Dirt - Object Refuse Reject Abuse

DIRT - OBJECT REFUSE REJECT ABUSE

Barely a month would go by, it would seem, that Crass were not out touring somewhere in the British Isles; always off the beaten track at venues such as community halls, independent clubs and even scout huts. Poison Girls, Flux Of Pink Indians, and Annie Anxiety were the regular touring partners but suddenly from out of the blue a completely unknown band called Dirt began appearing with them.

Clad in Punk black, entering to an Ennio Morricone score and playing beneath a banner emblazoned with the slogan 'Object Refuse Reject Abuse', Dirt would launch themselves at an audience and leave it reeling with a short but harsh barrage of utterly brilliant Punk rock.

Led by the yelping vocals of Punkerella Deno alongside the snarling vocals of lead guitarist Gxist, this was a band whose main influence was so obviously Crass but with their own individual style and identity. Without any forewarning, Vice Squad et al were suddenly and utterly redundant.

Almost inevitably a record by Dirt was released on the Crass label, entitled - as their stage banner declared - Object Refuse Reject Abuse. Ushered in by a beautifully simple but spine-tingling bass, drums and fuzzbox guitar fanfare ably produced as ever by Penny Rimbaud, the record kicked off with a thoroughly hearty "Twothreefour!" before spewing out four short but perfectly formed Anarcho tirades:

"It's only a matter of time before it happens here cos down in Hiroshima they live in constant fear. Don't say they won't, don't say they can't cos at this very moment they're building a nuclear plant. Inside are the chemicals that make the dangerous gasses, all it'll take is one leak and down will go the masses... Unemployment is getting too high, don't let them fool you with a lie. They'll find a solution of that I'm sure, they'll drop a bomb, start a fucking war... Stand up and fight, is what they said but I don't want to end up fucking dead... Democracy's a con job, they got you fooled, if you step out of line they'll have you pulled. You can't go against them, it ain't allowed, so watch yourself, hide in the crowd. Wait for the day cos it's bound to come, you won't need a fist and you won't need a gun. The system is there, the system will stay. The system will rule - OK. Birth control, life control, death control. Education of their wrong and right, of their order and of their law. Don't take it, it's just a con. Don't take it, you know it's wrong. It's just a front so they can use you, it's just a front so they can cheat you. Object! Refuse! Reject! Abuse! Object! Refuse! Reject! Abuse!"

This was an exercise in rabid minimalism, fully realised and performed with much passion. Dirt were a brilliant Punk band - succinct, sharp, energised and angry - and their début record warranted being played over and over again.

Crass Records were back on track, underlined and confirmed by the next release on the label by The Mob, entitled No Doves Fly Here...