An adventure in split Ep's! I have no gun but I can split: SCATHA / THE DAGDA "S/t" split Ep, 2003

Being a little too young to have witnessed Scatha live is one of those regrets I have had for a while, one that will likely never fade although it is clearly not my fault (not like that time I actually gave away for free my copy of Fall of Efrafa's Owsla, a first pressing that costs no less than 100€ today). From what I have read the band was a powerhouse live with a show-stealing drummer. And it doesn't happen that often. There are usually two situations that makes one take a look and notice the drummer during a gig. It's either because he or she is excellent and you just look in awe, enthralled at the magics or because he or she badly fucked up a couple of songs and you're wondering how plastered he or she got before playing. The latter option is pretty easy to spot since the guitar player always turns and looks at the red-faced bellend with serious concern and murder in the eyes while the singer, still facing the audience, desperate tries to maintain some kind of dignity. Oh well. Scatha's drummer belonged to the first category of course. The man is a Celtic octopus.

To be quite honest they were a band I did not quite get at first. Being advertized as having ex-members of Disaffect (I read this on a DIY distro ad promoting the band somewhere), I was expecting some fast punishing hardcore thrash but they were more complex and when I initially bought Birth, Life and Death in 2003 I was basically more than a little... circumspect. I did not dislike it but I was used to much simpler things. It's a bit like eating a chocolate layered vegan cake for the first time after years of stuffing yourself with fake Nutella. It's still chocolate-based but not as straight-forward. It took some time but I eventually did get and grown to love Scatha, which as you will learn in the foldout cover is pronounced "something like sca-huh" (that's punk linguists for you) and is the name of Celtic warrior queen. The crazy tribal rhythmic beats of the music the band used were certainly more challenging than Scatha's imagery and lyrics rooted in Celtic culture. I owned Oi Polloi's Fuaim Catha so I knew that it had nothing to do with the despicable use of Celtic symbols by neo-nazis, dodgy metal bands or my uncle Bob's dreadful tattoos. If anything a band like Scatha did teach me a few things about Celtic culture, belief system and their land-based worldview just like The Casualties taught me that punx and skinz should unite, look good on the streets and get drunk. Who said punk-rock couldn't educational?

The Dagda on the other side were the perfect, the ideal, the obvious counterpart to Scatha. Hailing from Belfast, the band's name refers to a pagan god in traditional Irish celtic mythology often represented with a cauldron and a magical harp. Thankfully the band did not use any of these attributes in their actual music as they did not exactly play experimental trippy hippie music. Just imagine the face of a grumpy sound engineer upon seeing a punk band unloading a fucking harp from their tour van. Priceless. I already knew The Dagda when I bought the split Ep through their excellent Threefold Lp which I listened to a lot (I wish the cover looked better though, I mean, why yellow?). Scatha and The Dagda together on the same record sounded like the most reliable idea where nothing could go wrong, just like a Scottish Bret Hart versus an Irish Mister Perfect in 1993. 

Each band delivered one song on this one. Scatha's "Rant" starts off with a sample from the movie Easy Rider (Glycine Max actually used the very same one to introduce "Violent mind // Peaceful heart") before unleashing their unique brand of epic tribal metallic crust with an almost trance-like vibe that makes one want to sacrifice English policemen. Scatha were a pretty unique band, like Bad Influence or Contropotere, so that they are quite difficult to properly describe. As mentioned the drummer is on fire and each one of his many (and I mean many) tense dynamic rolls actually enhances the songwriting - as he's not (just) showing off - and help turn the songs into powerful cohesive units. There are hints of Disaffect and Sedition in the guitars, fairly logical considering the two guitar players were respectively involved in those band, but Scatha is the crustier band, definitely. Sometimes I am reminded of Misery's apocalyptics mixed with the writing flair and tunes of late Hiatus when they started to progress musically, maybe some sludgecore too and with those recognizable screaming anguished vocals. Production-wise "Rant" is not Scatha's heaviest moment although it certainly still rocks enough and I love how the different parts and paces of the songs work with each other smoothly. This number was recorded in April, 2022 and this was the band's swan song (two other songs that were to be included on the discography were recorded during the same session). Members of Scatha would eventually take part in bands like Ruin or TRIBE, the latter being the logical sequel in terms of Celtic tribal crusty hardcore. 

On the other side, one song from The Dagda is offered, a band whose live performance in 2005 in Bradford was one of the best I had ever seen (granted I was getting a little tipsy when they started playing but then it was already late, like at least 8pm). They were an absolute powerhouse. I suppose you could say the band fell under the "neocrust" umbrella to an extent, a term that has become so synonymous with the 00's that it is seldom used as a praise. And to be fair most of the bands associated with this wave (although none of them claimed the term for themselves as I remember) haven't exactly aged well. When it all kicked out following the success of Tragedy and From Ashes Rise, I was still deep in the formative process of discovery and this new wave appealed to me at first, because the bands were often very catchy and epic in a cheesy way, not to mention that they toured so that I got to see a lot of them between 2004 and 2009. I don't listen to almost any of them these days but they are still popular in some quarters. The Dagda are an exception - along with bands like Schifosi, Muga or even Ekkaia - and if the "neocrust" tag is not irrelevant there is more to the band than this.

The band formed around 1999 (I guess?) with members of the mighty Jobbykrust and Bleeding Rectum (among many other class Belfast hardcore punk bands) so they were not exactly a beginners' act and they started playing before "neocrust" was even coined so that it might be unfair to just dump them with the subgenre without taking into account wider music dynamics. That heavy hardcore and crust punk would eventually go progressive and absorb influences from other neighbouring genres (like post hardcore, emocore or screamo) was inevitable and even welcome for everyone (although some musical blends would have been better left in the artists' imagination). To a significant extent, The Dagda can be seen as a continuation of Jobbykrust even if all the members weren't involved in them. By the end of their run in the late 90's the vastly underrated Jobbykrust had turned into a heavy and dark progressive metal crust monster that stood out at the time and heralded what was to come in terms of songwriting, notably The Dagda. In terms of intensity, emotions and melodies, the link between both bands is strong and obvious.

