Damn, I can't believe it has already been more than a month since I last enlightened heathenish punks with my wisdom and my impeccably tasteful, splendiferous record collection. But you know, I'm a busy man, what with me constantly traveling to give patronising conferences all around the world or to take part in the numerous photoshoots I do for prestigious magazines. And that's without taking into account all the fan mails I have to reply to, a very time-consuming process indeed. I suppose that's what comes with fame as the reliable and fussy keeper of the precious crust tenets, a bit like Charon but with a "pay no more than" tag.
Anyway, here I am, back again with a tape from a sadly short-lived Halifax band: Outcry. I must have first heard of Outcry through their demo in 2016 that was released on Runstate Tapes, a Montreal based tape label that was quite prolific (with some cracking releases from the likes of Apärä, Mock Execution or Ultrarat) but hasn't put anything out since 2023, but then we all need a break sometimes. Since the late 00's, Halifax has had a strong tradition of quality punk and their local bands almost always hit the mark - not unlike an instance of sustainable agriculture although the farmers probably use pesticides like hard cider or cheap speed - and as a result I am always confident when dealing with them.
To get back to the band's demo, and their overall modest production, I feel it can be said to be largely of its time, anchored. In that respect Outcry certainly captured the mood of the revivalist time in terms of influences and vibe. Musically the band's sound is rooted in the rich in punk points old-school UK82 and anarchopunk sound of the 80's that, from a synchronic perspective, was also adopted by contemporary bands such as Lux, Rubble or indeed Vivid Sekt (although this lot had been around for some years by the time Outcry so that, if I see them in a similar stylistic light, they might have been an influence, if not literally at least conceptually). The music can be said to be retro with a strong UK vibe something that Rosie and Adam already worked on in the aforementioned Abject Pax but not as straightforwardly. I suppose one might argue that this subgenre, this "anarcho UK82", filled a gap and answered the need for snotty catchy spiky punk-rock done by learned DIY punks.
The first recording was fine in its own right and paved the way for the much superior - not to mention available - second effort, a tape Ep (right?) released the next year. The recipe is similar but the production displays more of that raw and snotty energy, managing to confer a genuinely old-school vibe like few did. In fact, were it not as purposefully executed - as intentionally perfectly referential and close to perfection if you wish - you could have someone believe that Outcry were actually a band from Wigan that recorded an Ep for Bluurg Records that never came out because the drummer got pissed and lost the tapes until they were found 25 years later in his mum's garage. I am a sucker for vintage worship so needless to say that I relate to the music here as the band navigates fluidly between established UK82 bands like Vice Squad, The Expelled and their modern Barcelona based interpretation, anarchopunk bands like DIRT, Toxic Waste (especially with the bass lines) or even a primitive version of Crass and I'd throw in some of the 90's anarcho sound of Media Children, A//Political or Mankind?. We're definitely not far from Avaricious as well but I would be at a loss to claim that Outcry had heard about them.
What I particularly enjoy on this tape stands in the bounciness of the songwriting, the catchiness of the riffs and the high-pitched vocals, the simplicity of the beat, they all work well with one another. Outcry do not reinvent the wheel here but if you need some petrol for your female-fronted UK punk engine then they gloriously do the trick. Just good punk-rock that rules my own safe sandbox. I am not sure when the band stopped playing but Rosie kept playing anarchopunk music when she moved to Montreal through her involvement with The Conscripts a band that had members of Primer Regimen, Malokio and PMS 84 that vanished at some point and whose Lp remains somewhat enigmatic.
I think my version of this Outcry tape is the self-released one by the band (I don't remember how I got it because I am well into my forties now and I just forget things) but two other European versions can be found, one on the Kiev based No Name Distro and the other on Oscuridad en mi Vida, a tape only sublabel of the always reliable Symphony of Destruction from Brittany.
Tragically singer Rosie passed away in 2020. I have never met her - or anyone from Halifax now that I think of it - but I enjoy and love many bands she was a part of like Zygome (whom I previously covered) or the underrated Abject Pax among others so that it always saddens me when someone from our punk microcosm dies. La Vida Es Un Mus released a 12" Ep from Rosie's solo project Cry Out (the name seems to indicate that it was very much a continuation of Outcry). It was already meant to be but by the time of her passing the recording was not quite finished so that the result may not sound just like she envisioned it. The result is still very fine, probably more akin to the eerier, more progressive side of UK anarchopunk like Toxic Shock or Annie Anxiety, possibly Faction too, but still keeping that direct snot-punk vibe. An interesting work for sure that is still available and the perfect tribute to a very creative person.
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