Lack Of Knowledge - Grey

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE - GREY

Sometimes it seemed that whatever a Crass-affiliated band did they just couldn't win, a case in point being Lack Of Knowledge who having played at the Zig Zag squat gig subsequently had a four-track EP released on the Crass label, called Grey.

Whilst The System were criticised for being 'Crass clones', Lack Of Knowledge were criticised for not being Crass enough, and labelled instead as Joy Division copyists. If the truth be told, they undoubtedly did sound a bit like Joy Division although this was exactly what made them all the more interesting. Lack Of Knowledge were Joy Division as engineered by John Loder and produced by Penny Rimbaud, inhabiting the DIY world of Anarcho Punk.

Outside of the London squat/independent venue scene very little was actually known about them as a band, making their Grey EP oddly enigmatic. Wrapped in a sleeve adorned with nothing but black and white photos of tower blocks and bleak city landscapes, the record conveyed a sense of bareness and indeed, greyness.

When it came to the songs, even though the lyrics were sung in a conventional manner rather than shouted (or screamed) the structure of them eschewed such things as verses, choruses and middle-eights, and instead were short pieces of prose or vignettes mostly dwelling on apocalyptic reveries and future nightmare visions.

Lack Of Knowledge were square pegs in round holes, not really sitting comfortably alongside the likes of Dirt or Flux but then just as equally not fitting in with any of the Factory label bands either. In short, they were a perfect Anarcho band.

The System - Is Murder

THE SYSTEM - IS MURDER

In the meantime, over at Spiderleg Records the release of the second EP by The System found them also fulfilling their earlier signs of great promise in a most satisfactory way. Entitled Is Murder, the record revealed that since debuting with their Warfare EP a year previously, The System had continued with their knack of forging together various Punk influences to create their own pounding amalgamation.

Having spent the past year gigging with the likes of Flux Of Pink Indians, Crass, Alternative, and Dirt, their primary source of influence had been all things Anarcho and had now subsequently morphed into a hybrid of all these bands. For some - bemoaning the fact that there was already one Crass too many - this was a problem but the truth of the matter was that being the epitome of a so-called 'Crass band' was actually something to aspire to.

The System had taken essential ingredients from all their Anarcho peers and created a record that was not only pleasing to the ear but also to the eye. On thrashing, fuzzed-out rhythm guitar it could easily have been Crass's Andy Palmer himself playing - which was no bad thing in the slightest. Similarly, the sleeve design was a combination of The Mob's dove of peace, Crass's broken gun, and Dirt's Grim Reaper; all in stylish and stark black and white.

The only let down was that unfortunately The System still hadn't learned to write good, polemical lyrics and this was the only thing that held them back from being a truly great Anarcho Punk band. And alas, as The System were soon to disband after the release of Is Murder, it was something that in the end they would never achieve but instead would leave them being remembered as the band who were almost very, very good indeed.

Conflict - To A Nation Of Animal Lovers

CONFLICT -

TO A NATION OF ANIMAL LOVERS

Concerning itself also with the issues of animal rights and vegetarianism was the next 7" single release by Conflict on the Corpus Christie label, which found them finally coming into their own on both a musical and ideological level. With the added bonus of Steve Ignorant on shared vocals, To A Nation Of Animal Lovers was Conflict fulfilling all their earlier promise of being a uniquely important Punk band.

Containing three tracks, the first - entitled Berkshire Cunt - was almost typical blazing Conflict fare but enhanced ten-fold by the addition of Steve Ignorant whose voice when joined with Colin Jerwood's worked amazingly well. Spitting out the words at breakneck speed, taking turns with each verse then coming together for the chorus, the twin vocals delivered a thought-provoking description of the 'art' of fox hunting and the violent hypocrisy of those involved: "Civilised, upright citizens grin as the dog's teeth tear at shrieking skin. 'This ain't savagery, it's jolly old culture', as they stand and wait for death like vultures. She laughs at the bloody furs flying, re-applies her lipstick as the animal's crying. He claims the tail as privileged prize and kicks the mangled corpse aside."

Raining fire and fury upon the hunt participants committing murder in the name of sport, the aristocracy are named and accused of building their lives and their wealth upon a pile of bodies - "Slaughtered animals, slaughtered squaddies."

