Party Politics - Chico News and Review - July 17th, 2008The Wobblies put the fun back in socialist dogmaBy James Barone In addition to having a good time, The Wobblies have yearned to start a discussion. As the name may suggest ("Wobblies” is a nickname for the members of the Industrial Workers of the World union), the Corvallis/ Portland, Ore.-based punk band is mainly concerned with the working class and its place in society. Brothers A.J. and Ty Smith (vocalist/guitarist and drummer, respectively) were both history majors who now teach in Oregon schools. “We’ve always been socially conscious, pro-labor,” says A.J. Smith, a registered member of the socialist party who says he keeps his political views out of the classroom. “[Studying history] sort of gave us an in-depth perspective on the whole thing.” The Wobblies formed six years ago upon A.J.'s return to Oregon from England, where he had attended school for a year. While there, he taught himself how to play guitar and started writing songs. “I needed some kind of background music that I could write lyrics to, so I bought a cheap little acoustic guitar, and I learned a couple of chords and started writing music off of that,” Smith recounts. “When I got back, we got the band together. I didn’t even know how to play guitar standing up.” It was this simplicity, however, that lent urgency to the band’s sound. Fast, loud and, most important, fun, The Wobblies aren’t your typically acerbic politically minded punk band. Instead, they offer something much more melodic that Smith says stems from their songs’ acoustic roots. “As we’ve progressed, we’ve written heavier songs and louder songs, but that folk influence is there in all of our music,” he says. “That’s fun for us, because it provides a little more space for sound, and it’s kind of unconventional.” Though the music is easy on the ear, the message contained in the lyrics doesn’t lack bite. The Wobblies’ pro-labor ethos permeates many of the songs, but as the war in Iraq has trudged on, the group has also added a fair share of protest songs to its catalog. Over the years, their strong opinions have been both accepted and reviled by audiences—and either reaction is fine by them. Their socialist beliefs once got them banned from a concert they were slated to play at an Elks Lodge. ("On their statement of intent that was written ages ago, it said that they would not permit communists, socialists … it actually said Wobblies, too,” he explains). Marines also have protested their shows because of the group’s anti-war stance. The latter of the two incidents, however, led to the type of discourse Smith hopes his songs will incite. “Eventually, we made pretty good friends with one of the Marines,” he says. “After a while, they switched over and became Wobblies fans after one simple discussion, and they’re still coming to shows.” American Bliss, The Wobblies’ latest album, was released earlier this summer. Smith describes it as “a mix of anti-war, pro-working-class, some life songs and some drinking songs.” It was recorded with Tom Van Raiper, who worked on the group’s previous release, and contains 16 tracks, the most the group has put on an album. In another first for The Wobblies, American Bliss also features guest musicians. “For a while we were like, ‘Let’s just keep it as a three-piece [The Wobblies’ lineup is rounded out by Pope Charles on bass]. We’ll only do what we can represent live,’ “ Smith says. “But the additional musicians didn’t really take away anything from what we do live, and it was great to get some friends in there on the CD.” Thematically, the album focuses on Smith’s hope that the American public will wake up and pay attention, but those looking for heavy-handed diatribes—either committed to disc or in person—will be disappointed. “We don’t want to preach,” Smith says. “We don’t feel like our shows are sermons.” Red Dawn Rising Review, The Chico Beat - November 10th, 2006excert of article by Sean CummingsA little later on, probably the most epic punk show this month will be going off over at Monstro's Pizza. Local favorites The Shankers will be there with their signature brand of garage-punk-rockabilly, so we're guaranteed some dancing. Gruk will be playing as well, making sure everyone knows that Punk Is Not Dead. Last but definitely not least, we have The Wobblies from Corvallis, Oregon. These guys may be the most important working-class political punk rock band on the entire West Coast right now. The Wobblies are simple - their music is stripped down, their riffs are classic, their beats are catchy. All of this makes their music extremely accessible and highly anthemic. Their message is also simple. In their own words, the driving force behind the music is "sympathy for the working class struggle and discontent with The Administration's relentless assault upon the common citizen". Since forming in 2002, they've put out three full-length albums, with the most recent, Red Dawn Rising, having 11 tracks of sing-along choruses, social awareness, and