THE PROLETARIAT - Voodoo Economics and other American Tragedies 2X CD - Runt Records

This is a monster re-release. It has The Proletariat's two albums, the "Marketplace" 7", their self released cassette "Distortion", four cuts from the Modern methods compilations and four unreleased tracks. The thing I like most about this eighties hardcore band is that they are so political and yet they are American. It rains so much in England that bands like Crass, Subhumans and Vice Squad grew like weeds. The most obvious American political group from the eighties, the Dead Kennedy's, is too abstract and humorous to be included in the dogmatic category. The Proles lyrics read like a long lost manifesto written by Karl Marx. It's militant hardcore with an urgency that would give any barefooted hippy a bad trip. Just imagine if Crass was American & they didn't do any of that experimental/deconstruction wierdness. My favorite tracks on this compilation are from the Boston Not LA album. These songs have the sharpest bite, but with 45 songs on one CD there's plenty to get worked up about. Their 2nd album doesn't keep the pace, but it's better than most bands these days. I tell you what, if you really want to get retro, than cancel your trip to the thrift store. Pick up this CD instead.

-Unknown, Creative Arts Newsletter, March 2000