Crass - what?

What?

CRASS

If the world ever needed Punk, then Punk needed Crass. And if Punk ever had anything to do with anger, then Crass were the epitome of that. Indeed, if Punk ever had anything to do with passion, energy, ideas, politics, or non-politics come to that, then Crass had all this and more in abundance.

John Rotten may have declared himself to be an Anti-Christ but it was Crass who had no bones in declaring "So what if Jesus died on the cross? So what about the fucker? I don't give a toss." John Rotten may also have declared himself to be an Anarchist but it was Crass who had no qualms in declaring in unison and with utter conviction "I believe in Anarchy in the UK."

Crass cut to the quick and as Tony D in his fanzine Ripped And Torn foresaw when reviewing their debut record, immediately and effectively split Punk in two: those in it for the right reasons and those in it for the wrong.

Here suddenly and from out of the blue was a Punk Rock band taking Punk and all it stood for very, very seriously. A band who were articulate, intelligent, and apparently very caring yet at the same time as angry as fuck and spitting in the face of everything. Guided not by the profit motive (the cheapness of their debut record and the cheapness of entrance to their gigs being evidence of this) but by higher ideas. All welded to a thrusting, frantic, energised style of Punk Rock that was totally unique.

The word 'Anarchy' had been put forward by the Pistols but it was Crass who were giving it actual meaning, joining with it the words 'peace' and 'freedom'. In the eyes (and ears) of many, Anarchy simply meant chaos and destruction. "Get pissed. Destroy." as the Pistols had put it and whilst this may have held a certain attraction for a lot of people, Crass were turning the word around and equating it instead with autonomy and creativity.

The fact that Crass members were that little bit older and seemingly more educated than others lent weight to the idea that Anarchy wasn't just some infantile disorder but rather a perfectly valid and intelligent supposition. The fact that these people - these adult people - were taking Punk Rock seriously as in spiking their hair, circling their A's, swearing in their songs, dressing the part, using pseudonyms; all gave confirmation to the notion that Punk was indeed a state of mind and potentially a way of life.

When it came to light that beyond the songs, beyond the music and beyond the group they all lived together as a self-sufficient unit in a farmhouse somewhere in Essex, it simply elevated them as a living example of how ideas such as Anarchy might actually work.

Crass weren't just talking it, they were walking it.

They were living it.

They were doing it.