raw, fast paced punkrockery. Don't miss these guys. Show starts at 8 p.m., $3-$5 donations, all ages, pizza, beer. Punk doesn't get any better than this. Upstarter - September 2006Portland's proto-socialist punk rockers The Wobblies (The nickname for theIndustrial Workers of the World) bust out 11 tracks of socially aware, fast paced, short attention span friendly, sing-a-long punk. In short, The Wobblies kick ass. This is, in fact, the punk that I want to listen to? My only regret, where the hell were The Wobblies when I lived in Portland? I guess they were still down in Corvallis or something getting their minds polluted with the wicked liberal ideals of college. Tracks 2, "Proud Right Wing" and 3, "Bogata" are personal favorites. I do love a good sing-a-long chorus. Production is raw as are the riffs, but this is punk and it works for its fervor. So thankfully I don't have to rate it on the Malmsteen scale. Overall Grade: A--Jerry Actually Gazette Times - December, 2005"Flames of Discontent"by Jake Tenpas Wobblies headline punk show to raise money, awareness of workers' rights The Wobblies don't mince words. They don't try to dress up their message of socialism, social equality, civil rights and freedom of thought with surreal imagery or overly clever turns of phrase. Even their name, The Wobblies, is straight to the point. Looking to the (Industrial) Workers of the World union for inspiration, they play a brand of genuine punk rock (not that pathetic posturing Good Charlotte and Blink 182 pass off as punk) that seeks to unify all those left out in the cold by the new world order. When The Wobblies take the stage at the Elks Lodge on Friday, Dec. 2, then, they will perhaps have even more to say about the topic at hand than the rest of their brothers and sisters in musical arms. That topic is United Students Against Sweatshops' campaign to put pressure on PT Victoria, a company that until two years ago operated a factory in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the workers were paid 37 cents an hour. When the workers tried to unionize in an attempt to gain better pay and working conditions, PT Victoria packed their factory and moved to Hong Kong without paying the Indonesian laborers their last wages, severence pay or overtime for the 24-hour shift they were forced to work to complete the factory's final order from Eddie Bauer, who used it as a subcontractor. Though Indonesia ordered PT Victoria to pay the snubbed workers their due, because the company had already relocated, the government was powerless to enforce their mandate. Meanwhile, Eddie Bauer, which has a corporate policy to force subcontractors to follow the laws of the countries they operate in, continued to order from them for two years until USAS pressured them to desist. Now, Eddie Bauer is mediating the dialogue between the workers and the owner of the factory, Joe Pang. Unfortunately, until the dispute is settled, there are nearly 900 workers who are short $1.1 million in wages. To say their situation is dire would be an understatement. That's where Corvallis resident Bjorn Warloe came in. After securing the Elks Club for a concert to benefit the workers, he enlisted the Pipe Layers Union, a grunge-punk outfit that specializes in music Mudhoney might have dug, and the Muckrakers, a sort of local supergroup featuring members of Tourist, Arcweld and the Adequits. And of course, The Wobblies, Oregon's answer to both Rancid and the Dead Kennedies. "We're socialists, and our music is definitely political," says drummer Ty Smith, sipping a whiskey and Coke at AJ's Restaurant. "We're a class conscious band. Well surely there's plenty of work to do here at home, I suggest playfully, without looking over seas for people to help. "A lot of the problems we're having here are related to this," he quickly fires back, citing the exploitation of workers abroad as a prime example of the way undermining freedom and workers' rights in other countries leads to the slow erosion of similar principals here in America. "If companies can run rampant over the little working protections they have in those countries, it just makes it that much more profitable," he concludes. "The workers have lost their jobs, their clout." One listen to The Wobblies' most recent CD, "Flames of Discontent" is enough to know that even before they heard of the plight of the workers in Jakarta, fair trade, freedom (not the kind President Bush mocks with every word, but the kind that real men and women have died for throughout history) and civil rights were concepts they supported with every strum of their guitar. On the closing track, "Mutiny," singer AJ Smith yells "And at the tip of a dagger you'll hear us say/ as you're walking onto the plank/ grab your cutlasses boys and have a drink/ there's gonna be a mutiny/ let the captain of the ship who led us astray/ fall into the bottom of the sea." Mutinous words? Words of rebellion and revolution? Perhaps? Words of coercion? Never. "We're not missionaries. We're not trying