Propagandhi Tackle Pigs, Hockey Announcers on New Album

It takes a special breed of punk band to last 15-plus years. Just see Canadian band Propagandhi, who are releasing a new album, 'Supporting Caste' -- an effort packed with punk invective and pure compassion. "Things haven't gotten stale for us yet because we're all great friends who love music who are always trying to push the limit," singer/guitarist Chris Hannah tells Spinner.

Among the new tunes is 'Potemkin City Limits,' a song about the true story of a pig named Francis that escaped an Alberta slaughterhouse and evaded capture for five months. Another compassion-meets-punk-ethos tune is 'Dear Coach's Corner,' an open letter from Hannah to Canadian hockey radio show host Ron MacLean. In the verses, Hannah worries how to shield his niece from MacLean's interweaving of military pride into his hockey analysis, complete with a clip from the show, which opens the song. "Americans are obviously going to relate to that song because of sports' relation with the military industrial complex, which the NFL has really pioneered for years," Hannah says.

It's typical Propagandhi fare, with humor littered throughout topical songs on animal rights, capitalism, human rights, religion and ... Canada. "A lot of things where we reference patriotism or nationalism is from our experience in Canada," Hannah says. "But people assume it was about traditional big bully U.S. You still get the point."

But the real secret to sticking around? "We're all great friends making the songs in the basement whether everyone else is interested or not," Hannah says. "A lot of other bands try to find musicians who are the strongest players instead of close friends, and that's not the recipe for longevity. It might be for depth of the band, but not playing together."