There comes a time in every punk fans life when he has to look at one of the bands that he considers to be "his and prepare to let it go. Thats how I feel about Toronto-based Bombs Over Providence right now. Its only a matter of time before these guys outgrow the venues and crowds that theyve so tirelessly and relentlessly pummelled over the past four years. Shake Your Body Politic is the sound of a band so firmly rooted in their beliefs and so proudly confident in their art that theres nothing they wont be able to do from here on in. The quartet are still pimping dual-vocal melodic aggressive punk rock in the vein of Dillinger Four and Avail, but theyve matured and by leaps and bounds. This 13-track disc boasts smartly written songs that are tightly played and feature clever-as-fuck lyrics. Bassist/vocalist/lyricist Adam Cook seems not to have met a metaphor he wouldnt gleefully chew up and spit out with a carefree smile on his face. His observations on the harsh realities of Western culture are as insightful as they are scathing. With Shake Your Body Politic, Bombs Over Province are poised for greatness without compromise, which is rare in punk rock and reserved for only a deserving few.
What about the politics of "right now inspired the songs? Bassist Adam Cook: Theres this climate of fear thats been indoctrinated and is now so commonplace and such a regular part of peoples concerns, its become an important institution. Its just so weird that the world has never before been so close, but we're just now forgetting all our concerns about globalisation because were psyched about new gadgets and kinda get off on seeing our wasteful lifestyles co-opted elsewhere. I guess what I mean to say is that a lot of our earlier stuff was pretty issue specific, and that was easy to do; whereas now, so many issues are intimately connected to a greater theme of fear.
But most mainstream punk bands shy away from politics. Is that wrong? Cook: Far be it for me to crap on anybody's poetry or anything, but I just can't get into bands who don't at least acknowledge the opportunity to cause some serious and enlightened mischief through their music. The bands that always really got me had something to say and something to provoke. I'd like to try and do something like that.
(Underground Operations)What about the politics of "right now inspired the songs? Bassist Adam Cook: Theres this climate of fear thats been indoctrinated and is now so commonplace and such a regular part of peoples concerns, its become an important institution. Its just so weird that the world has never before been so close, but we're just now forgetting all our concerns about globalisation because were psyched about new gadgets and kinda get off on seeing our wasteful lifestyles co-opted elsewhere. I guess what I mean to say is that a lot of our earlier stuff was pretty issue specific, and that was easy to do; whereas now, so many issues are intimately connected to a greater theme of fear.
But most mainstream punk bands shy away from politics. Is that wrong? Cook: Far be it for me to crap on anybody's poetry or anything, but I just can't get into bands who don't at least acknowledge the opportunity to cause some serious and enlightened mischief through their music. The bands that always really got me had something to say and something to provoke. I'd like to try and do something like that.