The Dagda's sound is dark and relentless and versatile, there are a lot of changes of paces (from pummeling d-beat, to heavy mid-paced metallic hardcore or emotional hardcore) and many different narrative parts to "And so I rise". It has that epic, triumphant, unstoppable vibe when they speed things up and the singers sound so genuinely angry and desperate that it is almost contagious. It's clear that His Hero Is Gone must have enjoyed some significant airplay at the Warzone Center in Belfast and there are many dark and melancholy driving guitar leads that would become the trademark of the ensuing punk wave. I am sometimes also reminded of Damad in terms of groove and tension. This song was part of the same recording session at Warzone as their first Lp, 2002's Threefold, that would confirm all the band's potential and remains their best and most intense work with a great story to tell (The Dagda were made for albums given the genre and their fundamentally epic narrative songwriting).

Some beautiful shirts I have never seen here

This is a good split Ep enhanced by some beautiful artwork with a band reaching its conclusion and another one its full potential. This was released in 2003 on Crime Scene Records (responsible for some Boxed In and War All the Time), Panoptic Visions (Debris and Quarantine) and Anonymous Records (Disaffect and Muckspreader).

Scatha / Dagda 

Ace Compilations for Less than a Fiver on Bloody Discogs (part 2): "Walk Across America - for Mother Earth" compilation Ep, 1992

Walk across America for Mother Earth. 

Walk across America for Mother Earth?

Walk across America for Mother Earth...

Almost 30 years after its release, the title of this compilation Ep - Walk Across America - for Mother Earth in case you are a bit slow - remains one of the hippiest of the whole punk history. Despite its unquestionably good intentions, if the Ep is unbeknown to the punk on the street, the title will conjure up horrifying images, visions that few men and women can claim to have survived without going insane. Many could never get over the blinding nightmarishness of the patchoulied worldview. Some became like possessed, converted, swallowed whole into the hippie ideology, never to return. Fucking sandals. Fucking magic crystals. Fucking white middle-class people reconnecting to "Nature" through dancing, playing fucking bongos and doing loads of drugs. Dodgy, fake fucking shamans blagging their way into a cult leadership, leaving you bollock-naked in a field making out with a bong. Ten-minute long fucking solos, Doors' cover and Manu Chao cosplay. I could go on. Abominations that are generally admitted to be the curse of the human race. These are the kind of thoughts that the title of the Ep would evoke out of context. A quick look at the cover of the Ep may also send shivers down the barmy army's spine. Some misdirected souls claimed that on full moons, one could sometimes hear cheesy folk music coming out of the record and that if it did happen, it was strongly recommend to immediately store the Ep next to Sore Throat or Gloom records, reputable talismans against the hippie eye. Of course, the quick-witted punk would not fall so quickly into the abyss, ignore the flying feather and actually read what accompanies the Walk Across America - for Mother Earth title: a well class lineup made up of Hiatus, Political Asylum, Mushroom Attack, Indian Dream, Silent Water and the rather enigmatic Teenage Kicks. And I personally have nothing against hippies, I mean I had a hippie friend back in the day and my cousin even dated one. I am not prejudiced.   

Before dealing with the cracking lineup of this compilation, let me reiterate that the idea behind it was very honourable indeed since, all joking and hippie-basing aside and in spite of confirmed sightings of crystal-worship during the walk, For Mother Earth was an organization responsible for the Walk Across America 1992 initiative in solidarity with the struggles of Native American people across the Americas. All the profits went to the organization and although they cannot have been incredible - it's a DIY punk compilation, not a U2 benefit gig - it is always encouraging to see punks actually giving a fuck. There were a lot of protest, notably from Indian activist groups in 1992 because many American states celebrated the 500th anniversary of the "discovery" of the continent by Columbus. Celebrating the start of an ongoing genocide against Native populations is about the most outrageously insulting they could have thought of, even for soulless politicians. The genocidal policies against Native Americans certainly kept going throughout the twentieth century and still do. A basic summary of the many facets of the oppression and genocide faced by Natives is included on the back of the foldout cover. It is, because of issues of space and clarity, short but it was meant to lead people to get interested and involved in the struggles and dig deeper into those issues. The same year, Profane Existence released the In Spirit of Total Resistance double Ep compilation coinciding with 500th anniversary and the Mohawk uprising in Oka. There were of course more compilations and cooperations between bands to protest against the disgusting, shamelessly revolting celebration, notably from Latino punx. Let's mention the Medellin Contra el Quinto Centenario 1991 tape (with Imagen and GP among others) and the Rock Subterraneo Contra el V° Centenario international tape (with Los Violadores, IRA or Atoxxxico). More recently, in 2005, the 512 Años Despues el Saqueo Continua digital compilation is equally worth investigating with a solid lineup including Doña Maldad, Dios Hastio, Apatia-No or Los Dolares. 

After a whole paragraph of talking about serious stuff, let's solemnly shift focus on the six bands invited to support the worthy cause. First are the mighty Hiatus from Liège. I once professed with authority that Hiatus were probably the best band to have ever walked the Earth and that was not an empty, alcohol-induced claim. There are days when I have the conviction that Hiatus were the missing link between the Neanderthals and modern human beings. Think about it. The Belgian heroes have been regularly included on Terminal Sound Nuisance so this one will be a sitter. The song "Confusion inside my head" was recorded in August, 1990, during the same recording session as the first Ep I don't Scare Easily But... and the split Ep with Reach a Mental Road. At that time Hiatus still had Raf on vocals while Wills was playing the bass (he famously went on to crust things up behind the mike after Raf's departure). This was Hiatus at their most primitive before they became the hugely influential eurocrust powerhouse they are known for. In 1990, Hiatus were rawer, simpler and not quite as impactful as they would become from 1992 on though they still packed a serious punch. Still, the band can be said to have been, maybe not the first - Extreme Noise Error were actually first with their 1988 demo - but certainly the most significant late 80's Doom/ENT/Sore Throat filthy cavemen crust worshipers on the continent so that we should be eternally grateful for that. Absolutely classic crust.

