MadCowboys

Taking their name from the title of a 1998 exposé about the beef industry written by a cattle rancher turned vegetarian, Calgary’s MadCowboys are three political punks who’ve clearly got a message and a mission. With A Fistful of Dirty Dollars, their 10-song D.I.Y. debut, they mete out some catchy and poppy power punk and ska that owes just a wee bit (politically and musically) to bands like Propaghandi and Operation Ivy. The song "Propagandha” is an ode to their onerous Premier Ralph Klein while "D.I.Y.” is a little ditty that takes the mainstream corporate music industry to task while calling on bands to retain control of the music and the message. A decent enough debut and, hey, any band who sing "Simple Plan can suck my fucking nuts” is OK by me! Listen and learn.