The Proletariat

Infobox Musical artist
Name = The Proletariat


Img_capt =
Img_size =
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Background =
Origin = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genre = Post punk
Hardcore punk
Occupation =
Years_active = 1980–1987(?)
Label = Non-U, Modern Method, Homestead
Associated_acts = Churn
URL = http://home.comcast.net/~private.p/
Current_members =
Past_members = Richard Brown, Peter Bevilacqua, Tom McKnight, Frank Michaels, Laurel Bowman
Notable_instruments =

The Proletariat were a punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. They were active during the 1980s in the Boston Hardcore scene, despite their recorded output having a decidedly non-hardcore sound; The Proletariat show more strongly the musical influences of bands such as Wire, and Gang of Four in their angular guitar soundClarifyme and Marxist-themed lyrics.

History

The Proletariat gained notice in the 80s hardcore scene with obscene Sex Pistols covers, eventually melding the styles of their heroes, the Pistols and Gang of Four. In 1981 they released a 7-song demo tape they called "Distortion", which became popular with DJs and critics. Several songs from "Distortion" would end up on their first LP, and they gained wider exposure to the hardcore audience on the "This is Boston, Not L.A." and "Unsafe at Any Speed" compilations that were put out by the Modern Method label.

Listen
filename=The Proletariat - Bread and Circus.ogg
title=The Proletariat "Bread and Circus" (1983)
description="Bread and Circus" excerpt, from "Soma Holiday".
format=Ogg

The band was made up of the British-sounding American singer Richard Brown, bassist Peter Bevilacqua, drummer Tom McKnight, and guitarist Frank Michaels. Their sound was characterized by drums holding a militaristic steadiness while guitars alternated between jarring upstrokes and overdriven chords.

The 1983 release of their first LP "Soma Holiday" was hailed by Robert Christgau as "The hardcore debut of 1983" even as Christgau noted their sound was not hardcore per se.cite web
url = http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv2-84.php
title = Consumer Guide Feb. 21, 1984
accessdate = 2008-04-06
last = Christgau
first = Robert
authorlink = Robert Christgau
year = 1984
quote = The hardcore debut of 1983 doesn't sound very hardcore [...] [T] his is like a more rigorous, less cosmic PIL. ... B+] Named for the drug in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", the album demonstrates the band's artpunk roots, with lyrics examining social issues from Brown's distant, Marxist perspective, critiquing capitalism without embracing determinist revolutionary dogma. The band itself were actually members of the working class, most of whom dropped out of college to drive trucks and work elsewhere.

Listen
filename=The Proletariat - An Uneasy Peace.ogg
title=The Proletariat "An Uneasy Peace" (1986)
description="An Uneasy Peace" excerpt, with Roger Miller on keyboards, from "Indifference".
format=Oggsample box endIn 1985, the band released a 7" and a second full length LP. "Indifference", on Homestead Records, showed the band's softer side, including the layering of melodies onto the songs, with an appearance by Roger Miller of Mission of Burma playing piano on "An Uneasy Peace." They also brought in Laurel Bowman, whose soft-toned voice contrasted with Brown's (he would later find himself taking over vocals completely in a late, unrecorded incarnation of the band).

quote|... the trio harmonics here are as wide at the butt as at the neck. 'N that's as OK as the occasionally whiny Angloist vocals (by a since departed windbag) are not.|Byron Coley|Forced Exposure review of "Indifference"cite journal
quotes=
author=Coley, Byron
date=
year=1987
month=
title=Record Reviews
journal=Forced Exposure
volume=11
issue=Winter 1987
pages=p. 79
publisher=
location=Waltham, MA
quote=]

After a hiatus, Richard, Peter, and Frank, with a new drummer, formed a new band called Churn, which disbanded in 1997.cite web
url = http://home.comcast.net/~private.p/churn.htm
title = Official Homepage of Churn
accessdate = 2008-04-06] All recorded Proletariat material has been compiled on a double CD collection on Taang! Records [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hjfwxq8hldse AMG Album entry] ] .

Discography

LPs

"Soma Holiday"

1983 release on Non-U/Radiobeat
#"Decorations"
#"Splendid Wars"
#"Famine"
#"Embraced"
#"Events/Repeat"
#"Another Banner Raised"
#"Hollow Victory"
#"Condition"
#"Avoidance"
#"Pictures"
#"Bread & Circus"
#"Blind"
#"Subsidized"
#"Torn Curtain"
#"Purge"
#"Scars"
#"Decide On Change"
#"No Lesser Of Evils"

"Indifference"

1985 release on Homestead Records
#"Indifference"
#"Pride"
#"Better Man"
#"Homeland"
#"Columns"
#"Sins"
#"An Uneasy Peace"
#"Recollections"
#"Trail Of Tears"
#"The Guns Are Winning"
#"Instinct"
#"No Real Hope - Prelude"
#"No Real Hope"
#"Piecework"

7" singles

*"Marketplace"/"Death of a Hedon" (1985). Homestead Records

Compilation tracks

*"Options","Religion Is the Opium of the Masses","Allegiance", on "This Is Boston, Not L.A." (1982) Modern Method.
*"Voodoo Economics" on "Unsafe at Any Speed" (1982) Modern Method.
*"Uneasy Peace", on "P.E.A.C.E Compilation" (1985) R-Radical Records.

Compilations

The 2CD compilation "Voodoo Economics and Other American Tragedies" (Taang!, 1997) contains all their recorded work, including the previously unreleased tracks "10 Years", "Abstain", "Choice" and "It's More Than Soil".

References

External links

;Official sites
* [http://home.comcast.net/~private.p/ Official website of The Proletariat and Churn]
* [http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=79043675 MySpace page] .

;Other resources
*cite web
url = http://homepages.nyu.edu/~cch223/usa/prole_main.html
title = The Proletariat Page
accessdate = 2008-04-06
last = Hubbard
first = Chris
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2004
work = Kill From The Heart
publisher =
archiveurl =
archivedate =
quote = – fan page with links to other articles and interviews