Next up are another former Terminal Sound Nuisance candidate with Indian Dream, whose first 1987 Ep Well Are you Happy Now? was reviewed here almost four years ago (gasp). Again, I am not going to throw myself into an elaborate speech about the merits of Indian Dream and rather, for laziness is also a virtue, encourage you to take a look at the aforementioned older review. With a name like Indian Dream, the inclusion of the late 80's Scarborough lot on benefit compilation in solidarity with Native Americans feels almost too obvious. It is widely known that British anarchopunks in the 80's were fascinated with American Indian cultures and the harmonious lifestyle they stood for in the psyche of young, idealist, pacifist punks. It does sound quite cheesy from the all-knowing arrogance of our 2020's selves and you would probably have punks accusing Indian Dream of naive cultural appropriation, and I suppose it is not an unintelligible argument, but at least the band gave an actual shit about the oppression of Native people and their lyrics reflected their outrage and their support to the struggle. I am not sure when "Discarded" was recorded, possibly during the same session as the second Ep, but it is probably my favourite song from them. Melancholy, moody but uplifting anarchopunk with superb poignant female vocals, this song has everything, from the disarming catchiness of classic anarchopunk to the charmingly cheesy 80's-inspired "tribal" chants that could be awkward but kinda work well with the pagan atmosphere, lyrics and imagery of the band (I may not be impartial here, truth be told). If you enjoy Lost Cherrees, Rubella Ballet or A-Heads, Indian Dream might become your favourite band soon. The two Ep's are brilliant examples of third wave UK anarchopunk and the Orca Lp is a genuine classic with a cover that is the visual equivalent of Oi Polloi's "Whale song". You were warned.

Next up are not Teenage Kicks at all but Pink Turds In Space covering "Teenage kicks" from The Undertones, one of the most famous punk songs ever written and certainly the catchiest chorus of rock'n'roll history - right next to The Exploited's "Alternative" and Doom's "Police bastard" - which the band took a manifest pleasure destroying. This cover actually already appeared on the Wild and Crazy Noise Merchants double Lp compilation (reviewed here) so I will not stun you with endless ravings this time round. PTIS were one of the best bands of the late 80's/early 90's Belfast scene with their fast, mean, magnetic thrashing hardcore punk with some of the raspiest female vocals I have ever heard. Everything they did was top but the split Lp with Sedition was particularly ferocious. Antisociety reissued the full discography of the band on vinyl so don't be a poser and support the scene.

On the B side, guests are welcome with the Scottish anarcho-progpunk champions Political Asylum which, once again, already made a memorable appearance on the blog with their Winter Ep. "Symptom" was taken from their Someday Lp from 1987 and at that point the band was becoming more and more proficient musically, more technical, with more rock and less punk, so to speak, but still deep into anarchism. I like the album and its energy and the tuneful distinctive vocals, almost folkish here, work well but I somehow miss the brooding melancholy of the 1985 Ep and the demos a little - but then "I prefer the early demo to their late material" as the famous ancient punk saying goes. This said, "Symptom" is a solid tuneful song with neat arrangements and a prime example of Political Asylum at the peak of their prowess. Still to be consumed with some moderation because of the unreasonable amount of solos. One is never too careful when punks actually learn how to play their instruments.

The next stop sees us stepping into a much dirtier territory, a dangerous place where toxic armpits rule and toothbrushes are banned: Mushroom Attack's squatters kingdom. This Groningen classic band briefly popped up on the blog through the benefit compilation Ep They ain't Seen Nothing Yet (here) that included a song of theirs. MA are often considered as a pre-Fleas & Lice band and the comparison is not irrelevant although they had no inclination toward crust music. Expect fast and raw anarcho-thrash with dual male/female vocals. I did not remember them to be that fast but the song "Squat and live" certainly delivers with a sound that epitomizes the essence of the typical sound of many European DIY political hardcore punk bands. Dynamic early 90's squat punk at its best that I often to associate with cities like Groningen or Liège that still cradle that sort of noise unit to this day. Early Disaffect definitely comes to mind (not by design but because the musical context led to the formation of bands with a sound like theirs) and other Flat Earth Records bands like Sedition, One By One or Health Hazard and even Jesus Chrust and (German) Enola Gay. You know the deal. "Squat or die" is a song about squatting and fighting gentrification, a battle that was sadly but logically lost. The two classic split Lp's with Ξεχασμένη Προφητεία and Disorder (the brilliantly named Masters of the Glueniverse) have a better, more powerful sound and also comes highly recommended if you are into raw dual vocal hardcore punk with honest political lyrics and into records worth a fiver since their 2001 cd discography pretty much goes for that little. Not the most crucial band of the decade but still thoroughly enjoyable for old-school types. 

The last song is "Your shark" by Silent Water, a band I did not know at all before grabbing the Ep. They were from Belgium, were active from the late 80's to the early 90's and released two tapes and a full album in 1991 with the rather depressing title A Joyride on Waves of Solitude. Hand me the fucking rope. Judging from the titles of the songs, Silent Water had strong anarchist leanings and them participating in compilations alongside Jesus Chrust and Earth Citizens beside the spiky lineup making up Walk Across America. I have no idea what the band sounded like in general - it is actually a one-man man so I probably should have used "he" instead of "they" - but "Your shark" is an acoustic folk song. Not bad at all and it reminds me of Chumbawamba but that is certainly due to the fact that I don't listen to folk music at all, unless I am forced to like that time I had to witness an Against Me gig. Long story. The one SW song I could find had a punky noise-rock touch but I am clueless if it is representative of the style either.

The compilation Ep was released on Be Yourself Records and Bonds of Friendship, the latter being run by the bloke responsible for Conspiracy Records. The Ep has some noticeable surface noise but since we are all half-deaf punks here, I doubt you will be too bothered. Let's call it additional vintageness. I paid about €5 for my copy and if you negotiate cleverly, beg pathetically or blackmail wickedly, you should able to too. 

               

Walk Across America - for Mother Earth 

Give Us This Day Our Daily Death, Uplifting yet Melancholy British Anarchopunk Songs '79/'95: a Compilation

This is the third anarchopunk compilation I did and it has not been banned from youtube (yet?) but I thought that it would be safer to post it on the blog proper. So here we go again.

Third compilation of dark and tuneful British anarchopunk with songs from 29 bands recorded between 1979 and 1995. As with the first two, the purpose of this selection was to emphasize the moodiness and the diverse ways to express anger and outrage that characterize the anarcho wave.  

