate middle finger raised at government, religion and sexist, racist homophobes. The combination of musical ferocity and political lyrics resonated deeply with me.

Fast-forward 13 years. Punk rock is no longer an underground secret; it’s a commercial force. If punk died in the ‘80s, mainstream music giants exhumed its fettered corpse in the 2000s and put it on display for the youth of today, replacing all the danger, urgency and rebellion with the same old rock ‘n’ roll detritus: girls, heartbreak, dancing, partying. Aging scenesters shook their heads in disbelief as studded belts flew off the shelves at the mall and the term ‘faux hawk’ entered the English lexicon. And so it goes.

Enter Supporting Caste, Propagandhi’s fifth record in 15 years and their strongest to date. With the addition of ex-Giant Sons guitarist Dave “The Beaver” Guillas, Hannah, bassist Todd Kowalksi and drummer Jord Samolesky have once again expanded the boundaries of their sound without compromising their artistic or political vision.

The fast songs are even faster, the choruses will stick in your head for weeks, the chord changes are more progressive than ever and the lyrics are some of their smartest yet. Listen to tracks like Dear Coach’s Corner or Potemkin City Limits if you don’t believe me.

Amidst the pre-packaged, over-produced sludge on the shelves today, the last vestige for music lovers are artists who completely disregard commercial trends or genre trappings and create music that is honest, original, challenging and exciting – music that makes a 25-year-old man such as myself want to careen through the mosh pit like a kamikaze pilot and sing along with every word at the top of his lungs.

So deep inside this jaded music lover’s bones, it feels good to know that Propagandhi are still out there. Even though my complexion has improved (somewhat) and I don’t skateboard anymore, I’m still fucking stoked.

Catch Curran in the pit when Propagandhi play The Garrick Centre Mar. 20-21, 2009.

Published in Volume 63, Number 24 of The Uniter (March 19, 2009)