The Violators | Like Clockwork

GARRY BUSHELL comes to the orange-aid of Peak District punksters THE VIOLATORS

Article published in Sounds, 16th October, 1982

The Violators | Like Clockwork | REMEMBER, O MY brothers, how last week Your Faithful Narrator had reached the malenky town of New Mills and stayed a while with the punky gruppa Attak?

Well after I left these good droogs I went for a gooly on my oddy knocky, just nuking the country sided and listening to the twittwittwittering of the birds. Then I saw them — a gromky shaika of nadmenny nadsat malchicks dressed in the height of fashion and led by a horrorshow ptitsa who’d give you a pan-handle just to viddy her.

With a guff she viddied me watching her looking open-mouthed and gloopy like a shoot and she sent the malchicks after me. I was spoogy, rooted to the spot. One produced a nozh and slashed a britva across my brooko. I crecked loud and saw my own krovvy stain my shirt crimson.

They clopped me down and I felt their bolshy lump boots smash into my guttiwuts and another nozh shive across my sharries. I crecked out for Bog to save me, for a rozz or some bruiseboys to arrest these bratchnies. But my only answer was the lovely Ninth thundering in my ears, the choodessny tune of Ludwig Van telling me all about Joy being a glorious spark like Heaven . .

Clockwork Orange ultra-violence

IR THAT at least is the Rock Dream the Violators image evokes, a nightmare slice of Clockwork Orange ultra-violence. Thankfully the reality is somewhat less bloodthirsty. As you may recall from last week’s Attak feature the stretch of Peak District that has been the incubator for the likes of the Violators and Blitz isn’t quite the brawling, sprawling urban desert their songs would suggest.

Nestled in lush greenery, New Mills seems more likely to be the setting for Compo, Clegg and Foggy than a running riot of untamed youth. On the face of it, its tough punk rep is a puzzling paradox, but it does emphasise that we’re dealing with teenage fantasy here and not thuggish sedition. Whether it means the deprived children of the inner cities will start composing songs like ‘Cottage Living Gets Me Down’ and anthems of rural discontent concerning underpaid cowhands, glue-sniffing sheep and lack of pavements and street lighting in country lanes is a matter of pure conjecture.

The Violators | Like Clockwork

Although they come from the neighbouring towns of Buxton and Chapel-en-le-Frith, the Violators’ march through New Mills High Street kitted out in the fighting garb of the notorious Anthony Burgess urban future-shock world was met with bemusement rather than stark terror.

Not that they don’t cut impressive figures. While guitarist Coley and bassist Matchi sport humble denim jackets, drummer Ant and singer Stylesy are immaculate in their choice of criminal Clockwork clobber.

Fair-haired Ant is sartorially superb in black boots, Dulux-white sta-prest, highly polished boots, bowler hat, dickie bow tie and umbrella; while Stylesy improvises on the image by augmenting his city gent collar, tie, brolly and bowler with an army green boiler suit, a star dangling from his left ear and a ring through his Penguin style hooter.

Decaying punk movement

And in the middle of them all strides sultry singer Helen, with her crimped barnet, rouged cheeks, green suede jacket, Siouxsie-style mini and fishnet tights.

Ladies and gentlemen, sheep and cows, these are the Violators and I bring them to your attention because not only are they one of the very few worthwhile bands left in the decaying punk movement, but also because their open minds and grasp of melody mean they are destined for massive popular success far beyond the restrictive confines of the ho, ho, punk audience.

THE FIRST public taste of the vital variety the Violable Ones have to offer came with No Future’s low-budget ‘Country Fit For Heroes’ compilation EP released last January. This chaotic collection saw the band ranging from the Stylesy-roared virulent V-sign of ‘Government Stinks’ to the far poppier haunting tones of Helen’s ‘Die With Dignity’ which conjured up the inevitable Siouxsie comparisons.

The Violators | Like Clockwork

More wonders were to come in April when No Future released the band’s first EP ‘Gangland’. Instantly heralded Single Of The Month in the Total Chaos column, this Warriors inspired jaunt was a savagely stomping and stifling stroll through the teenage gangland wasteland with Stylesy swapping hoarse hollers for subterranean crooning. This was more like a cantering street-level version of Joy Division than another clone of Crass or the Cockney Rejects, and yours truly was completely hooked.

However none of this prepared me for the sheer excellence of next month’s follow-up 45 ‘Summer Of 81‘, a single so strong and fine you have to strain your brain to do it justice. A slow Banshees reminiscent build-up cements the Siouxsie connection until the guitar riffs in savagely and the song takes a turn for the uptempo, its naggingly contagious feel contrasting vividly with its serious subject matter, bravely broaching last year’s establishment-shaking eruptions of young anger. ‘We’ve got a riot, you can’t keep us quiet,’ Helen sings so sweet you almost forget the implications of the final mantra: ‘Brixton—Riot! Riot!! Toxteth — Riot! Riot!/Bristol — Riot! Riot!/Moss Side —Riot! Riot!/England — Riot! Riot!’