1. Disrupters « Rot in hell », Alive in the electric chair 12'' Ep, 1985 (Norwich)

2. Faction « Turn away », You've got the fire Ep, 1984 (London)

3. Internal Dimenzions « Wargames », S/t demo tape, 198?'s (?)

4. Youth In Asia « When the wind blows », S/t demo tape, 1983 (London)

5. Potential Threat « A cry for help », Brainwashed Ep, 1984 (Blackburn)

6. Icon AD « Fight for peace », Don't feed us shit Ep, 1982 (Leeds)

7. 7th Plague « Painful death », Aristocrap compilation Ep, 1984 (Wolverhampton)

8. Toxic Waste « Traditionally yours », The truth will be heard split 12'' with Stalag 17, 1985 (Belfast)

9. Slaughter Tradition « Nightmare », Passion revolt demo tape, 1983 (Wales)

10. TVOD « War is for rich men », TVODemo demo tape, 1985 (Bolton)

11. The System « Their corrupting ways », Thought control Lp, 1983 (Wigan)

12. A Touch of Hysteria « Death cart », S/t demo tape, 1983 (Ambleside)

13. Anathema « Fighting to win », Smash the illusion/Acceptance split tape with Systematic Annex, 1986 (New Malden)

14. Wartoys « Ignorance », Indoctrination is the system, indoctrination is death demo tape, 1983 (Wigan)

15. Riot/Clone « A letter to no one », Still no government like no government 2xLp, 1995 (Ashford)

16. Schwartzeneggar « Child of the times », Art XX craft cd Ep, 1993 (London)

17. Honey Bane « Porno grows », You can be you Ep, 1979 (London)

18. Anthrax « It will be alright on the night », Who? What? Why? When? Where? compilation Lp, 1984 (Gravesend)

19. Alternative « Love and life », If they treat you like shit, act like manure Lp, 1984 (Dunfermline, Scotland)

20. FUAL « Repetition », S/t Lp, 1990 (Belfast)

21. The Apostles « Worker's autonomy », Punk obituary Lp, 1985 (London)

22. Chumbawamba « Common ground », Common ground demo tape, 1984 (Leeds)

23. The Assassins « Ronnie's bomb »,  S/t demo tape, 1983 (London)

24. The Mad Are Sane « Collision », Look further than vengeance demo tape, 1985 (Bournemouth)

25. Reality Control « Another sunrise », The reproduction of hate Ep, 1983 (Newcastle)

26. Two-Fingered Approach « World War album », My World War album Ep, 1982 (Cheshire)

27. Omega Tribe « When I'm with you », S/t demo tape, 1984 (Barnet)

28. Morbid Humour « Give us this day », Daffodils to the daffodils here's the daffodils compilation Lp, 1984 (Bradford)

29. Blood And Roses « Necromantra », Love under will 12'' Ep, 1983 (London)

Give us this day our daily death

The Terror of Loaded Guns, Diverse Textures of Moody British Anarchopunk '82/'93: a Compilation

This was the second anarchopunk compilation I did for youtube and, just like the first one, because of monetisation issues, it also got banned from the platform and cannot be uploaded again and I don't really care that much to be honest (do you?). Anyway, here it is with the original introduction.

This is my second anarchopunk compilation after "All the lonely faces" with a selection of 28 songs from as many bands that existed at some point between 1982 and 1993. 

This time I tried to go for a more narrative feel and convey a sense of storytelling informed by the arrangement of the songs. On the whole, the atmosphere is rather moody, sometimes melancholy or bitter, sometimes poignant and hopeful. I also intended to select songs that are different from each other (there are some acoustic and strange-sounding tracks here) but hopefully echo with each other significantly. There are some well-known faces here as well as more obscure bands but all were connected with the anarchopunk world.

1.Blood Robots « Loaded guns », S/t demo tape, 1984 (Newcastle)

2. DIRT « Mother », unreleased Ep, 1985? (London) 

3. Thatcher On Acid « Put it in », Frank Lp, 1990 (Somerset)

4. The Waste « Stop the hate », Not just something to be sung Ep, 1986 (Exeter)

5. Decadent Few « They shoot children », They shoot children Ep, 1993 (London)

6. Man's Hate « Porton Down », Forward into the abyss demo tape, 1988 (Peterborough)

7. The Amebix « Moscow madness (no gods part 2) », No sanctuary 12'' Ep, 1984 (Bristol)

8. Internal Autonomy « Trapped », Inquiry Lp, 1990 (Surrey) 

9. Flowers in the Dustbin « The journey's end », Freaks run wild in the disco 12'' Ep, 1984 (London) 

10. Terminus « Terror is the best of guards », Going nowhere fast Lp, 1990 (Scunthorpe) 

11. Joyce McKinney Experience « Ghost in the mirror », Braemar demo, 1992 (Leamington Spa) 

12. Decadence Within « A breath of fresh air », unreleased Ep, 1987 (Ledbury)

13. The Astronauts « Typically English day », It's all done by mirrors Lp, 1983 (Welwyn Garden City)

14. Dominant Patri « Experiment », Heroes'  glory demo tape, 1983 (Luton)

15. Passion Killers « Why? », Motion... yet motionless demo tape, 1984 (Leeds)

16. A-Heads « Forgotten hero », Forgotten hero Ep, 1983 (Warminster)

17. Conflict « To be continued », The ungovernable force Lp, 1986 (London)

18. Toxik Ephex « Final epitaph », The adventures of Nobby Porthole the cock of the North Lp, 1991 (Aberdeen)

19. The Pagans « Quality of life », The cuckoo has flown demo tape, 1982 (Warminster)

20. Hex « Initiative », Nothing ventured nothing gained split Ep with Feed Your Head, 1987 (Sunderland)

21. Earths Epitaph « Reality song », Child's play demo tape, 1985 (Cwnbran, Wales)

22. Flux of Pink Indians « Is there anybody there? », Strive demo, 1982 (Bishops Stortford) 

23. Virus « 3rd world wonders », You can't ignore it forever demo, 1985 (Dorset)

24. Dan « I think I should », Where have all the children gone? Lp, 1987 (Darlington)

25. Louise « Ribbons and roses », Chiswick demo tape, 1989 (London)

26. Kronstadt Uprising « The horsemen », Part of the game Ep, 1985 (Southend-on-Sea)

27. Blyth Power « Bind their kings in chains », The barman and other stories Lp, 1988 (Somerset) 

28. Paranoid Visions « Strange girl », The robot is running amok Ep, 1986 (Dublin)

The Terror of Loaded Guns

All the Lonely Faces, Darker Shades of British Anarchopunk '82/'92: a Compilation

To help you fight boredom, here is a reupload of the first anarchopunk compilations I did and that youtube banned a few month ago. Below is the original text detailing the thought process and my motivation behind it. Unfortunately, youtube won't let me upload it again but if there are any takers, feel free to do it. 

