The Proletariat were part of the first wave of legendary Boston Hardcore bands and often played alongside SSD, Gang Green, and The FU's, not to mention making appearances on the seminal vinyl compilation Unsafe At Any Speed and This Is Boston Not LA.. But The Proletariat never fit with the formulaic styles to which most HC bands clung. More akin to jagged Euro Post-Punk, The Proles created a minimalist brand of sonic ranting which was fast, catchy, and angry but simultaneously dissonant and unpredictable. Over Frank Michael's caterwauling guitars and fascistically tight rhythm section, vocalist Richard Brown spewed out commie anthems. Fifteen years later, the music still holds up with a vengeance, even if one has to filter out some of the trite sloganeering to which these working-class renegades consistently fell prey. Sure, some of their gripes are legitimate, but it's doubtful that a world run by snotty, intolerant punks would be any less constricting than the corporate nightmare we presently inhabit. For those mapping out the history of Hardcore and who weren't around to experience it in the flesh, this is an essential retrospective. For those who did see bands like The Proletariat in their glory days, this will be a angst-and-aggro-filled trip down memory lane, with the added relief of being able to look back and smile with 20/20 hindsight at some of the simplistic polemicizing that so often infects the young and the restless who strap on guitars instead of machine guns.

- Michael Moynihan, Seconds Magazine, Issue #50