RETURN OF THE WORKING-MAN BAND

Iconic punk group Proletariat reunites

It's often been said that the true father of '80s punk was Ronald Reagan, because he inspired so many bands to write topical songs. Nobody embodied that better than The Proletariat, Boston's most outspoken political punk band of that era. Thursday at Once, it will play its first local show in more than three decades.

Along with the lyrics, The Proletariat was a scorching, inventive band that split the difference between art-punk and hardcore, sharing bills with the likes of Dangerous Birds on one hand and SSD on the other.

“We were a hybrid,” singer Richard Brown said this week. “We hit the scene at just the right time. We were different enough that we didn't get lumped into hardcore — though we played a lot of hardcore shows, we were more of an invited guest. When we started out, we had pretty modest goals: We wanted to play the Rat, record some songs and open for Mission of Burma.”

They became so friendly with Burma that drummer Peter Prescott has been subbing at Proletariat rehearsals, while regular drummer Tom McKnight is living in California. (McKnight will be back for the show, along with original bassist Peter Bevilacqua and new guitarist Don Sanders.)

The band's politics sometimes got it more attention than members wanted.

“The politics lent a mystique to us that wasn't really planned on, it just happened. There was a Revolutionary Communist Youth Party that would follow us around, sometimes they'd get into it with other clubgoers and there'd be a big row. But we lost that fringe element after awhile and were just seen as a punk band. I think our stance wasn't so much anti-American as anti-Reagan. We weren't communists and didn't approve of the Soviet Union at that time. But with the programs that Reagan put in, the supply-side economic programs that cut funds for school kids, we had plenty to sing about.”

And that hasn't changed, since they're writing songs for a possible new album.

“I wrote one called `Scab,' which is basically a pro-labor song. I work in the postal service now, and I'm amazed to see the people voting for someone whose agenda would put them out of a job.”

Also coming is a vinyl reissue of The Proletariat's debut “Soma Holiday” (title courtesy of Aldous Huxley's “Brave New World”), which Boston Rock magazine named the best local album of 1983.

Most of The Proletariat members haven't played since the '90s, when they made a stab at forming a new band, with nearly the same lineup, called Churn. But that band avoided the vintage songs, which are now being dusted off after 33 years.

“The rehearsals haven't been nearly as bad as I expected. Everybody did some boning up on their own before we got together. When I sing the songs, I start feeling the same vibe again. So I can't stand still. So plugging back in won't be a problem, though I'll probably hurt a lot more in the morning.”

The Proletariat, with Ancient Filth and the Pragmatics, at Once, Somerville, Thursday. Tickets: $14$17; ticketfly.com.