When Americans like myself look to our neighbor to the north, we often imagine a peaceful land filled with generally sane, well-mannered and easy going folks who are above all, nice.
Of course, any real Canadian will be the first to tell you that their country has plenty of skeletons in its closet. Toronto punk band Rawls Royce know this all too well, and in their latest song, address their city’s history of class conflict, political violence, and anti-fascist organizing in the 1930s.
And while that’s all very heady, intellectual subject matter, the band thankfully filter it through a blast of melodic, catchy rock n’ roll. With joyous gang vocals, and delightfully raucous harmonies coasting over power chords and rebellious drumming, the song comes out of the political punk playbook of like-minded acts like Against Me! and The Menzingers.
From their upcoming debut full-length album, a 15-song concept record about the 1700 Canadians who volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War, this banger will have you singing along while learning Canadian history. Listen to it in our Bangers of the Week Playlist.