This is a compilation of 30 anarchopunk bands from Britain with songs recorded between 1982 and 1992. 

The selection reflects a specific angle as I only picked songs that were not your usual snotty and punky numbers but rather, were informed by postpunk or goth. 

I am aware that both terms have been misused and overused in recent years and this is a modest attempt to show that anarchopunk was not a "genre" but an approach to music and shared values. On this compilation, the moody, dark, melancholy side of the anarcho spectrum is partially and hopefully aptly represented.

I tried not to pick bands, songs and recordings that are too obvious and focused on bands who, for some unfathomable reason, have not benefited from the "dark punk trend" of the 2010's (not that this is any sign of accomplishment in itself, trends come and trends go). 

I am not aiming for exhaustivity but intended to present a relevant, significant set of songs (some of them pretty obscure) as a meaningful testimony of the "postpunk" influence on the British anarchopunk wave.

I did my best to use my own rips whenever it was possible and to equalize the sound levels so it has a "mixtape feel". I hope I succeeded and hope you enjoy it!

Cheers

1. Lack of Knowledge "We're looking for people" from the Grey Ep, 1983 (London)

2. Anarka And Poppy "P.O.P.P.I.E.S." from the All that is shattered demo tape, 1983 (Preston)

3. Famous Imposters "The cage" from the Cradle to the grave demo tape, 1983 (Newcastle) 

4. I'm Dead "Page after page" from the Page after page/Necrolatry split flexi with Epidemic, 1984 (Kent) 

5. Shrapnel "Autumn" from the Acts of desperation split Ep with Toxik Ephex, 1989 (Briton Ferry, Wales) 

6.Awake Mankind "Disappearing world" from the Freak demo tape, 1984 (Portsmouth) 

7. Systematic Annex "All the lonely faces" from the Acceptance demo tape, 1985 (Sheffield)

8. This Bitter Lesson "In the eyes of a child" from the Value of defiance demo tape, 1982 (London)

9. Civilised Society? "Tonight" from the Who would have thought? demo tape, 1985 (Batley)

10. Polemic "End song" from the S/t demo tape, 1982 (Fareham) 

11. Smartpils "Life cycle" from the Open mind surgery compilation Lp, 1985 (Bath)

12. Know The Drill "The offending article" from the Who? What? Why? When? Where? compilation Lp, 1984 (Manchester)

13. Nox Mortis "In memoriam" from the Spleurk compilation Lp, 1988 (Southampton) 

14. Null And Void "An old way" from the Four minute warning! demo, 1982 (Yeovil)

15. Hysteria "Tears of wax" from the Behind the veil 12'', 1984 (Plymouth)

16. Cyanide Scenario "Awayday to Auschwitz" from the unreleased split 12'', 1985 (Surrey)

17. Hysteria Ward "Vietnam" from the Breakfast to madness demo tape, 1986, (London)

18. Naked "War machine" from the S/t demo, 1984 (Sheerness)

19. Karma Sutra "Intelligent life" from the Daydreams of a production-line worker Lp, 1987 (Luton) 

20. Rubella Ballet "Slant & slide" from the 42°F 12'' Ep, 1984 (London)

21. Indian Dream "Discarded" from the Walk across America for Mother Earth compilation Ep, 1992 (Scarborough)

22. Paranoia "Dead man's dream" from the Shattered glass Lp, 1984 (Stoke-on-Trent)

23. Lost Cherrees "Who believes it?" from the Unwanted children 12'' Ep, 1985 (Sutton)

24. The Deformed "Psalms" from the Blind faith Ep, 1985 (Lowton)

25. The Dead "Prince of darkness" from the Rest in peace demo tape, 1984 (Whitehaven) 

26. Kulturkampf "3rd world holocaust" from The corpse of bureaucracy demo tape, 1983 (Barnsley)

27. Political Asylum "Trust in me" from the Fresh hate demo tape, 1983 (Stirling, Scotland)

28. Cold Vietnam "Winds of change" from the Blast into action with hunt the man demo tape, 1988 (Redditch)

29. We Are Going To Eat You "Life of lies" from the Four heads feast demo tape, 1986 (London)

30. Vex "Pressure" from the S/t demo tape, 1983 (London) 

All the Lonely Faces

Last Week's Trend is Now Passé (part 3): Toxic Waste / Stalag 17 "The truth will be heard' split 12'' Ep ,1985

I don't know if you have noticed yet, it depends on how perceptive you are, but it would not be an overstatement to venture that, here, at Terminal Sound Nuisance's international headquarters, we could be described as being rather fond of records. Not just the music, but also the record, apprehended as a contextualised subcultural artifact telling its own story, while at the same time being part of many broader narratives related to a specific time and place.

I can vividly recollect how, when and where I got this particular piece of wax, the Toxic Waste/Stalag 17 split 12'' Ep, as it was a very lucky pick, one that, I now realize, had a lot to do with the locals's relative ignorance of anarchopunk. The happy event took place in 2013 at a punk festival in Paris where a few historical anarcho bands were playing (The Mob, The System or Hagar the Womb were on the bill). Being a good friend of the organizer, I was quickly told that Roy Wallace was present and that he had brought some 80's records he had found in a box in his attic. I was aware that beside being responsible for the very good punk documentaries Amebix - Risen and of course The Day the Country Died, the man had played in Toxic Waste so there was, after all, a small but credible chance that original copies of vintage Belfast anarchopunk would be floating around. I remember the record box to be rather small and there was a light emerging from it, as if it were cradling a godlike entity. I immediately spotted the grail, this old and worn out copy of the split (as if water-damaged or something) which I ruthlessly grabbed, my hands acting quicker than my brain, as if by reflex, at the speed of a crocodile surprise attack (that's what bewildered witnesses said in awe afterwards). I just could not believe how lucky I was. It was fate and miracles did happen after all. A near mint copy of the fantastic Toxik Ephex's Nobby Porthole Lp also ended up in my welcoming lap causing me to hyperventilate a little and I know full well that a third pick of that order would have probably sent me to the nearest hospital, if not directly to the morgue. I would have died happy, mind you. And because they were offered by a noble punk who still believes in anarchopunk decency, the two records were sold at their original prices with no inflation or speculation whatsoever. For once, I did not pay more than the "pay no more" tag which felt like an exhilarating victory and like I was back in the 80's and not just an easy prey for speculating wankers. Ebay could fuck right off. It was a great day indeed.

