Agitpop (album)

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Agitpop is the fifth studio album by Canadian band The Lowest of the Low. For the third album in the row, a new bassist is featured with Greg Smith from The Weakerthans taking over for long time Ron Hawkins collaborator Derrick Brady.^[1] The record is very much a product of its time; a collection of protest songs that speak to what's going on in the world. Songwriter Ron Hawkins explains: "It's been a while since I felt the need to take the small p in the politics of my songwriting and capitalize it. But with fascism on the rise again throughout the world it's time to hit 'caps lock' on that P once again."

With the band signed to a major label, Warner Music Canada, the band had the support to seek out a "name" producer for the project and, as big fans of The Clash, they targeted Mick Jones.^[2] When that didn't pan out, a mutual friend then suggested Grammy winning producer David Bottrill on the record. Hawkins, who had issues the last time The Low worked with a "name" producer (Don Smith^[3]) had a much better connection with Bottrill and unveiled an aggressive plan for the recording sessions. "At the beginning I said ‘Okay, I booked fourteen days in the studio, we're going to do fourteen songs’ and he was like ‘Ahhhh, that's fucking crazy dude, you know, that's really ambitious.” Ultimately they recorded 14 songs in 19 days. Hawkins described the finished record as "songs about revolution and redistribution…liberation, love and justice," written in response to the current world we live in."^[4]

The album features one track, 'Bottle Rockets' that for the first time in the band's history has multiple songwriters credited. Previously all the material was written by Hawkins with a few tracks written by former guitarist Stephen Stanley but 'Bottle Rockets' features the full band receiving a writing credit and ex-bassist Dylan Parker getting a credit as well.

The political nature of the music did cause some friction within the band. The first single, 'The Barricade' features the lyric "My next vote's with a brick" and some band members were uncomfortable with the suggestion that violence is the answer. “We had some band discussion and the band wasn't exactly sure that we were representing ourselves, our fans with it,” Hawkins said. “We talked it out and it stayed in the song."^[5]

In a four star review from The Spill Magazine, they praised the album's ability to balance big political ideas and hope. "Lyrically, this purposeful 14-track, 48-minute album, contains a decidedly political theme. While politics can be a somewhat depressing subject nowadays, Hawkins injects his lyrics with hope, unity, and a call to living in the now. The energy is contagious, making this brilliant album a striking, singable, and most of all optimistic offering about affecting change for the better."^[6]

"The Barricade" was released as the album's first single on May 1.

The record was also released as double album on vinyl.

Track listing[]

All songs written by Ron Hawkins except where noted.

1. "Bonnie & Clyde" – 3:04
2. "Bottle Rockets" (Hawkins, David Alexander, Michael McKenzie, Lawrence Nichols and Greg Smith) – 3:56
3. "The Ballad of Late-Era Capitalism" – 2:51
4. "When She Falls" – 2:53
5. "F-Noise (Rebel Radio)" – 2:53
6. "The Barricade" – 3:32
7. "Night of a Thousand Guns" – 5:29
8. "Love 'N' Justice" – 2:40
9. "Imogene" – 3:36
10. "Seven-A" – 2:30
11. "Midnight Maryanne" – 3:24
12. "A Thousand Lights" – 3:53
13. "Permanent Revolution" - 3:49

References[]