EP Review: Union Thugs – Folklore Ouvrier

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Union Thugs

Folklore Ouvrier - Discos Machete Records, Dure Realite, Fire And Flames Music, Kale Borroka Records, Rebel Time Records, Rudy's Back

Montreal’s Union Thugs are a six-piece combo that are on a musical journey through the pages of the revolutionary songbook, one that on their latest release includes Anne Feeney, Jaques Brunet, Leonard Cohen, The Almanac Singers and Molodoi, that is delivered in seven songs of accordion fuelled revolutionary folk punk and oi. Union Thugs are active in organizations like the I.W.W., C.O.B.P. and R.A.S.H. and, more often than not, you’ll find them on the picket lines and the front lines firing up the workers. Union Thugs have now issued their second release, and their debut EP, “Folklore Ouvrier“, via an international coalition of like minded labels scattered across North America and Europe. The “Folklore Ouvrier” EP is delivered in both French and English, whilst I only possess a tenuous grasp of the French language the message from Union Thugs comes through loud and clear, from the opening chords of ‘Intro‘ to the final notes of ‘Preamble To The IWW Constitution‘, a track that lays out a revolutionary manifesto.

Whilst there is a distinctly vintage feel about this EP, mainly because all but one of the songs on “Folklore Ouvrier” is an interpretation of vintage protest songs, there’s an appeal for this EP for any fan of blue collar pro-union rabble rousing punk rock from Dropkick Murphys through to Mischief Brief and Gogol Bordello, with my personal highlight being their interpretation of Anne Feeney‘s 1969 protest song ‘War On The Workers‘. This is an EP that isn’t just words, Union Thugs clearly back up their soundtrack with action and the final verse in ‘Preamble To The IWW Constitution‘ is a sentiment that is echoed within the seven tracks of “Folklore Ouvrier“. “It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organised, not only for everyday struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organising industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old”. 

Folklore Ouvrier” is now available for streaming and as a ‘name your price’ download via Discos Machete (Mexico), Dure Realite (Quebec), Fire And Flames Music (Germany), Kale Borroka Records (Basque Country), Rudy’s Back (France), Rebel Time Records (Canada) and Union ThugsBandcamp.