Although Toxic Waste was never a "famous" punk band outside of Belfast, my mates and I listened to them a lot in the early 00's as I owned the split cd with Bleeding Rectum which I bought in 2003 at Out of Step Records, a brilliant record store in Leeds that I visited several times. I think I bought the cd because it had the Active Distribution logo and I really liked what they stood for, although I could not figure out why they would help distribute a band called Bleeding Rectum, a goregrind name for a non-grindcore band that puzzled me. Punk works in mysterious ways. But anyway, I took the cd home and everyone loved it, TW sounded better than DIRT and their radical lyrics about life and politics in Northern Ireland really appealed to us. We were already fond of Ulster bands like Stiff Little Fingers, The Outcasts or The Defects, but this was a Belfast anarchopunk band singing "Burn your fucking flags" in the 80's and that took courage and we admired them very much for that, even twenty years later. Although I don't remember us ever listening to the 21 (!) Bleeding Rectum songs at the time (we did giggle a bit when mentioning the name to be honest), we played the TW songs so often that we considered starting a band that sounded similar, dual vocals anarchopunk with grit and tunes. Alas, the year was now 2005 and we ended up playing rough metallic neocrust like everyone and their mother at the time. Hindsight sucks.

The early Belfast punk scene has been well documented and I strongly recommend the documentary Made in Belfast and the book It Makes you Want to Spit, and obviously The Day the Country Died if you want to see what Toxic Waste and Stalag 17 have to say about their experience as young anarchopunks in the 80's. Context is everything and I suppose growing up in such a violent, polarised, sectarian environment, if not a warzone, made punk so much more than just a look or a genre, it was a liberation and sung in the Northern Irish context, many words took on a different, stronger, more radical meaning. I suggest you read the many testimonies from far more eloquent people than I with actual first-hand experiences of the events, and I am now going to proceed to The Truth will be Heard's content. It was the second recording of TW, the first one being the Unite to Resist demo tape, recorded in 1983 with the first lineup, a song off which, "Good morning", was included on Mortarhate's We don't Want Your Fucking War compilation Lp. The band then moved from Newtownards to Belfast, with Roy from Wardance replacing Dane on male vocals. Following a UK tour with Conflict in 1984, the band was offered to record a split that would be released on Mortarhate. The three TW songs were recorded in a proper BBC studio in Newtownards and therefore the sound is unusually clear for an anarchopunk records. Whereas many anarcho recordings at the time had a rather raw and direct sound (which they both suffered and benefited from), TW's is - excessively? - clean and probably more suitable for a cheery pop-rock act than a juvenile pissed punk band. As a result, these three songs are quite unique in that they are objectively overproduced but still remain in the department of snotty straight-forward punk anthems, with the professional production highlighting rather than hiding the mandatory sloppy bits and the heartful amateurishness (the distorted bass sound is naively overwhelming for instance). That's the thing with a clean sound, you can hear everything with clarity, both the good and the, hum, not so good.

I absolutely love these songs though and how passionate, urgent and incendiary they sound in spite of the production. There was no shortage of reasons to feel angry and frusrated and you can easily tell that TW were outraged at the injustices, the state oppression, the narrow-mindedness, the brutality, the bloody polarisation that were part of the Northern Irish context, and this concentration of anger is reflected in the music's teenage urgency. Rephrasing TW's lyrics would not make much sense but they are certainly more clever than those of your average 80's British punk band (but then, I suppose one had to grow up fast in such a charged context). TW were not just a direct punk band though as they included many tuneful arrangements in the songs, from the melodic poppy introduction to "Traditionally yours", the torturous, slow-paced, stomping introduction to "Burn all flags", to the epic conclusion with spoken words to "Song for Britain", there are enough catchy hooks to remind you that 80's Ulster punk was essentially and memorably tuneful while not wandering too far from the classic formula. It's got both spikes and tunes. The dual male and female vocals work perfectly together as they achieve the right balance between snotty aggression and poignant hopefulness. I would personally argue that very few bands have done this type of trade-off anarcho vocals better than TW. Because of the mutual history between the two bands, the comparison with DIRT is very common and quite sensible. I would personally also send invites to Alternative, early Conflict and maybe The Partisans, but with an Ulster flair.

Following this split, TW recorded four songs for a split with Stalag 17 (again) and Asylum for the We will be Free Lp released in 1986 on Warzone Records. This time with a proper, more balanced production, these new songs sounded even better. Absolutely wicked stuff. TW then gradually disintegrated, with Roy moving to London and recording songs with Deno from DIRT on vocals that would appear on the Belfast Lp in 1987 that also included the TW songs from the two former splits and Marty forming the mighty Pink Turds In Space (the two would reunite in Bleeding Rectum, hence the cd reissue with the two bands). The band has reformed sporadically in the 90's and even in the mid 00's if memory serves (does it?).

Trigger warning: the lyrics are Miltonian long.

A part of me - the indecorous one - would love to tell you that the other side of the split is just not that good, that it borders on the average and is thus not worth a maniacal rant on my part, especially since it is sunday, after all, and I could rather take a long walk and try to catch the coronavirus in order to skip work instead of educating the unwashed masses about the greatness of mid-80's Belfast anarchopunk. But who am I fooling, really? You and I know full well that we are both in for an epic love letter to Stalag 17. Again, I strongly advise you peruse the chapter devoted to them in The Day the Country Died in order to grasp the context from which they emerged. Like TW, S17 were very active in the Warzone collective and helped open Giro's, a self-run social centre in 1986 that played a crucial role in Belfast (full story here) and in the collective punk memory, TW and S17 remain the two most iconic 80's anarchopunk bands from Belfast, who conveniently shared two records as well. So if you ever end up having to speak in public about anarchopunk in Northern Ireland, just sternly declaim the lyrics of "Burn your flags" and "Forgotten victims' and you should be alright.

