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Culture > January 4, 2004

Our New Punk Rock

By Kevin Canfield

They make music that is at once listenable and emblematic of a unified artisitic and social vision. What’s more, they do it with nothing resembling conventional rock lyrics.
Punk rock emerged in the 1970s as the decade’s most compelling music of social criticism, a mantle that in the ’80s was handed off to hip-hop. In the ’90s thoughtful kids with acoustic guitars pushed their way to the fore, delivering some of the smartest commentary of the Clinton era. It’s still too soon to tell who’ll get the baton in the early years of the 21st century, but don’t bet against a Canadian collective that is single-handedly inventing a new genre of politically progressive music.

Despite its grandiose name, the Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Choir is actually a group of six musicians who make an improbably big sound. The band recently released its third full-length record, the idiosyncratically titled “‘This is Our Punk Rock,’ Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing.” Melding classical music (violin, cello and piano) with traditional rock instruments and a variety of found sounds, the album is less a commercial product than an indictment of militarism, globalism and conspicuous consumption. Like the best and most enduring art, it is complex and thought-provoking. But then, this is nothing new for the enigmatic Efrim Menuck and company.

If Menuck’s Mt. Zion is perhaps the most interesting band working today, a close second is another musical outfit of which he is a part, the equally abstruse Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Though the two bands share several members, they don’t necessarily mirror one another; a nine-piece band, Godspeed plays big, muscular instrumentals while Mt. Zion employs abstract lyrics and spare arrangements. Jointly, though, they are creating their own movement.

What’s the movement about? Well, to judge by the handful of interviews band members have granted, the album art that accompanies their records and, of course, the music itself, it’s about opposing imperialism and forced gentrification. It’s about combating corporate takeovers of local communities and resisting crass consumerism. It’s about the right to voice dissent and to live free from government snooping. As it says in the liner notes that accompany “‘This is Our Punk Rock,’” “hearts in need make symphonies.”

What’s truly exciting about Godspeed and in particular, the new Mt. Zion record, is the way in which the two bands have managed to make music that is at once listenable and emblematic of a unified artistic and social vision. Even more impressive: They do it with nothing resembling conventional rock lyrics.

Godspeed’s compositions are vast, surging instrumentals that derive their appeal from the clash of musical cultures (rock and classical). Mt. Zion’s songs are also long—the four tracks on “‘This is Our Punk Rock’” consume nearly 58 minutes —but, if only for the presence of occasional vocals, are somewhat easier to appreciate. As its title suggests, “Goodbye Desolate Railyard” is a song about the old railroad at the center of the band’s Montreal community and the way it is being overrun by condos and big retail outlets. “American Motor Over Smoldered Field,” with its warning to the Western world’s power brokers—“The ice around your garden/ Won’t keep the walls from falling,” Menuck repeats again and again—is at once poetic and hypnotic.

Menuck, too, has hit on something new with his vocal delivery; he sings off-key, and he does it on purpose. It’s as if he’s saying to anyone who will listen, “We may not be conventionally beautiful, we may not share your ideas, but we are here, and you are going to have to deal with it.”

In an era when Britney Spears is celebrated as socially aware because she spends an hour with poor kids while the MTV cameras roll, it’s premature to suggest that a band like Mt. Zion or Godspeed You! Black Emperor will be an iconic voice. Band members refuse to play the publicity game; they do not appear in videos, are almost never photographed and, judging by the relatively low price of their records, have no interest in money. But in their own way, Godspeed and Mt. Zion are changing the world, one complicated record at a time.
Kevin Canfield is a writer in New York.