Top Ten Hit?

The Clash fantasies that became yesterday’s chilling reality are regurgitated to warn smug Heseltine and co that the fire still burns, but it’s done via a song that’s strong enough to penetrate the velvety innards of the pop charts. By Tony and Blackburn! If No Future put a couple of pluggers on this record it’d be a Top Ten hit.

The Violators are a chart band of the future with the same subversive style that the Banshees have blessed the charts with in the past. They deserve to be staring up at you from the front of the cover of Sounds, not languishing hidden in the centre spread!

The Violators | Like Clockwork

Back in New Mills I stalk my prey into the nearest boozer and gird my loins for a sensitive in-depth probe into the nature of this beast. Unfortunately my bid for Jon Pilger style philosophical sobriety is immediately shattered by the shock about-turn of socialist snapper Tony Mottram who adopts a crude Halfin-esque persona and says suggestively: “Helen, can you take your jumper off?”

“This isn’t Helen And The Vibrators, you know,” Helen snaps, eyes blazing with outraged fury.

“Yeah I know,” Tony retorts, “but we’ve gotta sell papers.”

Crass type band

Wha’ happen? I was aghast! It was like seeing Angela Rippons Bum on the front of NME — so out of the blue, it completely phased me. By the time I’d regathered my senses sardonic Stylesy was well into Violators history . . .

“Me and Matchi were originally in a band called the Dismal Sports back in ’78,” he recalls. “They were a Crass type band, a real load of shit. Eventually three of the members left and went to London so we drafted this lot in and changed our name to the Violators. Blitz’s drummer Charlie picked the name; that was back in 1980.”

Three weeks later they were playing their first gig supporting Discharge in Bradford. They played three numbers and had to pay to get in the gig. A sparse year of sporadic dates followed, brightened up last September when a demo tape sent to Chris Berry’s No Future label secured their place on ‘Country Fit For Heroes’ and the vinyl history began,

The Violators | Like Clockwork

STYLESY, IT transpires, writes all the lyrics with Coley and Matchi supplying the wide-ranging musical ideas. Not surprisingly they’ve got strong opinions on the (very infirm) state of punk in ’82.

“All these bands today sound like bloody Discharge and Crass,” sneers Styles. “They all copy their heroes. You don’t need bands copying! The only way punk will survive is if original bands come through, people who are trying to build up their own individual sound.

“We don’t want to be like anybody else. It’s like the Stranglers back in ’77, they had that organ sound which set them apart from everyone else. It sounded really good, it made ’em. We want to create something that’s distinctly ours too . . .”

“We might even get a synth in,” Coley reveals. “We’ve got this song called ‘In Memory Of Man’ which might be the next single and there’s a synth part for that that Charlie Howe from Blitz might be playing . . .”

Synth punk

“No one’s ever tried to apply a synth to punk,” Stylesy says. “All you hear is Gary Numan playing some dirge, but imagine if you used one fast, you could add a whole new dimension to punk. I dunno, we might even use a xylophone on the next single. If you don’t try things out you’ll never know how they’ll turn out.”

The one comparison I would have made is the Banshees one on ‘Die With Dignity’ and ‘Summer Of 81’.

Stylesy: “I think Helen sounds more like Beki.”

“The Banshees have disappeared into the realms of the unknown,” says Matchi, wide-eyed with wonder.

“I always thought they were good,” Helen pipes up. “But her voice seems to be going, did you see ’em on telly the other day?”

“I’d like our album to be like ‘The Scream’,” says Matchi referring to the band’s planned 12″ debut next March. “It’d be good to do a version of ‘Red Light’ off ‘Kaleidoscope, something really dramatic. On the album we’d probably do something like the Creatures did with just drums and vocals, just for variety . . .”

The Violators | Like Clockwork

ONE CRITICISM I’ve heard expressed is that you use too many studio effects so that you can’t hope to reproduce the songs live.

“I hate the idea of bands just going into the studio and whacking things out,” says Coley. “If you’re in a studio you should use it to the full.”

“I don’t think people are really bothered about the contrast,” says Helen. “You don’t expect to hear studio effects live, the energy’s more important. I’d hate to see us just become ‘a studio band, playing live really matters to me . . . it’s just really hard to get gigs.”

“Yeah,” says Coley, “we tried to get a tour around this new single but nothing seems to be coming together.”

“And anyway every time we’ve played somewhere we’ve been ripped off,” Matchi adds. “You can’t afford to go round the country playing for peanuts. Stylesy’s the only one of us who’s in a job.”

Stylesy, it appears, is a warehouseman. “I support ’em all,” he snorts.

“Why d’you think he’s the one with all the flash gear?” Helen laughs.

