Flux Of Pink Indians - Neu Smell

FLUX OF PINK INDIANS - NEU SMELL

The next release on Crass Records was also far noisier than anything previously on the label though far more ideological than anything Disorder might muster. Neu Smell by Flux Of Pink Indians was a brilliantly gorgeous example of an ordinary Punk Rock record being turned into a glorious classic through simply putting a lot of thought and effort into it.

Evolving from the remnants of The Epileptics, Flux Of Pink Indians were, like Poison Girls, becoming regular touring partners of Crass. Of the three bands, Flux were the youngest and played a more typical and more readily accessible form of Punk Rock that endeared them easily with the Crass Punk audience.

Consisting of three songs, Neu Smell begins with an introductory snatch of dialogue bemoaning the appearance of new buildings down in the valley: "Can you smell the new (neu) smell travelling through the air? Aye, I can lad, it's a-coming from over there... There's a nuclear power dump site. Someone doesn't care. Parliament says it's safe..." then in a voice trembling with frustration and anger "So why not bury it there?" An almighty bass line then leads into pounding drums and crashing fuzzbox guitars as the main track on the record, Tube Disaster, introduces the extraordinary vocals of Colin Latter.

There's an argument to be had that all the best lead vocalists - or at least all the most interesting - can't really sing for toffee. If this is the case then Colin Latter certainly fits this bill too, for not only could Colin not sing in tune but he couldn't shout in tune either. Whatever Colin lacked in vocal talent, however, he more than made up for in panache, attacking the somewhat trivial lyrics of Tube Disaster with gusto: "I love tube disasters, I wanna marry a tube disaster. I want another one like the last one cos I live for tube disasters, yeah!"

The song ends, however, with a spoken-word poem that in its poignancy elevates Tube Disaster from sublime raucousness to a brilliant beauty:

"And oh, as yes, as the sky did turn to night

I shield my eyes and hide from the bright of day

And cast the stone deep into the field of man and hide in shame

And low the flag raised in vain

And close my mind to this lost day

And shield my body with ferns of grey

And ask no more of life unsaved

And smile no more and lay here scathed

Become the tombstone of my grave."

The capacity to communicate such sentiments was one of the things that gave Punk another edge and was yet another example of what separated it from other forms of music. As was its capability of carrying and conveying atypical song subjects in a rousing and relevant manner.

Background Of Malfunction and Sick Butchers, the two additional tracks on the flip side (or 'Bacon side') of Neu Smell were examples of this, both focusing upon the issue of vegetarianism.

By simply cloaking this specific subject in pounding Punk noise and delivering it with joyous passion, Flux Of Pink Indians were probably tipping more young people into becoming vegetarian and taking an interest in animal rights than any number of pamphlets and written articles on the same subject.

Along with the songs, Neu Smell came wrapped in another fold-out, Crass-style sleeve containing extensive notes expounding upon the song themes. Reading through these notes it was apparent that Flux were touching upon the same ideas as Crass; so much so, in fact, that they could even have been a continuation of the sleeve notes on Nagasaki Nightmare. They could even have been written by the same hand:

'If enough people made it clear that they did not want to fight and kill, wars would end. How can there be wars without people? We are the system - if you want to change the system, you have to change yourself, you have to reject the rubbish that we have all been manipulated to accept. Violence is neither masculine or fun. It's painful, bloody and stupid. Wars hurt. If we change ourselves, there will be no system and then harmony might exist. But this can't be forced on people, they must agree and share that desire for change. If they are forced into it, they are simply being further oppressed. Give peace a chance...

The nuclear power industry is nothing more than an elaborate cover up for military interests. The first reactors were built solely for the production of nuclear weapons, there is no reason to suppose that there has been any real change in thinking. The more reactors there are, the more bombs can be made. It doesn't seem to matter that we already have sufficient warheads to destroy the world several times over. The war game goes on and on and on...

Has this country the courage to say "NO"? Have we the courage to reject the absurd escalation towards war? Have we the courage to stand up and be counted, to say "NO" to government and authority? Have we as individuals the courage to stand against what we see as being an evil and distorted future? Act Now: Protest and survive.'

The main difference between Crass and Flux Of Pink Indians was that Flux were putting much more emphasis upon vegetarianism than Crass ever did; in the sleeve notes of Neu Smell detailing the "uneconomical and disgustingly wasteful" policy of using farm land to graze livestock and to grow cereal on to feed that same livestock. At the same time describing the "horror show" of the slaughterhouse where "the blood flows in rivers hot and steaming across the floor, the dying animals kick and twitch, the stench of fear awful".

Even here, however, as in opposition to war, the government, the system and so on; the proposed solution lay in learning to say 'No':

'Next time you bite into a lump of meat, whatever disguise it comes in, ask yourself if you really need it. Ask yourself if you really agree with the terrible pain and suffering and cruelty that put that flesh on your plate. Learn to say 'NO'. Stop the killing now.'

Whilst not tirading bulletins like that of Crass, the lyrics of Flux Of Pink Indians had a neat habit of including very memorable one-liners such as "Vicarious living rids your boredom" from Tube Disaster, "My soul for the sole of your shoes" from Background Of Malfunction, and best of all, from Sick Butchers: "Come on, Thomas, eat it up. Sometimes I don't think that you were worth the fuck!".

As a band, Flux were basically the same age as a lot of their audience and in many ways there was little distinction between them and that audience. They were serious yet capable of being daft, ideological but grounded, intense but joyous. They were 'down with the kids', as you might say. Flux Of Pink Indians could be identified with.