can't help but be impressed with the amount of work that must have went into writing this book, So many bands, so many stories, so many, . . line up changes. It's staggering how many bands followed in the wake of Crass, the influence they had is incredible, Of course some of the stories in this book are more interesting than others, depending on which bands the reader is more invested in knowing about, For me it was reading about Amebix, Rudimentary Peni, Flux of Pink Indians, The Mob, Zounds, Omega Tribe, and Subhumans, It might be better to approach this as a reference book because, and this is my only complaint, it feels repetitive at times, and it is very dense and detailed so it can be difficult to read straight through.
Anyway, if you're into this kind of stuff should you read this book Of course you fucking should! A huge book collecting contemporary interviews with people in anarchopunk bands from the early eighties in England.
All your old favorites, Crass duh, Conflict, Flux, etc, Certainly worth reading if this period interests you, and very thorough, The most interesting aspect was how many people still held their beliefs, though the realities of life and getting older and experience have altered them, and how much they all credit the anarcho scene with making them better people.
My only disappointment is that only bands are interviewed, as if punk was only ever music, Why cant we hear from some zinesters, political organizers who didnt play in bands, and random punks who were there back in the day and maybe still are I only read part of this book specific bands of interst, but I thought it was a very interesting history of the anarcho scene in the UK during the's.
Exhaustive encyclopedia like book detailing the bands involved in the U, K. peace/anarcho punk scene. More of a research/reference tool than a nonfiction read, but well researched and informative, The author was involved in the scene and includes anecdotes and interviews in each entry, At times, the writing is bogged down a bit with who relpaced who on bass for two weeks when the band was squatting in Bristol in ', but generally well written book about an important, influential and highly under reported social movement/music scene.
I'm really enjoying reading Glasper's books about the punk and metal scenes, It's giving me a great opportunity to go back and read about and listen to a lot of bands I haven't listened to in a while and I've been loving the nostalgia.
The 'Burning Britain' book focussed on the UKpunk scene whereas this book focuses on the early's anarchopunk scene, If 'Burning Britain' reminded me of how punk 'sounds' in my head, 'The Day The Country Died' reminded me of how I viewed punk as a political and ethical force in the world.
Indeed, I often struggled with my own conflicts in the punk scene when I saw people were in it for the music and didn't support a D, I. Y. and ethical approach. Punk was never just about music, It's an interesting judgement call which bands were included in this book and which ones were included in 'Burning Britain', For instance bands like The Varukers and Discharge were definitely political in their outlook but perhaps didn't embrace the D, I. Y. scene as closely as others,
As in other books by the author, the country is split by region and each band is given a write up and an interview with one or more band members.
Aside from the usual 'how did you form', 'any stories from recording or gigs' and 'what are you doing now' each interviewee is asked what anarchy means to them and most provide some kind of response to their politics back in the day and how that has shaped them today.
It's quite heartening that most still closely identify with their anarcho beliefs after a fashion, viewed through a lens of maturity, This is in contrast to a lot of the bands in 'Burning Britain' which seemed largely a bunch of drinking and fighting stories at times,
It's something I can identify with closely now in my midforties, I 'knew' I was leftwing during the Miner's Strike for crying out loud, but it was in my midlate teens as I came across anarchism via the brilliant Class War but also discovered punk like Crass and Conflict at the same time that spoke the same language.
It was the punk and hardcore scene that turned me into a vegan it was fancying a girl that turned me veggie in the first place but we all have our journeys.
Now I look back and I am still an anarchist, still believe passionately in animal rights and still feel all those core values I was exposed toyears ago!
One thing I found interesting in this book was the diversity and range of activities the band members featured were involved with.
Many of them ran labels, put on gigs, wrote zines, shared living spaces, food and musical equipment with them, Many of them were involved with sabbing and other direct action, Again, the comparison to 'Burning Britain' is interesting because in that book there was an almost constant lament of 'someone else' letting them down, The massive difference in this book is that the bands weren't 'let down' by anyone because they did so much by themselves! It was a spirit that still existed well into the late's in the punk scene I still laugh at a band who shall remain nameless turning up to a gig I put together with a manager with a laptop demanding guarantees.
sadly they were respected in the scene and it was the beginning of the end of my involvement in the punk scene,
Another thing that is evident when reading the histories of these bands is that they appeared to be far more inclusive, People of colour and LGBTQIA people are few and far between but there are far more women in bands and they are there as punks and women and not pinups.
The imagery and lyrics of these bands are a far cry from the macho shit and sexist garbage that many of the UK 'bands put out some of the lyrics to G.
B. H. and The Exploited can't be sung by anyone overwithout embarrassment,
The influence on the animal rights scene in Britain also cannot be underestimated, At the time vegetarianism and veganism were seen as something weird hippies did, I swear songs like 'This Is The A, L. F. ' by Conflict and others like the 'Merry Crassmas' single and 'Pigs In Blankets' by Rudimentary Peni and 'Neu Smell' by Flux of Pink Indians turned loads of people veggie and got them involved in animal rights.
Like I said, I can directly link back decades of compassionate living back to the influence of these bands, I don't know what it is like today, but my experience of the punk scene from the early to late's is that you assumed everyone was veggie, you knew most of your mates were vegan and were surprised to find meateaters at gigs and things.
As an aside I often get asked about how hard veganism was back then, and it is true it is a million miles easier today but back then, when many of your mates in the scene were vegan you had a good support network which mattered, even if the only vegan replacements tasted badly and cost half your giro!
Anyway, back to the book.
The book opens with Crass, who you can't write the history of anarcho punk without starting with them, A couple of things are evident they were one of those bands punks loved or hated I loved them but their imagery and lyrics were amazing, They also walked the walk, I think they clearly gave lots to the scene, supported lots of people and activities and are 'good people', The flipside is that it's clear many of the bands clearly copied Crass and also that if Crass did a single for you, there would be a significant chance you'd sound like Crass when they were done with it.