The second track, entitled Whichever Way You Want It, was Conflict bringing under control their usual storm of bluster and rage, and then riding the thunder. Led by the superb guitar playing of Kevin Webb, the noise pours out from the song like fire from a flame-thrower, kept in check by spine-tingling, piercing fret work. Elevated and pushed along by the suddenly enhanced and advanced drumming skills of Paco and complimented by the bass playing of Big John, it was the perfect vehicle for the ferocious anger of the lyrics describing and condemning the goings-on in an animal research laboratory: "While the guard stands bravely at the gate with guard dog by his side, the same breed of animal is butchered inside. What a fucking waste of money, what a fucking waste of time. A fucking waste of human knowledge, what a fucking way to die."

The third and final track, Meat Still Means Murder, revisits the song of (almost) the same name that appeared on Conflict's début album. Accompanied this time by Steve Ignorant and a near-chorus of angels, the song reiterates the heartfelt passion Conflict have for the subject of animal liberation, leaving the listener in no doubt as to their sincerity: "You moan about the seal cull, about the whale slaughter but does it really matter whether it lives on land or water? You've never had a fur coat, you think it's cruel to mink. Well how about the cow, pig, sheep? Don't they make you think? Since the day you were born you've never been told the missing link. Your blood, their blood serves the same. Serves the fucking, fucking same."

Conflict possessed a no-holds-barred, in-your-face attitude epitomised by the way they would never back down when fighting erupted at any of their gigs. This same attitude was in evidence on the sleeve of To A Nation Of Animal Lovers, where photographs of still alive animals tied-down by string with their innards hanging out were displayed in all their gory detail. And where the Subhumans on their Evolution EP had printed the addresses of where to buy cruelty-free cosmetics, Conflict not only printed the addresses of various protest groups such as the ALF who could assist in stopping animal abuse but furthermore they printed the names and addresses of people and companies directly responsible for that abuse.

Conflict had come of age.

Subhumans - Evolution

SUBHUMANS - EVOLUTION

Running concurrent with all the problems of living in Thatcher's Britain was the whole issue of animal rights that like the campaign for nuclear disarmament was seeing an upsurge of people wanting to get involved so as to put an end to the cruelty. Within the realm of Punk, interest in the subject was initially sparked by Beki Bondage, lead vocalist of Bristol Punk band Vice Squad, who would often talk about it in interviews. Within the realm of Anarcho Punk specifically, Flux Of Pink Indians had placed the issue firmly on the agenda with their Neu Smell EP, causing large numbers of people to search out more information on alternatives to eating meat and on ways to combat vivisection.

Traditionally, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (RSPCA) had always been the organisation to get involved with and to donate money to but increasingly they were being perceived as lacking any sense of urgency and of being rather safe. A more modern and more direct approach was felt to be required, leading to the rise of such groups as the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) and the Animal Liberation Front - the ALF, both of whom openly advocated direct intervention.

Acting as a gesture of solidarity with all those who care for animals and as a wry critique of all those 'benefiting' in any way from experiments on animals, the title track of the next 7" single release by the Subhumans concerned itself with the topic of vivisection in their by now familiar Wiltshire Punk buzz.

Released on their own Bluurg label, the Evolution EP contained four songs, the title track being an infectious blast of sped-up twelve-bar Punk blues over which Dick Lucas blurted out his words: "Out in the garden there's a little white cat and you're catching cancer as you smoke that fag. 'When will they find the cure?' you choke. When enough cats have died of smoke? And they say that animals go for the throat."

Adorned with the same eye-catching style of artwork that graced their debut album, the sleeve contained a list of addresses of where to purchase cruelty-free cosmetics, which was amusing in a way simply because the Subhumans weren't really a band that looked as though personal grooming and hygene were major priorities of theirs.

Stonehenge '83

STONEHENGE '83

That same summer at the Stonehenge Free Festival, the cultural fusion that had begun at previous festivals was continuing apace as tribes of Punks, hippies and bikers mingled together to form both mental and physical cross-breeds.  A network of summer fairs and free festivals was by this time in place, including the Green Moon Gathering in Cumbria, the Cantlin Stone Free Festival, the Norwich Peaceful Green Fair, the Vines Cross Festival in East Sussex, and the Ingleston Common New Age Gypsy Fair near Bristol. The mother of them all, however, was Stonehenge, the prime alternative Butlins holiday destination for Britain's thriving counter culture that during the solstice was attracting up to 70,000 people.

When travelling between festivals it made sense both for practical and safety reasons to leave and arrive en masse, so all those living and travelling in coaches and buses and so on would always travel in a convoy. The year before, when setting off for Greenham Common from Stonehenge, these New Age travellers had announced themselves as the Peace Convoy. The name had stuck but by now due to the sheer size of the convoy they had attracted the attention of the mainstream media who unsurprisingly was choosing to depict them as unsavoury, lawless hippies; prefixing 'Peace Convoy' with 'so-called'. A process of demonization was beginning.

