The transience of punk bands' popularity is a phenomena that should be studied one day. It is dictated by contexts and trends, by fashion and by how what is deemed worthy of likability is connected with who loves it and why they do. I feel it was not so long (although it probably was a while ago actually I just do not want to admit the passing of time) that few people from the "DIY hardcore scene" around me gave little if any fuck about Exit-Stance. Punk bands connected with Conflict were associated with either mohawked punks or crusties, two tribes renowned for asking for cigarettes, or worse some change, at gigs which is generally frowned upon by the heavily tattooed New Balance-wearing population. Anarcho bands like Hagar the Womb had a clear tie to Conflict through Mortarhate Records, run by Conflict's frontman Colin, but because they were catchy and a bit pop-oriented, they were officially cleared to be listened to. Milton Keyne's Exit-Stance did not have this luck and their heavy, beefy and direct approach at first did little to convince large segments of "da scene" to give them a go.
The black-clad crews of course already knew about one of the most potent and original bands of this peculiar punk wave - or they brilliantly pretended to by posting Youtube videos - when vintage anarchopunk and its insta-friendly visuals started to enjoy a larger comeback in the mid 10's and have become, I believe, well respected since then. I also think that the recent appreciation for the band's old material can be linked to the success of Berlin's Industry, a very fine band highly influenced by the classic Exit-Stance sound - by which I mean their first Lp A Self Portrait At The Stage Of Totalitarian Domination Of All Aspects Of Life is basically a tribute and even included a cover of "They kill dogs" - that has been playing many of the coolest punk festivals and, helped by its second Lp being released on London's La Vida Es Un Mus, a label whose reputation and reach pretty much ensure your band will be touring and enjoying great distribution, managed to appeal to many people far outside the International Federation of Anarchopunk Nerds - I happen to be the leader of the French chapter and subscriptions are open.
On the one hand, witnessing new people, even those who wouldn't know their Icons of Filth from their Anti-System, uttering dithyrambic perorations about Exit-Stance is positive because, first, I also love the band and, second, it allows me to say that I knew them first and mastered their discography since those intensive anarchopunk classes, given by some proper old-timers with bad backs who owned the original records, I took in 2003. On the other hand, it makes me want to behave like a dick and pompously explain that three members of Exit-Stance originally played in the bizarrely named Ethnic Minority, "didn't you know? What a shame, I thought that people wearing an Exit-Stance badge would. And were you aware of Bristol's Exit-Stance, an excellent punky goth band? Yeah, nah, I thought not". But at the end of the day, I do thank Industry for at least making people checking the band and, who knows, maybe other similarly influenced bands would pop up and I would have to shut up for once.
In any case the first Ep of Exit-Stance - a particularly and laughably hard name to pronounce for a French person - subtly entitled Crime Against Humanity stands as one of anarchopunk's hardest and most intense works of the 80's. The three songs included on the Ep were recorded during the same session as "Operation successful", a song specially recorded to appear on Mortarhate's very successful Who? What? Why? When? Where? compilation Lp that showcased the band's strengths that put them on the punk map: punishingly heavy tribal beats, hypnotic guitar riffs and some of the most aggressive, most frontal, angriest vocal flow and prosody of the genre. As a listener you get the impression that that mental lad at the back of the bus decided to sit right next to you and started shouting at you about political violence, oppression and ecology for 7 minutes like an anarchist doomsday sayer. When you mention Exit-Stance people will rave about the incredible, and yet seemingly simple, drumming and the impassioned vocals reminiscent of Conflict or Icons of Filth but arguably even more pissed off. In The Day the Country Died bass player Jevs reveals that the drummer was really into Killing Joke and I like the idea that Exit-Stance blended the heavy tribal beats of this band with the more primitive approach of mid-paced songs from Chaos UK or Disorder or even Flux of Pink Indians and with the angry rants of Conflict, or indeed, Crass. Of course it would be silly to think that the band did it consciously but from the safe place of retrospection it makes sense.
This is an absolute classic and if you read this you are probably already well aware of it. I don't know why it was not released on Mortarhate like the mini-album While Backs Are Turned in 1985 but on its sub-label Fight Back. Quite surprising. Something to do with pressing numbers? Another hidden reason? It had nothing to do with styles as records from Vex or Legion of Parasites were released under the Fight Back banner. The fact that Crime Against Humanity has not been reissued yet is rather shocking but the Mortarhate (and therefore Fight Back) catalogue having been sold, it is Radiation Reissues that takes care of the operations and from what I see they almost never do Ep's. But then Legion of Parasites' Undesirable Guests originally on Fight Bacl as well was eventually reissued on General Speech so who knows what will happen with Exit-Stance's jewel.
No comments:
Post a Comment