Like TW, S17 (I am really doing my best not to think about East 17 whenever I type the abbreviation) had a song on a Mortarhate sampler, 1984's We don't Want your Fucking War!, but I don't think I heard them until the release of the Anti-Society compilation cd in 2006, and although it would be erroneous to hail the song "Doomsday machine" as an undying S17 anthem, it still showcased one element that immediately comes to mind when someone mentions the band: Petesy's vocals, and more particularly their particular tone and flow, neither really sung nor really spoken, and fast-paced. I must have downloaded whatever I could find afterwards and instantly fell head over heels when I got to listen to their side of The Truth will be Heard. The opening number "Party talk" aptly demonstrated what the band could do. Starting with an extract from a political speech that has Thatcher spewing Tory propaganda about Ulster and denying the brutality of Britain's colonial rule, the listener is quickly aware that some serious political anger is going to be unleashed. The song itself is a rather raw (especially compared to TW's side!) and mid-paced anarchopunk song that ticks the correct boxes in terms of catchiness, intensity and moodiness, but it is the vocal style that turns a rather classic piece into something different. The singer almost never stops, delivering a politically-charged speech about the parties in power with that sort of vocal inbetweenness that characterised Petesy's work (although I would venture that it came naturally to him and he just had a lot to say in less than three minutes). It is indisputably a pulchritudinous anarchopunk song (right?) but the next one, the gloriously epic "Forgotten victims", really takes the cake.

Anarchopunk being after all, for the most part, punk-rock, the average length of an anarcho song is about three minutes. Of course, there are many exceptions and anarchopunk was fortunately not as generic and restrictive as the so-called UK82 school, but still, seven minutes long songs were not exactly the norm in 1985 for any punk band. And yet, S17 did exactly that with "Forgotten victims". Whereas Chumbawamba also tried to write longer songs by adding a more narrative aspect and by diversifying the song structures, S17 did not change its recipe at all. Again, I feel like they had too much to say in just a couple of minutes so they basically played the song twice in a row. And not only did it work, since the listener is never bored, but you could argue that the song's insistence and emphasis reflect the sum of emotions and hardships that living in wartorn sectarian Belfast generate in a teenager's heart. "Forgotten victims" is basically an alternation between a heavy and rather dark anarcho tribal beat and a faster, intense but tuneful moment with, once again, an unstoppable vocalist speaking out against oppression (there are no less than thirteen stanzas to the song). It must be one of my favourite anarchopunk tune of the era, despite its odd construction (the end is quite abrupt), and I cannot think of many contemporaries that were able to convey so vividly such a sense of outrage, hope and despair, in just one sloppy song. For all its flaws, it is a genuine anarchopunk anthem that gives me the goosebumps every time I play it. As I said, the vocals really set S17 apart and make the band instantly recognisable, although the music can be described as classically trained anarchopunk, reminiscent of Flux of Pink Indians, The System or Subhumans.

With a different lineup S17 went on to record a song for the You are not Alone compilation Ep on Words of Warning in 1986 (that was reviewed here four years ago almost to the day), two demos (And all the Birdies Sang Fuck this for a Lark and Erection 87) and contribute five punktastic gems to the We will be Free split Lp with Asylum and Toxic Waste. The new lineup made S17 tighter, harder-hitting, but also more tuneful and diverse, maybe not unlike the nascent wave of melodic hardcore punk with bands like Depraved or Hex. The band dissolved in 1987 and Petesy formed the brilliant FUAL with Crispo from Crude & Snyde.

A poster? What poster???

It is high time TW and S17 get properly reissued since their materials are quite hard to find and above all preposterously expensive. The Truth will be Heard was a cojoint release between Mortarhate and Warzone Records and my copy contained a political pamphlet entitled Divided Conquered and Shit Upon... or Nearly edited by the Warzone collective, a very interesting read that epitomised what anarchopunk was about in Northern Ireland. It is more than just music so read it. 

The punk will be heard

Tunes & Snot with a Message - The Recesses of the Anarchopunk world (part 4): We don't have to Live like This

This is the fourth part of the anarcho mixtapes marathons and you know the drill by now. As the previous compilation showed, selecting songs can be tricky and mistakes can be made in this day and age of cultural abundance and overproduction. Hopefully, I got them all right this time but feel free to comment if I have not. As my venerable kung-fu master used to say "mistakes allow thinking to happen" (or maybe it was an Ace of Base song, I can't remember). 

Anyway, there will be one more of these compilations and then I'll be back to my raving mania. 

Here is the tracklist for this one:  

