Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

From the opening notes of Propagandhi's anthem of resilience, "At Peace," the title track on their eighth album, listeners will realize that the band has learned how to reflect and grow, despite the anger they continue to feel from years of governmental malfeasance. The band's flirtations with metal are becoming more hardened with each release, and this track is heavy. metaphorically and musically. The feeling of doom is underscored by menacing metallic guitar arpeggios before Chris Hannah's weary, world worn vocals break the heaviness. The verses and choruses reach a riffy consensus as he hits a breathy, hypnotic, drawn-out mantra, "I am at peace," The band, including bassist Todd Kowalski, guitarist Sulynn Hago, and drummer, Jord Samolesky find their groove in a sludgy, trudging heaviness that martially moves along with the lyrics.  Hannah sings a plea that resonates heavily with many of us who have been trying to understand how we have gotten to this ...

I moved in that summer, not prepared for a hot, festering several months in a strange, small house that had seen its share of drunken, college parties. I moved in with three other guys who I had known awhile: Dave, Joe, and Jeremiah. We were a motley crew: a punk rock English major, a brusque music major, a science major, and an opinionated psychology major. I was the progressive English major that flirted with anarchism, like a less obnoxious version of Rik from The Young Ones . In some ways, we resembled that troupe, except with far less humor.   Joe was a more conservative psychology major who liked to argue. We were both from the same hometown and had honed our friendship as outsiders. Dave majored in teaching music; he was the authoritarian taskmaster that wanted to keep us in line. Jeremiah, the science major, added a new flavor to our little group of outsiders. We met Jeremiah when he took a room in the house the previous January. He and I would move into another house, T...