I loved the section on Conflict, They were a massive influence on me, not just because of the animal rights thing but also musically, I was once in a band and not very good at getting across how I wanted my bass to sound but I knew it needed to sound like the bass on 'The Ungovernable Force' I so loved that album! I really loved the stories throughout the book of Col from Conflict walking the walk, especially where the fash were concerned.
I do have to challenge one of the statements in the book about Conflict never intentionally missing gigs and claiming sometimes people would put them on without them knowing.
There's a well known story from where I live when Conflict stayed in the van getting pissed outside the venue and didn't play Electro Hippies were on the same bill.
There were loads of other sections I loved, The Apostles one was a bit intense but they were a completely different level in how they approached punk and anarchism incidentally I remember reading this great article in the summer about The Apostles and zine culture from one of the band sitelink net/chrislowa .
The sections on Subhumans and Oi Polloi are making me want to go in the attic and blow away the dust on their records the first few Subhumans records are brilliant and I loved everything Oi Polloi did in the's.
Some proper nostalgia reading this!
I loved reading about Blood Robots and how that was the early seeds for what became Generic and One By One and Flat Earth Records you can get the whole Flat Earth discography on a USB stick forhere sitelink bandcamp. com/ with all proceeds going to the anarchist social centreinClub in Bradford sitelink wikipedia. org/wiki/Thei
I was also really interested to read about Anarka And Poppy, an anarchopunk band from where I live who I had never heard of previously, They were a bit before my time but I recall the drummer still being in bands in later years a bizarre gig I have never forgot with a band called Wheelchair Furnace on.
I'm kind of surprised that I didn't know about them, It did make me smile though thinking about when I was a kid and I was always trying to look cool and impress the older punks who lived on our street, some of whom I became friends with when I got older.
Reading this section also brought back a really stark memory as one of the punks who lived nearby warned my Dad that it was going to 'kick off' in town around the time of the Brixton riots.
Nothing happened though maybe the house full of punks down the road couldn't bring about anarchy in Preston that night but it has never left me!
There is only one omission in the book and it is quite a glaring one and that is the absence of Poison Girls.
They were a massive anarcho punk influence and
shared the same spaces as lots of bands in the book and their kids were in a lot of bands in the book and of course there is the brilliant split single with Crass.
The only reason I can think for their exclusion is the difficulty in getting hold of one of them or they asked not to be included, I hope it wasn't because the author didn't think they were punk because they definitely were,
There are two bands whose inclusion is problematic for different reasons and I think one should be included and one shouldn't,
I see no reason whatsoever for the inclusion of AYS and their nazi singer, I accept that the author clearly identifies that he sees the singers views as abhorrent but I fail to see how this person should be given a platform in a book about anarcho punk.
I guess one could have referenced them if they really were part of the scene and I am not sure they were to be honest without giving a fascist a voice.
There is a bit of, 'the lady doth protest much' in this interview in my opinion and the book would have been better off without it, What is interesting is that I felt the right wing / fash influence on Oi and UK 'was given a wide berth in 'Burning Britain' and it's a shame it wasn't at least explored as an uncomfortable but actual part of the scene then.
Chumbawamba however should be in the book, They definitely were punk the Antidote 'Destroy Fascism'" they were involved in is amazing!, They definitely had an anarcho outlook and I think they are 'good people', Of course, they have more in common with drinking and football culture thanks to 'Tubthumping' which has turned into a decent pension for them, Of course, what pissed everyone off was their scathing critique of Live Aid and their inclusion on the 'Fuck EMI' EP and people thinking they were legit and then they signed to EMI! I've read a fair bit about them and I think they come across as alright but no matter how they dress it up they did sell out the scene and their principles there is no doubt of that but they definitely are part of the history and the criticism of them isn't levelled at other punk bands who signed to big labels.
I guess everyone was just so disappointed in them,
So I kind of feel this book has been more of a nostalgia trip than a review but I feel happy about that, It's been a lovely opportunity to revisit the brilliant music, the lyrics and ethos that framed a lot of my younger life, The audience of this is perhaps limited but if you've any interest in punk or anarchism or even what life was like in the early's in Britain it's well worth a look.
What to say about this book You'd have to be really really into this kind of music to enjoy it, I mean, I wanted to read it for nostalgic purposes because I was a punk rock kid in my younger years, I was more into the's hardcore back then, but let's be honest, it doesn't matter whether you lwere into pop punk and listened to The Mr, T Experience or if you were a mohawk bondage pants street punk and listened to Battalion Of Saints, if you listened to punk rock then you dipped your toe into Crass and the Subhumans at the very least.
So when I saw this book I was super excited, I get to read about the bands behind the AnarchoSyndicalist movement in the early's in England, Unfortunately the book isn't that great of a read, Not because it isn't interesting, but because it talks about tons and tons of bands that all had very similar stories, The thing is, it's still worth a flip through, It gives each band it's own section, so if it doesn't work as a book you'd read straight through, it works as an encyclopedia of AnarchoPunk bands, Perhaps you'd think to yourself, "Who the hell is Lack of Knowledge" you can then say, "Who cares, I'm going to skip to the parts about Rudimentary Peni, " Or maybe you can say, "Well, I know about Dirt, Oi Palloi and AntiSect, but I don't know much about Riot/Clones Amibex, I hear they're good, I'll read up on them, It's a really great book to flip through and go a little deeper into bands who's music you only listened to, You can now find out the story and time in which they were at their height, If you love or loved this kind of music, this is a really cool book to check out, You won't read it all, but you will read most of it out of order, .