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  • Reader Comments

    While I have never heard of these bands, I am at least inclined to agree that the next wave of social criticism or “new punk rock” may very well come from Canada.  As a young American traveler in Europe this past summer, I encountered countless young Canadian travelers, nearly all of whom, carried an immense chip on their shoulder with regards to American policy.  Though annoying at times due to the frequent encounters of unsolicited Canadian opinions of America(ns), I found this outspoken, seemingly uniform Canadian dissent intriguing.  There is definitely something going on, with young Canadians.  When compared to most of my young American peers, Canadians indeed do seem to have a greater social consciousness.  They are paying more attention.  If music says anything about it’s culture, and I believe that it does, then it is fitting that the “next Punk Rock” come from Canada.  -interesting article…

    Posted by JSneazy on Jan 6, 2004 at 6:08 PM

    Great article.  I wrote about it on my website (www.jhonn.com) if anyone cares to read it.

    Posted by Josh Honn on Jan 7, 2004 at 3:52 AM

    R: political indie rockers.  whodathunk it.

    G: no, no.  “political” indie rockers.

    R: ohhhhh, ok.  you had me going for a little while there.

    ---

    “unified artistic and social vision” ?
    “changing the world”?

    yeah… i dunno about that.  in my experience the indie rock scene has little to do with politics.  at the most some of these artists’ lyrics may convey a vague, cynical criticism of society and government, usually offering no solutions and with no unifying call for action.  i have a suspicion that indie rock hipster voter turn out is as low as the rest of the country.  perhaps godspeed and mt. zion are trying to change this, but are they doing anything more than inserting artsy, politically aware lyrics into their songs.  good luck to them.  if these attempts at increasing civic participation (if that’s really what they are; i might have read some interviews where they said things are hopeless.) are all they are doing, it won’t be enough to cut through the pitchfork-reading retro-wearing indie rock pretentiousness.

    from what i know, indie rock is on the whole less political than punk rock (i’m not referring to mainstream poppunk).  a prime example of this is another canadian band, the weakerthans.  with intelligent, literate lyrics focused on introspection, relationships, and emotions, the band shows a stark contrast in style from the founding member’s former band, Propagandhi, a punk rock band with explicitly political intents.

    in my own personal experience, music played an early formative role in piquing my interest and involvement in politics.  so i’m living proof that political lyrics sometimes do have an influence on its listeners.  however, it was the more explicitly political punk rock lyrics that affected me.  i don’t know if today’s indie rock lyrics and music would have done the same for me, although i like listening to it and appreciate the poetry.

    Posted by Phil on Jan 12, 2004 at 3:09 AM

    “Band members refuse to play the publicity game; they do not appear in videos, are almost never photographed”

    has anyone asked them into the game?

    What hogwash this story is : “judging by the relatively low price of their records, have no interest in money”

    Relatyive to what?  Certainly not to other CDs on Amazon - they are the same price.  Not to the last fw CDs I have purchased - they want more.

    I realize you made up this quote “...we are here, and you are going to have to deal with it.”, but it is the stupidest thing I have ever heard attributed to a musician.

    ‘I play off-key; you have to deal with it’

    No I don’t.  I can go listen to someone who knows what they are doing.

    Posted by Nus on Jan 15, 2004 at 9:53 AM

    Scathing reviews and snide vitriole aside, I’m quite familiar with both of these bands and would classify them as fairly excellent. I still don’t entirely get all the religious content found in the ‘found recordings’ as well as written on one of A Silver Mt. Zion’s covers, but so be it. Perhaps it’s meant to be metaphorical. But I digress. At any rate, I just figured I would like to post a comment a little more positive and in support of these bands. You know, to keep it fair and balanced (har).

    On another note, I’ve contended for some time that ‘punk’ is no longer chunked out power chords ("Chickenshit Conformist” comes to mind). Rather, it’s unique and original non-pop, independent, music coming from bands that care about these principles, regardless of particular style. I believe that was the original point.

    Having lived my life in Louisville, I’ll cite from Slint to Slamdek, from Rodan to Rachel’s.

    GYBE and A Silver Mt. Zion the “new punk?” I won’t argue with that. I will point out, however: it’s been going on for over a decade.

    Posted by Becinot Telnn on Mar 1, 2004 at 1:55 AM

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