Is there much trouble converting the recorded stuff to fit the live set?

“Well,” says Coley, “We’ve found that songs like ‘Gangland’ are a bit of a drag live, so we’ve had to shorten them . . .”

Stylesy: “But ‘Live Fast Die Young’ goes down a storm.”

‘Live Fast. . .’ is the ‘Summer Of ’81’ B-side, an uptempo stormer featuring Stylesy growling a tale about a lad coming down to London with the idea of killing the Queen, but it leaves it up to you as to whether he was successful in his treacherous ambition.

The A-side is less ambiguous.

The Violators | Like Clockwork

“We thought the riots were a good thing,” says Coley. “It was the only way to hammer home to Thatcher that people were pissed off and they weren’t gonna take no more.”

Stylesy: “If everyone had rioted at the same time on one certain night it would have worked much better. Think of the power . . .”

I’m reminded of the early ‘Government Stinks’ which gave Mrs Thatcher a particularly hard time. Did they see themselves in the business of social commentary I wondered?

“We’re obviously influenced by reading the papers,” growls Stylesy. “You can’t really avoid it. I tried to sit down and write a love song the other day and these f***ers all laughed at us.”

Helen bursts into hysterics and starts singing “Honey babyyyy . . . it was terrible. . .”

“I wish upon a star,” giggles Matchi taking up the refrain.

Stylesy: “Okay, okay . . .”

Helen: “Stylesy and Matchi are in the studio soon to do a Derek and Clive tape — it’s FILTH.”

Tell us about the Clockwork Orange connection, I mutter, desperately trying to restore a modicum of decorum to the general pandemonium.

Stylesy: “We all started up at about the same time, me and Ant and Carl out of Blitz. Matchi had a bowler too, but we all laughed at him . . .”

You’ve seen the film obviously.

“Eh no,” says Stylesy a trifle embarrassed. “But we’ve read the book.”

Aren’t you worried that the ultra-violence image could backfire?

“I can’t see anybody listening to one of our songs and going and kicking shit out of an old granny . . .” says Matchi cynically.

“When you read the book you see they’re all different,” Stylesy counters. “It’s not a uniform thing. In the book Alex likes classical music, Dim doesn’t. They’re all individuals.”

The Violators | Like Clockwork

Yeah, but there’s no way the image isn’t associated with violence.

Stylesy: “Oh yeah, it will be in the News Of The World . . .”

Doesn’t that bother you?

Stylesy: “Yeah, I suppose so, I don’t want me head kicked in . . . but it is just an image. We aren’t advocating ultra-violence in any of our songs.”

“Actually we had a lot more hassle when we were punks,” says Coley. “We’ve never had any hassle since we’ve been dressing like this.”

THE OTHER thing I wanted to pull you up about was Helen —it’s very likely that the media will pounce on her as a sex object. How do you feel about that?

“I’m not bothered,” says Matchi charitably.

“As long as we make money,” Stylesy adds.

Helen isn’t perplexed either. “They always do the same,” she says. “Women in bands are always projected as sex objects by the media and the record companies.”

Stylesy: “They sell sex, they always have done.”

“They ought to sell some my way,” moans Matchi.

“I’m all for it,” smiles Stylesy magnanimously. “You oughta show some tit like Wendy O’Williams.”

“I’m not taking my clothes off for anybody,” Helen retorts angrily, fixing Mottram a blood-curdling glare.

Eh, you’re not too besotted with the state of punk at the moment, I interject, desperately trying to defuse a potential punch-up.

Stylesy: “Everyone sounds the same.”

Maatchi: “Blitz are good . . .”

What about the US Thrash explosion?

Coley: “The only US band I like are the Dead Kennedys . . .”

Stylesy: “I think punk’ll disappear up its own arsehole if bands don’t branch out . . .”

The Violators | Like Clockwork

Coley: “People ought to encourage bands to experiment, there’s no point staying the same. Look at the way the Oi bands have progressed . . . Crass punk is just rubbish, idealistic nonsense, it wouldn’t work. It’s just a dream, a fashion, something to sing about. And if you have an A in your name you can draw a circle round it.” .

Helen: “If Anarchy happened all the little kids with Anarchy signs on their back would be the first to go. It’d be awful, chaos, martial law, cities like closed communities . . . I’d like to see everything shared, the Communist principle as it should be, really pure, not Russian Communism which is just as bad a before, a new ruling elite.”

What do you want to achieve as a band?

Matchi: “I wanna be on Top Of The Pops.”

Stylesy: Yeah, then we could show all the bastards round our way that we’ve made it, show ’em we can do something apart from go down the pub every night . . .”

My money’s on ’em making it. As all around us punk hopes collapse into a pathetic pile of shattered dreams, the Violators are one of the very few lights in the very dark tunnel making it all worthwhile.