to convert people to rabid socialism. We're trying to be a conversation starter," Smith explains. It isn't the job of the musician to be a politician, but rather the poet of the masses. Generally, I enjoy my music without overt politics, but sometimes, and never more so than in our current political climate, you just want to crank some righteously angry noise. That's where The Wobblies come in. The last time I caught the group's live act at AJ's, the cops came knocking to enforce the city's noise ordinance. I don't know how many live shows you've been to, but very rarely are bands in bars told to turn it down. The Wobblies are loud. Deafeningly so. They require plugs like the ones each of us sticks in our ears every day to avoid hearing the cries of people around the world with less rights than we have here in America. One person can only do so much, and perhaps those earplugs keep you from losing your mind at the unquenchable fire raging all around you. But you can take those earplugs out, if only for one night, and chance going deaf to hear the message of the other half. With The Wobblies playing it, it never sounded so good. So come on Corvallis, grab those stoppers. Now pull. Jake TenPas can be reached at jake.tenpas@lee.net or 758-9514. Eugene Weekly - August 2005"Flames of Discontent"by Alana Yankus A union such as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) is an odd place to find a band. But back in the early 20th century, the IWW used music for political expression, arguing for the rights of the common man through song, and was labeled with the slang term Wobblies. In 2002, a Corvallis-based political punk band adopted the name and the dogma of the IWW, using music to express the political views of the working class. Brothers AJ and Ty, who wouldn’t reveal their last names, moved from Springield to Corvallis to attend OSU. AJ, the band’s guitarist and lead singer, was spending a year in England and writing songs like mad, so he and Ty decided to form a band when he returned to Corvallis. During the time AJ was away, Ty met Portlander Charles, also an OSU student, and the two started playing together. Though other members have come and gone, the trio is the core of the band. All three members are self-taught, though Ty jokes that it’s punk rock not too complicated. The group takes pride in their stripped-down simplicity. Their subject matter, the class perspective of the working man (dissatisfaction with government and the state of society, etc.), works well with this bare bones sound (more The Clash than Green Day), creating a sort of everyman’s music. They released their first CD in 2003 and hope to realease their second one, Flames of Discontent, in the very near future as they begin a tour this month. Flames consists of 10 raw punk anthems for the average Joe. Throughout the new album, the beat is inconsistent and the lyrics are often unintelligible. If that doesn’t bother you, then pick up a copy. If nothing else, it will make you think. The album paints a bleak picture of a world in which people are losing rights and falling victim to the gross corruption of those in power. “Corporate Criminal” hits the heart of the matter with the lines, “I’m not a criminal, a millionaire is / I’m not a terrorist, the Pentagon is / I’m not a liar, but the President is / I’m not a traitor, but your leadership is.” These opening four lines illustrate the theme and spirit of the entire album: Money corrupts, the government is corrupt, and the very people who are supposed to be helped and protected are being betrayed. The last line of “Swindle’s Victim” emphasizes the theme of using the everyman as a pawn, a disposable piece. It claims, “You are the swindle’s victim, you are the price / They pay to keep their dirty deals alive.” One song, “Lexington Rebels”, compares the attitude of modern wars to that of the American Revolution. It goes so far as to claim that what today’s patriots are fighting for is in exact opposition to what the patriots of the Revolution wanted. “Lack of compassion is the fashion of the day, ” the liner notes read. “The sons of liberty are turning in the grave.” Perhaps the most poignant song is “Half Mast.” Short, but pointed, the song in its entirety is, “Over and over again, they steal our liberties and then they grin / Our freedom lies down in her shallow grave / When the wake is over we walk away and fly that flag at half mast.” There’s nothing quite like the accusation of killing freedom being screamed to the music in your local pub. As do so many bands, The Wobblies want their music to speak for itself. Charged as it is with highly political and socially-aware content, the music definitely has a message for those who can pick it out of the enthusiastic screaming. “What we’re trying to accomplish as a band,” Ty says, “is for people to have fun at shows, but to leave them with something to think about and to hopefully stimulate conversation.” Skratch Magazine - Janurary 2005
SleazeGrinder - November 2004
"Undesirable Citizens" |
