| CD Reviews December 2006 |
| Anarcho Punk Bonanza!!! Though I was more into the more, ahem, "street punk" bands at the time I did have and enjoy a few Anarcho records (mainly the Subhumans, Rudimentary Peni and Conflict) back in the mists of time. But until recently I never truly realised the breadth of sounds that were on offer in this sub-genre. In a way I suppose I thought it was all Crass-soundalikes. Silly me! Overground and Mortarhate (thru Cherry Red) are here to save the day! Recently there has been a welter of re-issues in this area and the great thing for you and I is that they compliment each other perfectly. Cherry Red has embarked on a reissue campaign of Conflict's Mortarhate label, with also new material emerging (particularly the wonder that is the Lost Cherees' new CD "Free to Speak"). All the material so far has come handsomely packaged in digipaks with nice booklets and bonus single and EP tracks. The first four Conflict LPs (all solid, the pick for me being "It's Time To See Who's Who" and "Increase The Pressure"), the wonderful Icons Of Filth "Onward Christians Soldiers" (never listened to them at the time, more the fool me), a thorough Lost Cherees collection from their 80s heyday and the "This Is ALF" and "Who? What? Why? When? Where?" compilations have made a stellar start to this new series and all are worth your attention. The Cherrees marvellous tunes are a high point, but the raw energy of Conflict and the Icons are not to be missed. Add to that the Two Conflict DVDs that have emerged (value for money doubles mind) "Conflict In England" and "Conflict In Britain" which are again nicely packaged and you have what's forming to be a comprehensive overview of Anarcho post 82. Also, the ever on the ball Overground label has come up with a number of aces, to compliment their previously issued Anarcho collections, like their Flux Of Pink Indians and Kronstadt Uprising CDs. This has taken the form of band anthologies and the excellent "Anarcho Punk Comp" series, which has been complied by Sean McGhee. Sean has done a terrific job in pulling all these colletions together, giving equal space to the more obscure bands as well as the better known like the Poison Girls and the Subhumans. The booklets for me are worth the admission on their own, crammed with detail and insight. I was chuffed that John Overground put out the double CD Cravats collection "Land Of The Giants", which for me really is a must buy. Though their connection to Anarcho might be tennous (in fact their connection to any other bands probably is too!), they did for me put out the best ever single on the Crass imprint, the wonderful paranoid nightmare singalong "Rub Me Out". This collection includes all of their "Collosal Tunes Out" LP and selections from all their other recordings. Their new "Seance" single sounds chipper too! Their have been several other releases in this veins as well by Overground. The System's "Is Still Murder" and Icon AD's "Lest We Forget (great vocals) being the pick of these, but also the Disrupters (vets of the Punk and Disorderly comp) colletion also has good points, being a mix of the Ruts and Crass in my view at points. Even the occasional poetry doesn't harm your enjoyment that much! Postcript Ian Glasper's companion Anarcho book to "Burning Britain", "The Day The Country Died" is out now and a quite wonderful read it is too. Like his previous tome, Ian has kept it simple and the book is all the better for it. It is at turns funny, sad and also shocking (witness the sorry tale of AYS). Steve Ignorant's contributions stand out for humour, suss and sense, but there are great stories throughout. More Than Going To B&Q For Some Rawplugs - DIY Messthetics 101 and 102! Thanks to Chuck at Hyped To Death for sending me the next two in the great "Messthetics" series. These two concentrate on the sounds coming out of the London area and surrounding counties between 1977 and 1981. These collections work so well because although there is a wide range of sounds on offer, it's never difficult listening. Although they take you to widely different places, they are great comps because it just sounds fine all the way through. All cheaply recorded and put out by the bands themselves too. For example, the T-Rex meet Swell Maps Steve Treatment is followed by the post Bears Tea Set, then the Lines marvellous Subway Sect style "On The Air" to the Downliners Sect in disguise as the Vacants that sounds a little like the Ruts, to the primitive sampling and electro of Nigel Simpkins. And you're only a few tracks into #102 then! There are many other gems as well on #101, like the Scissor Fits "British Airways", the pre-Homosexuals 1977 band demo of the Rejects, 12 Cubic Feet, the Acid Drops, the list goes on and on... Over the 43 tracks on offer over these two CDs there are very few that fail to pass muster and I've come to the conclusion that Chuck has ears you can trust. Buy them!! What else? As ever good old Cherry Red have sent me some good stuff like the Charge colletion amongst the welter of similar sounding psychobilly. None of that really made an impact on me, if I had to choose the "Deathrow" collection at least complemented the book well enough. DVDs they kindly sent me are listed later on.... One you should look out for is the Pseudo Existors "Stamp Out Normality" on Overground which I really enjoyed, rough and raw as you like Punk Rock from a band who made their name despite only playing 12 gigs!! Also mention must go to the Tights new EP which has three fine tracks which reminds you what a great and totally untypical band they were. Find out about it on their website www.thetights.com Finally I must mention Detour/Bin Liner's "Bored Teenagers 4". I spent a fun night at the Boston Arms in Tufnell Park a few months ago watching the Ordinarys, the Plague, the Machines and Steroid Kiddies (four bands I never thought I would ever see!), all featured on this comp and anyone who has a yearning for the early days of punk, or indeed any punk done right should get this comp now! |
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