Internal Autonomy "Only you have the power" 2 x Ep 1993

Fuck me. It's been two weeks since I posted something here and I still don't really have the time to write a proper review (read "a lengthy ode to my own tastes"). Don't get me wrong I absolutely love Internal Autonomy, but since I already posted one of their records last year and ranted over it, I basically encourage you to check out the review of their "Love and life" Ep. I also strongly suggest you get their discography and their new album "Ferox".

In a time when everyone and their mums is desperately trying to play "dark punk" but often end up playing overproduced, self-indulgent and soulless gothic rock, it just feels good listening to what Internal Autonomy were up to 20 years ago. When I come to think about it, this band had a terrible timing: whereas they were penning wondefully dark and smart old-school anarchopunk tunes, by 1993 Hiatus and Doom were all the rage and the new American anarchopunk sound of Aus-Rotten, Mankind? and the likes was getting stronger. Even in Britain, this brand of punk-rock was almost extinct by then as most bands were getting faster and heavier, even when they remained tuneful like One By One, or they were trying to blend other musical genres with punk-rock, like PAIN with dub music or Witchknot with noise rock (or something). Thus Internal Autonomy remains, in my opinion, a really unique band which, unvoluntarily - almost in spite of them, as I don't think they were really aiming for a specific sound at all - were flying the 80's anarcho flag (in that light, only Indian Dream and to a lesser extent PUS come to mind). This recording doesn't have a female singer like "Love and life" did so it is the bloke singing and while I am a sucker for female-fronted anarchopunk, this offering is still fantastic, somewhere between Lack of Knowledge, Sanction, Flux of Pink Indians and Thatcher on Acid, this would have been a great fit on "All the Madmen" (I mean, there is a bloody saxophone on most of the songs!).

And then, there are the lyrics. Actual anarchist politics that are smart, down-to-earth and radical, stuff you can relate to, stuff that can actually inspire you. "What's is coming to?" is a song about the so-called freedom in modern democracies and how you are only really free to do what you are supposed to do; "Faith" is a song against all rulers, against political parties blinding us with illusions of a perfect world in order to gain power; "Storm" is a class war anthem that will get motivate you to create your own "Bash the rich" march in your local area and finally "Death to discipline" is about the school system and how it brainwashes kids and destroys their indiviudality. The great-looking booklet includes some political writings that delve deeper into the topics at hand. This is a quite odd format, a double Ep, that was released by Profane Existence in 1993. I know this has been posted elsewhere on other blogs but I am not sure the scans of the booklet could be found so here they are.

Take them by storm!