Published in Sounds, 21st August 1982
Total Chaos | Punk 45s Reviewed by Garry Bushell |
DEAD KENNEDYS: ‘Bleed For Me’ (Statik) Jello Biafra inflicts another act of savagery on the collective consciousness of Middle America with a thrashing, ranting but carefully constructed and inventive polemic against Reaganesque paranoia and the defence lobby.
‘So what’s ten million dead/if it’s keeping out the Russians?’ This man Biafra should be on the cover of Sounds instead of relics like irrelevant Americans called Journey . . . The B side ‘Life Sentence’ is an equally scathing broadside levelled this time at the obsessive American rat-race/promotion/career mentality. Great stuff! Biafra for President!
BLITZ: ‘Warriors’ (No Future) This lot never let you down. Yet another classic from a seemingly inexhaustible source; raw energy, power and a great tune with a marvellously catchy chorus, and that goes for the other side, ‘Youth’, as well. Songs, that’s where Blitz are at; some of the bands mentioned later could do well to take a leaf from their book.
TWISTED NERVE: ‘Caught In Session’ (Playlist) Johnny Waller did a feature on Twisted Nerve, but they don’t sound like Dollar or Soft Cell which was probably why he couldn’t understand them. They’re an interesting lot full of original thoughts based around a format reminiscent of Killing Joke. Best track is the atmospheric ‘Never Say Goodbye’; definitely not new pop, and not a cocktail in sight.
Total Chaos | Punk 45s Reviewed by Garry Bushell
THE SAMPLES: ‘Dead Hero’ (No Future) CHANNEL 3: ‘I’ve Got A Gun EP’ (No Future) No Future are certainly coming up with the goods at the moment, justifying Garry’s classification of them as the premier indie punk label. These two come on loud, fast and furious, with the Samples leading the way; a well-produced anti-war anthem with a great hook line.
The singer has a fine voice as well, which is pretty rare in these gruff days. Channel 3 are from the States and offer plenty of frenzied and enjoyable Kennedys-style pogo power. Thing is, though, they haven’t got Jello — and without Jello . . .
REDSKINS: ‘Peasant Army’ / ‘Lev Bronstein’ (CNT) Tasty and tasteful CNT Productions from York give us local dialectical dossers Redskins. ‘Peasant Army’ crunches through the reactionaries like a Test Tube Baby at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Flipping it over, I find to my dismay that ‘Lev Bronstein’ (stage name: Leon Trotsky) is verging dangerously near the dreaded disco beat. It’s quite catchy, though, and this time I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Dance and subvert!
1919: ‘Caged’/’After The Fall’ (Red Rhino) Interesting, but ultimately disappointing. Schonberg on guitars? It’s great to see people attempting something different, but this one ends up sounding rather too much like PiL for my liking.
Total Chaos | Punk 45s Reviewed by Garry Bushell
XPOZES: ‘1000 Marching Feet’ (Retaliation) Vaguely Gang Of Four (before they went soft) with a slightly out-of-tune bass which appeals to my perverse nature. Good song, but the delivery is not really urgent enough to make a lasting impression.
RIOT SQUAD: ‘F*** The Tories’ (Rondelet) The Newtown Neurotics just want to kick them out, but Riot Squad are determined to take things one stage further. Rather them than me; while I can certainly appreciate the sophisticated charms of the older woman I have my standards like anyone else.
Anyway, Denis’d be jealous . . . This starts off sounding amazingly like Hawkwind’s ‘Silver Machine’ and mutates into a no-holds-barred assault which, if the song was any good, would have made it record of the moment, especially recommended for garden parties and Women’s Institute meetings. As it is, an honourable mention and the best of luck — hope you manage it!
ONE WAY SYSTEM: ‘Give Us A Future / ‘Just Another Hero’ (Anagram) Comes recommended by the Test Tube Babies and I can see why, though One Way System are not as yet in the same league as Brighton’s finest ‘Future’ is a brave and determined street anthem and ‘Hero’ treads the same path as the Samples, but not with the same driving force.
Extras
BREWERS DROOP MAU MAUS: ‘Society’s Rejects EP’ (Pax)
ANTISOCIAL: ‘Made in England EP` (Lightbeat)
DISCORDS: ‘NDG’ (NDG)
VOMIT VISIONS: ‘I Hate The World’ (Wasted Vinyl)
The Mau Maus EP contains eight tracks and represents excellent value if you like their music; I’ve never been a fan of the Crass thrash/shout approach and so I don’t. It’s all a matter of taste (token cliche for the day).
Antisocial give me the impression that they’re a good live band who couldn’t do their stuff on vinyl; the awful production makes it very difficult to make any real judgement.
The same goes for the Discords, who hail from Canada and actually included a letter – with this record apologising for the sound and weak backing vocals. Thanks for the thought, but it doesn’t help matters . . .
Finally Vomit Visions, who sound as though they come from Germany. The name of the record label says it all. Wasted Vinyl. This record is a total piss-take and is utterly hideous. RECYCLE!
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