01. The Epileptics "1970's have been made in Hong Kong", from the March 1979 demo tape, 1979 (Hertfordshire, England)

02. Carnage "All the sad people", from the All the Sad People Ep, 1983 (Bexhill-On-Sea, England)

03. Vendetta "How much longer", from the Aristocrap compilation Ep, ? (Wolverhampton, England)

04. Defyance "From a nightmare to a dream", from the Alternative to Nothing compilation tape, ? (?)

05. Urban Decay "Incinerate", from a demo tape, 1980 (Harlow, England)

06. The Strength of Weakness "Borstal boy", from the Keep going demo tape, 1984 (Bridgend, Wales)

07. Self Abuse "(I didn't wanna be a) soldier", from the Teenage demo tape, 1983 (Bournemouth, England)

08. Psycho Faction "Oppose war, oppose law", from a live tape, 1982 (Whitehaven, England)

09. Another Warcry "Past, present, no future", from the War is Murder compilation tape, 1984 (Blackburn, England)

10. Danbert Nobacon "Angry words", from the Volume One - March 1989 tape, 1989 (Leeds, England)

11. Crow People "Strolling", from the Cloud Songs 12'' Ep, 1987 (Doncaster, England)

12. The Snipers "Nothing new", from the Three Peace Suit Ep, 1981 (Oxfordshire, England)

13. The Convulsions "Media punx", from the Enemies of the State compilation Lp, 1984 (Bradford, England)

14. Radical Alternatives "Waiting room", from the Spirit of an Old Age Anthem compilation tape, 1982 (?)

15. Stress "Strike back", from the The Beginning of the End compilation tape, ? (?)

16. Stone the Crowz "Minds decayed", from the Suffer Little Children demo tape, 1985 (London, England)

17. Classified Protest "False dreams", from the S/t demo tape, 1984 (Gwent, Wales)

18. Farce "Just another animal", from the S/t demo, 1984 (?)

19. A.P.F. Brigade "Disease", from an unreleased Crass Records Ep, ? (Peterborough, England)

20. Generic "Coca-Killer", from the Join the Conspiracy demo tape, 1985 (Newcastle, England)

21. Failing Parachutes "The good old days", from the Spirit of an Age Old Anthem compilation tape, 1982 (?)

22. Legion of Parasites "I hate you hate", from the Another Disaster demo tape, 1982 (Pavenham, England)

23. Crude & Snyde "Right to survive", from the S/t demo tape, 1987 (Drogheda, Ireland)

24. Abstract Critique "Coriolanus", from the A Midsummer Night's Boob compilation tape, ? (Waterlooville, England)

25. Screams of Children "Walk away", from the Alternative to Nothing compilation tape, ? (?)

26. Co Exist "Silent scream", from the To Russia With Love compilation tape, 1985 (Brighouse, England)

27. Black Solstice "No more bright eyes", from their S/t demo tape, 1987 (Camberley?, England)

28. Look Mummy Clowns "Chuggin in the riggin", form the Ongoing Zeugma Scenario Ep, 1984 (Waltham Cross, England)

29. Freeborn "This country", from the Imprisonment demo tape, 1983 (Wisbech, England)

30. Upset Tummy "State oppression", form the Spleurk! compilation Lp, 1988 (London, England)

31. Practical Existence "Protest and get arrested", from a demo recording, ? (Glasgow, Scotland)

32. Icons of Filth "Fucked up state", from the Not On Her Majesty's Service demo tape, 1983 (Cardiff, Wales)

We don't have to live like this

Tunes & Snot with a Message - The Recesses of the Anarchopunk World (part 3): There ain't no Heaven cuz this is Hell

Alright then, this is the third installment of my 80's UK anarchopunk compilations series, this time with a rawer, punkier approach maybe but still with that all important tunefulness. As I mentioned previously, not all of those bands could be characterized or indeed described themselves as "anarchopunk" but had ties with the anarcho world in some way. Some of them were one-hit wonders bands (like Wardance or Stigma), others became quite well-known (like Oi Polloi or The Instigators). 

The humble purpose of such compilations, apart from being a tribute to the lovely 80's punk mixtapes, is to convey a sense of the diversity of anarchopunk but also to stress its commonalities. And of course, to provide a healthy slice of catchy, angst-fueled punk-rock. And they are fun to compile actually. I have also tried not to include bands that I had already selected for previous compilations (there's enough material to avoid being redundant methinks). 

01. The Deceased "Boredom", from S/t demo tape, 1982 (Wigan, England)

02. Chronic "No time", from the split flexi with Living Dead, 1981 (Bradford, England)

03. Criminal Justice "Criminal justice", from the The System Is... tape, 1983 (Huddersfield, England)

04. The Mental "18", from the Extended Play Ep, 1979 (Warminster, England)

05. Steve L "There's a place", from the Open Mind Surgery compilation Lp, 1985 (Warminster, England)

06. Wardance "Stand the proud", from the We don't Want Your Fucking Law! compilation Lp, 1985 (Belfast, Northern Ireland)

07. Society's Victims "Army", from the Who is the Enemy? compilation tape, 1984 (Fife, Scotland)

08. Devoid "Conned", from the No Sense tape, 1982 (Redditch, England)

09. Indecent Assault "Nation's prisoners", from the Dawn of the Android Workers Ep, 1986 (Dudley, England)

10. Wasted Amongst Reality "Protest and survive", from the Please Don't Feed the Missiles demo tape, 1984 (Whitby, England)

11. Telic Tribe "Times", from the Wild & Crazy Noise Merchants compilation 2xLp, 1990 (Guernsey)

12. Oi Polloi "Whale song", from the In Defence of our Earth Lp, 1990 (Edinburgh, Scotland)

13. Stigma "Think again", from the We don't Want Your Fucking War! compilation Lp, 1984 (London, England)

14. Napalm Death "The good book", from And, like Sheep, we have all gone Astray demo tape, 1982 (Birmingham, England)

15. The Depraved "Democracy", from the S/t demo, 1984 (Warwick, England)

16. The Heretics "Relegion OD", from the It's Better to Die on Your Own Two Feet than Live on Your Knees tape, 1986 (Cardiff, Wales)

17. State of Shock "Excess youth", from Bullshit Detector Three compilation 2xLp, 1984 (?)

18. Class War "Class war", from the Better Dead than Wed Ep, 1986 (Swansea, Wales)

19. The Fits "Bravado", from the Tears of a Nation Ep, 1983 (Blackpool, England)

20. City Indians "Radioactive wasteland", from the Root of Freedom demo tape, 1987 (Derby, England)

21. Pagan Idols "Ain't no", from a S/t demo tape, 1983 (Leeds, England)

22. Organized Chaos "H-bomb war", from the Wessex '81 split tape with A-Heads and Wild Youth, 1981 (Warminster, England)

23. War Whores "Madame X", from the Realization Leads to Freedom demo tape, ? (?)

24. The Commited "Whose war", from the S/t demo tape, 1982 (Isle of Sheppey, England)

25. Anihilated "40 dumb animals", from the Punk Lives! Let's Slam! compilation Lp, 1986 (Ipswich, England)

26. Sore Throat "A bow to capital" from the Unhindered by Talent Lp, 1988 (Huddersfield, England)

27. Idiot Savant "Language of the privileged", from the Bleak Moments tape, ? (Hull, England)

28. Health Hazzard "Scared to dance", from the Bit's of '82 tape, 1983 (Lincoln, England)

29. The Next World "Safe territories", from the Branded Ep, 1988 (Kettering, England)

30. The Cause "Belief", from the Violence demo tape, 1983 (Manchester?, England)

31. Societies Vultures "Democracy - Corruption", from the Value of Defiance compilation tape, 1984? (?)

32. Terminal Disaster "What future?", from the Nuclear Suicide demo tape, 1981 (London, England)

33. The Instigators "?", from a demo tape, 1984/5 (Dewsbury, England) Actually this is a mystery song. I thought it was a demo song from The Instigators (I downloaded it as such a long time ago) but it appears that it isn't. I have no idea who wrote the song but will indicate if and when I find out. EDIT: the song is "Why take my life away" by Foreign Legion. It's taken from their Surf City Ep released in 1989.

There ain't no heaven