Photo by Dwanye Larson / Story by Maddy Howell
Starting out life as a progressive thrash band enamoured with the politics of punk, the last three decades have seen Propagandhi forge a path that’s strayed ever further from predictability.
Their skate-punk roots giving way to a denser, more metal-influenced sound, flecked with melodic hardcore and prog rock, one thing that has remained constant over the years is a commitment to radical political engagement and a drive for positive change. Taking a firm stance on everything from anti-fascism, anti-racism and anti-capitalism to animal rights, media distortion and environmentalism, frontman Chris Hannah’s searing intellect and political precision has encouraged its equal share of praise and criticism.
Refusing to stay silent on issues many of their peers opted to avoid, the Canadians have established a reputation as one of the most outspoken bands in their scene, but they have perhaps never been more grounded in reality than on eighth album At Peace. Coming eight years after previous full-length Victory Lap, Propagandhi’s return is rife with existential despair, looking out onto a world bleaker than ever.
“We're in such a dismal spiral on so many levels — political administrations, culture, technology, how it’s affecting human interaction… There are so many things that feel joyless right now," Hannah laments.
"On this record, I suppose I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. When it comes to an end, I want to feel like I did something meaningful instead of something cowardly.”
Stepping back into the studio with longtime collaborator Jason Livermore in the winter of 2024, the band were facing more uncertainty than ever before. With a global pandemic to reckon with alongside endless political and social unrest across the world, the tension between wanting to resist and feeling overwhelmed by the futility of resistance is what came to sit at the heart of At Peace.
For Hannah in particular, the album’s catalyst came from wrestling with how to respond to a society at constant war with itself, whether to seek inner peace like spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle, or to stand up for what you believe however futile it might seem. Speaking on the latter option, he points to Aaron Bushnell as an example.
“He was a man who self-immolated in front of the Israeli embassy last year,” he explains.
“Predictably, he’s since been called mentally ill for his action, but I don’t believe that. I believe that was someone who had the courage of their convictions. In contrast to him, I’m trying to find a meaningful life, but I truly believe that he had a meaningful death."
As a father to two young sons, Hannah’s own actions have come to hold more weight as he’s matured, contemplating what his children may grow up to think of his contributions to this world. Noting that there are currently no promising signs of mass mobilisation against what he views as the “outright fascism” in power, there are moments of complete despair on At Peace.
From the blazing apocalyptic imagery of Fire Season to the closing cry of “Don’t pine for glory days. Never were any anyways” over chugging riffs on Rented P.A., if the outcome is so doomed, why should we keep fighting? For Hannah, the answer is somewhat simple.
“Norman Finkelstein has spent most of his life advocating for Palestine, specifically for people in Gaza. He was recently asked, ‘How do you not despair or give up on this issue?’,” he explains.
“He said that you don't go into a battle because you're guaranteed a win, you go in because it's the right thing to do. In fact, often you engage in the face of certain defeat. When I hear people talk like that, I feel uplifted. That’s what keeps me going.”
Those glimpses of lightness are woven into At Peace in the form of sardonic humour, with tracks like Cat Guy and Prismatic Spray (The Tinder Date) offering flickers of absurdity that feel essential, rooted in the joy of resilience.
“I’ve always been a big fan of a legendary hardcore band from Western Canada called SNFU. We saw them a lot as kids, and their singer Chi Pig was a true fucking punk,” Hannah nods.
“He dealt with dark topics on records, but there was always a comical punchline. He died in 2020, and during the writing of this record I had him in mind. I was thinking, ‘How would he do this?’”
Honouring Chi Pig’s legacy whilst also giving a nod to the victorious spirit of Judas Priest’s underappreciated 2018 album Firepower, another tongue-in-cheek touch comes in the form of the album’s artwork.
A painting by Edgar Paxson portraying Custer’s Last Stand – the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in history – the artwork was commissioned as a propaganda piece by the company Anheuser Busch. Hung in every saloon in America in the 1800s to propagandise western expansion and the dispossession of land, both its imagery and history directly contradict the album’s title, serving as an allegory for the position we find ourselves in.
Brutally depicting humanity’s own doomed last stand, At Peace is a declaration of true resistance from a band who have consistently refused to play by the rules. Every decision made with the utmost integrity and each line sung with total conviction, there’s no denying that At Peace marks another integral chapter in Propagandhi’s legacy but simply put – Chris Hannah doesn’t give a fuck.
“We don’t care if people hate this record. I literally don't care if it even comes out. For me, it's about the endeavour — the practice space, making the songs, surprising ourselves,” he finishes.
“I would be absolutely fine if the record completely panned and everyone said, ‘This band is done’. That’s the story arc of being a musician, and we know there has to be an endpoint, but ultimately, I don't feel responsible to anyone but myself now.”
“Since I was a kid, I’ve felt the need to weigh in when someone’s getting the short end of the stick, whether that’s in an interpersonal interaction or in a global military context. Something about the powerful beating up on those with less power pisses me off. This is just letting the world know what I think — and if you don't like it, fuck you.”
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At Peace, the new album from Propagandhi is now available via Epitaph Records. Get the album - HERE
