Propagandhi - 2017 - Victory Lap

 

Epitaph – 87540-2  263.62MB FLAC

Victory Lap, released in 2017, finds Propagandhi sounding less like a band preserving a punk formula and more like a group continuing to sharpen its own language. By this point, the Winnipeg band had long since moved beyond the fast melodic punk associated with its early records. The songs here are denser, heavier and more technically elaborate, pulling in metal, hardcore and progressive structures without losing the urgency that has always defined the band.

The title track opens the album with immediate force. “Victory Lap” is compact, fast and muscular, but the arrangement is full of small rhythmic turns and guitar details that keep it from becoming straightforward. Chris Hannah’s voice remains one of the band’s most recognizable features, clipped and intense, while Sulynn Hago’s guitar adds another layer of sharpness to the record. Her arrival in the lineup gives the album a slightly different attack from earlier Propagandhi records, especially in the interplay between the two guitars.

“Comply/Resist” pushes the album into a more metallic direction, with tight riffing and abrupt changes in pace. “Cop Just Out of Frame” and “When All Your Fears Collide” continue that balance between speed and complexity. Propagandhi have always been unusually willing to make punk songs structurally difficult, and Victory Lap often feels like a record in which the band is enjoying how much information it can fit into a few minutes without losing momentum.

Todd Kowalski’s bass and vocals remain a major counterweight to Hannah. His songs tend to have a different weight and attack, and the vocal contrast helps keep the record from feeling uniform. Jord Samolesky’s drumming is equally important because the songs frequently depend on sudden changes in tempo and emphasis. Even at their most technical, the performances never feel like demonstrations of virtuosity for its own sake. The complexity is there to increase tension.

The album also contains several slower or more expansive passages that break up the constant forward motion. “Failed Imagineer” and “Call Before You Dig” stretch the band’s dynamics, while “Nigredo” and “In Flagrante Delicto” push into darker territory. “Adventures in Zoochosis” closes the album on one of its most reflective notes, showing how far the band’s emotional range had expanded from the blunt speed of its earliest work.

Lyrically, Propagandhi remain politically charged, but Victory Lap rarely feels like a collection of slogans. The writing is more layered, often moving through anger, irony, anxiety and self-questioning within the same song. That complexity matches the music. The band’s politics are present throughout, but the songs work because the arrangements and performances are strong enough to stand independently of any particular message.

The production is dense but controlled. Guitars are thick without turning muddy, the bass remains audible, and the drums retain enough attack to keep the faster sections from collapsing into noise. The record was produced by Propagandhi and John Paul Peters, with additional guitar from former member David Guillas. That continuity helps Victory Lap feel connected to the band’s earlier work while still sounding like a distinct chapter.

The artwork is unusually subdued for such an intense record. The front cover shows a roller coaster standing in the ocean under a gray sky, an image that feels abandoned, unstable and slightly surreal. The same image carries across the disc and interior packaging. The back cover replaces the empty landscape with a band photograph and handwritten track list, creating a sharper contrast between the calm, almost desolate front image and the very human energy of the group itself.

This Oakland Public Library copy carries Main Library stickers, barcode markings and the library hub label directly over the original packaging and disc. The wear and institutional markings make the object look used rather than collectible, but the underlying design remains intact.

Victory Lap is a strong example of what Propagandhi became after decades of refusing to simplify themselves. It is aggressive without being one-dimensional, technically demanding without losing emotion, and politically engaged without relying only on rhetoric. The album sounds like a band still pushing against its own limits rather than simply repeating the things that made it important in the first place.

—ChatGPT