Smoke Signals

Smoke Signals is an album by the hardcore punk band MDC. The original vinyl release appeared on the band's own Radical Records label in 1986. It was finally reissued on CD in 2001 on the We Bite label and distributed by Plastic Head. The album finds the band moving in musical directions outside of hardcore, with some tracks featuring hints of classic and progressive rock sounds, but it is still largely a punk rock album featuring the band's typically tight, fast musicianship. Lyrics focus on sociopolitical themes typical of punk rock at the time, including sentiments critical of the government and of South African apartheid. One of the band's more humorous songs, "Country Squawk" espouses a pro-vegetarian view over fast, twangy country-western musical backing.