Meanwhile, over at Glastonbury Festival an entirely different problem was also starting following the introduction of a Local Government Act that required the festival for the first time to have a license; one of the conditions being that numbers get limited to 30,000 people.

The times were once again a-changing and with the prospect of four more years of Conservative rule, not in a good way.

Crass - Sheep Farming In The Falklands

CRASS -

SHEEP FARMING IN THE FALKLANDS

As might well have been expected, Crass too were intent on striking out at Thatcher during the run up to the 1983 general election and did so in one of the ways they knew best. At the start of the Falklands war they had produced 40,000 one-sided flexi discs of Sheep Farming In The Falklands that were given away for free through the network of independent record shops. Due to the political climate at the time and to avoid any reprisals the discs had been manufactured completely anonymously without a song title, group name or matrix number. By the Spring of 1983 all such concerns had been put aside and Crass were now happy to re-issue the song as a conventional single under their own name complete with printed lyrics, a poster depicting Thatcher holding a gigantic turd, and for the first time packaged in a glossy, coloured record sleeve emblazoned with a revamped version of the Crass logo.

The Falklands war victory was the wave that Thatcher was riding to take her to an election victory; the issue that held her aloft above the calamity of her economic policies. In re-issuing Sheep Farming In The Falklands, Crass seemed to be trying to pick a fight or at least spark some kind of a debate about the war freed from the blinkers of patriotism. Apart, however, from the better quality of the sound the only real difference between the two versions of the song was in some of the lyrics, the newer version suggesting that perhaps it was no coincidence that the only ship that wasn't struck was the one on which Prince Andrew had served.

As on the original, Eve Libertine once again did her impression of Thatcher though with another change of words: "The Falklands war was really a cover-up job, it obscured the mistakes I've made, and you know I think the gamble I took could certainly be said to have paid. With unemployment at an all-time high and the country falling apart, I, Winston Thatcher, reign supreme in this great nation's heart."

Turning her attention to Ronald Reagan, she suggests that he might also try the same tactics: "Oh raunchy Ron, we've fought our war, now it's your turn to prove yourself in El Salvador. I've employed Michael Heseltine to deal with PR, he's an absolute prick but a media star. He'll advocate the wisdom of our Cruise missile plan then at last I'll have a penis just like every other man. They can call it penis envy but they'll pay the price for it." As Steve Ignorant interjects with a cry of "But the peasants are hungry, Mags!" 'Thatcher' responds with a paraphrase of Marie Antoinette: "Let them eat shit."

Perhaps because it wasn't purely an outpouring of abuse like the original version but the re-issue for some reason seemed somehow less ferocious and the flipside - entitled Gotcha - which was basically a litany of insults seemed somewhat tame compared to the usual colourful language of which Crass were the masters: "Gotcha, you Argie bastards, you Commie scum, you bloody scoundrel, you Paki bum. You thieving Arab, you slit-eyed gook, you dirty browner, you pacifist poof..."

The point being made was that the prevalent attitude during the Falklands war as exemplified by The Sun's 'Gotcha' headline was a prejudiced, sexist, nationalistic, racist one but for all that, however much anger Steve Ignorant could muster in his voice, lines like "you bloody scoundrel" and "you pacifist poof" still sounded a bit limp, a bit lame, and in the end it meant that Gotcha was one of Crass's most weakest of songs.

It's fair to say that Sheep Farming In The Falklands had no effect upon the outcome of the general election whatsoever because the Conservatives romped home and won what was judged to be a landslide victory. A few days after the polls had closed, Michael Foot stood down as leader of the Labour Party to be later replaced by a ginger-haired Welshman by the name of Neil Kinnock. Meet the new boss same as the old boss.

WHO DUNNIT?

In response to the Thatcher victory, Crass rushed out another 7" single release entitled Who Dunnit? Packaged once again in a glossy sleeve, the picture on the cover was of some soiled 'government property' toilet paper whilst the picture on the back was of a turd with a Union Jack flag stuck into it.

The actual song was another example of Crass's peculiar sense of humour, it being basically a pub sing-along with absolutely no guitars or drums just raucous, drunken voices - with a bit of whistling: "Birds put the turd in custard, but who put the shit in Number Ten? Well what a fucking joke, it's enough to make you choke cos the shit's back in Number Ten again..." And so on over two sides. It was utter rubbish yet utterly brilliant, released as all novelty records should on coloured vinyl - faecal brown, of course.