“Caring about humanity is the most punk rock thing of all”: Propagandhi, Thunder Queens & MVLL CRIMES at London Music Hall

What is there to do in London, Ontario, on a Thursday night in September as another school year is beginning? Quite a lot, actually, but on this particular night I made the choice to stop thinking so hard about Canada’s current neoliberal hellscape and to go to a punk show instead. Was this a total vacation from thinking about politics? Not at all, because this was a Propagandhi show. The Manitoba group formed in 1986, and by 1996 they had developed such a reputation for explaining their songs between sets that they joked about it in an album title. Less Talk, More Rock echoed a common refrain from audience members that signed on for some music and felt they were getting a lecture instead. These days, fans show up knowing what to expect: sharply articulated commentary on sociopolitical issues of the day, usually set to music which has matured in stylistic range and skill over the band’s long career. (The speeches between songs still exist, but they’re brief now – they’re on a tight schedule!)

Local act Thunder Queens opened the show. Their bandcamp page describes their sound as a blend of “doom-tinged grunge” and “onyx-toned punk melodies.” Violet Bruneel, Lola Hayman, and Clara Magnan are currently promoting their 2024 record Strike One. For this aging writer, their melodic and accessible sound was very reminiscent of 1990s femme-fronted acts like Veruca Salt or Hole, and the 90s vibe became even clearer when they launched into an excellent cover of The Breeders’ “Cannonball.” They cite The Runaways and Black Sabbath as influences. It was especially refreshing to see a drummer and singer at the front and centre of the stage. This feels like something that would have been a lot less common in the 1990s, when femme punks were often treated as an afterthought or as adversaries in male-dominated scenes, and femme drummers even more so. (If it sounds like Riot Grrl was my entry-point into punk rock, that’s because it was.) Thunder Queens definitely remind me of the more radio-friendly alternative bands of the 1990s rather than the more in-your-face feminist stylings of, say, Bikini Kill or Sleater-Kinney. They were a great choice to ease folks into the post-hardcore and metal sounds of the following acts, displaying impressive technical skill and just as importantly, looking like three friends having a great time rocking out together on a hometown stage.

Next up was MVLL CRIMES, also from London. Singer Jill Clair set the tone by walking on stage wearing a locally produced “Fuck Farhi” T-shirt, which invited a cry of agreement from an audience member between songs. New drummer Róisín was introduced for her debut show with the group. Songs on the set list spanned their career, mixing outraged frustration with playfulness and pop culture references, from 2021’s “Don’t Be a Cop” to their latest single “Gwen Stvcey.” My personal favourite is “Vrguing With Strvngers,” which narrates a familiar story to anyone who spends (maybe too much) time online. Lines like “I’m arguing with strangers on the internet, not going out today because I’m feeling too upset” are followed later by “everyone is wrong, I just haven’t told them yet,” offering a humorous look at the very human tendency to get sucked into debates in the comments section. The band wasted no time in speeding through their energetic and passionate set, with a propulsive edginess that animated the crowd – a line of security guards watched impassively as a small group of audience members started a mosh pit near the front. 

That passion wasn’t just for the stage. At the merch table there were signs of community solidiarity. Flyers were available for the upcoming Draw the Line action in London, which is being organized by the London chapter of International Socialists and Seniors For Climate Action Now. MVLL CRIMES’ merch was also available at low price points and various formats, a welcome accommodation for anyone on a limited budget or seeking to reduce consumption. For example, while vinyl records were available, cards with printed download codes were an option at a lower cost. Anyone who knows a few musicians knows that streaming services don’t pay much in the way of royalties, so going to shows and buying merchandise can often be the best way to offer monetary support to local artists. It was encouraging to see ways to do this without overstressing the wallet or the environment.

After a brief intermission, with late arrivals filtering in from the street, it was time for the headliners. Full disclosure here: I am not intimately familiar with Propagandhi’s back catalogue and had only heard a few songs here and there. What I did know is that they’ve got a reputation  being a genuine leftist punk band and not a bunch of poseurs, so I wasn’t too worried about some guy in the merch line grilling me in 1990s music scene fashion (“Which album’s your favourite? Name three songs!” Anyone who presented as a woman in the 90s knows the routine.) Instead, what I noticed in the line was a bunch of folks wearing clothing with reassuring messages such as “This Machine Kills Fascists” and “Don’t just protect trans kids, fight their oppressors.”

The evening was not without its tensions and contradictions, though this is to be expected. The politics of artists and their audiences will rarely be fully reflected in the priorities of the venues that serve them. London Music Hall’s security presence seemed excessive. The drinks on offer by the venue were, of course, overpriced. Some of them ended up all over the bathroom floor, because for some patrons, there’s nothing more punk rock than drinking too much expensive beer and then tossing it back up.

The hall was packed by the time Propagandhi took the stage. They’re currently touring their newest record At Peace, and early in the set list they announced the “world premiere” of one of the tracks, “Stargazing.” As this was the opening night of their tour, it was also the first time they’d performed the song live. It’s slower and more introspective than much of their work and explores a troubled relationship. Lines like “you cannot simply barge your way into someone else’s life aiming to remake them in your image” highlight the fragility of any relationship where one seeks to control the other for their own ends.

Fans who have been around for a while got a treat with “Back to the Motor League” from 2001’s Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes. Lyrics satirize privileged, play-acting poseurs in the punk scene – a “well-heeled buying public who live vicariously through tortured-artist college-rock and floor-punching macho pabulum.” Singer Chris Hannah reflects on how it’d probably be easier to go back to work for a travel agency than deal with the likes of bands who engage in “selling shoes for venture-capitalists, silencing competing messages, rounding off the jagged edges.”

Propagandhi’s jagged and non-conformist edges don’t seem sanded away just yet. The band have long advocated for veganism. Chris briefly advised audience members to have a look at their copy of the book Little Red Barns: Hiding the Truth, From Farm to Fable by Will Potter. The publisher City Lights Books describes the work as an investigation that “exposes the powerful forces at work to hide the harms of industrial agriculture, its outsize role in the climate crisis, and its links to the global rise of fascism.”

Another song from At Peace, “Guiding Lights,” is about the genocide in Gaza. Drummer Jord Samolesky wore a “Free Palestine” shirt onstage and spoke of the genocide between songs, with cheers of “Free Palestine” from the audience. A fan annotation on the site genius.com explains: “I think it’s about the so-called “Sderot Cinema” phenomenon wherein people gather along the “border” to watch and cheer on the night time aerial bombings of Gaza. That was my interpretation.” The track was developed after bassist Todd Kowalski brought an early version to the band. While lyrics like “Final cleansing, ecstatic purge, throw their children on the pyre / Cafes bustling, the streets alive, embracing terror, the spinning fire” describe the genocide in a clear-cut manner, it is noteworthy and commendable that the group do not leave their lyrics “up to interpretation” but clearly denounce Israel’s actions.

The Canadian tour wraps up in St. John’s, Newfoundland, on September 25, and supporting acts vary by location. All of Propagandhi’s planned 2025 dates in the USA were canceled “due to circumstances beyond our control.”

Forget the overpriced beer, the reasonably polite mosh pits, and the complexities of anti-capitalist merchandising – caring about humanity (and reminding fans that they should care too) is the most punk rock thing of all. On that front, the evening was a resounding success.