Politics and music have danced together for almost as long as music has existed. Once recording came into the picture, the reach and influence of music on politics became increasingly more prevalent. Rising in tandem were the endless optimism of campaign songs and the volatile protestations of bands that eschewed the mainstream and fought for change. Musicians as diverse as Woody Guthrie, U2, Bruce Springsteen, the Clash, Black Flag, Stereolab and the MC5 were infused with a powerful strain of political unrest.

Even when bands never quite explicitly address politics in their music, there can still be an undercurrent that runs through their music that embodies the beliefs that they hold. Take Hang The Old Year, for instance. The Portland progressive rock band initially bonded not only over their shared love of eclectic music, but also over their belief in anti-authoritarian politics.

"We actually connected through Craigslist, about six years ago," says lead guitarist Joshum. "I saw an ad that one of the other guitarists posted, and it talked about radical politics, and some really diverse influences - things like Bjork and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and some post-hardcore music like Majority Rule and Pg.99. We just hit it off and ended up being best friends. Ben Caragol was playing in, and still plays in, a progressive black metal band called Burials, and I was playing in a folk band at the time. We hooked up with a drummer who was playing with a jazz ensemble, and we set about trying to make something that could fit into any genre that we had been working with."

With Brian McCauley on drums and TJ Minich being brought in for bass, after losing their bassist (Tim Iserman), Hang The Old Year was cemented. Surprisingly, for a band that has brought in such a wide variety of influences, the sound that they arrived at is remarkably consistent and unique to them. In talking with Joshum, it seems that they bring their taste for anarchy to bear when it comes to the songwriting process, with each person bringing their own flavor to the proceedings, switching off on lead vocal duties, and not ever declaring one person to be in charge.

"Everyone in the band is a really passionate music nerd," says Joshum. "Our process for writing is consensus-based. It's not really built around one person's vision; rather, everyone collaborates on the songwriting process. It organically formed into something that was complex and drawing from a lot of different sources. We also love classic prog tunes, like Yes and King Crimson, especially. ... Cooperation is a really crucial thing in our values, but also our process as well. Collaboration is important to us, artistically, but it also is reflected in our relationships and in the things we value most."

Over the course of their 30-minute, three-song, self-titled album, Hang The Old Year take you on serpentine, eminently listenable journeys through every musical peccadillo the members possess. The massive sounds of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and King Crimson, in particular, resonate quite loudly in the album. These songs can tend to mind-meld with you, causing you to lose time as you drift away for a few minutes, before Hang The Old Year come crashing back in with slash-and-burn guitars and defiantly bombastic crescendos. It's a thrilling feeling, like listening to "21st Century Schizoid Man" for the first time, every twist and turn giving your heart little palpitations as you're led by the hand past carnival mirrors of musical expression.

Whether or not their politics come to the fore, the feeling left by Hang The Old Year is one of freewheeling thought, untethered by the rigid machinations of expectation. Anarchy given sound in a Portland studio.

HANG THE OLD YEAR, w/ Edhochuli, Blank Boys, Gloss, 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 28, all ages, Le Voyeur, 404 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, $5-$7, 360.943.5710