Flux of Pink Indians - Strive to Survive & Neu Smell (1989)

Unsurprisingly, I've been tripping down musical memory lane. This comp is a real formative punk classic for me that I've somehow managed to miss posting all these years. Strive to Survive... is easily a top 5 anarchopunk album, and Neu Smell is arguably the best Crass Records 7" that isn't by Crass. From an era in which it probably felt, for a second, like punk might actually amount to something resembling a political movement.

(I haven't actually listened to this rip, I'm listening to my physical copies, let me know if the rip sucks.)

Track listing:

Strive to Survive Causing the Least Suffering Possible

1. Song for Them

2. Charity Hilarity

3. Some of Us Scream Some of Us Shout

4. Take Heed

5. T.V. Dinners

6. Tapioca Sunrise

7. Progress

8. They Lie We Die

9. Blinded by Science

10. Myxomatosis

11. Is There Anybody There

12. The Fun Is Over

Neu Smell

13. Sick Butchers

14. Background of Malfunction

15. Poem

16. Tube Disasters

17. Poem End

Build up some speed, don't shut your eyes

Make sure that everyone in the train dies

You don't get no prize, no time to say goodbyes

Just smile everyone, you'll be on TV tonight

That's right

More peace punk that we would listen to in our cars driving around suburban Maryland:

Lost Cherrees - All Part of Growing Up (1984)

Toxic Waste - Belfast (1987)

Poison Girls - Hex (1979)

For every great 70s/80s peace punk record, there are twenty unlistenable 90s ones. And there is very little middle ground. This is why every time I post an anarchopunk record, I heap on the praise. And this one's no different: Hex, the first record by a band whose vocalist was a middle-aged mother (see: "Jump Mama Jump") at the band's inception, is explorative, even playful at times, but always weighed down by the demands of society, and always seething. As brilliant an anarchopunk record as you're likely to find.

I'm also including "Persons Unknown", their side of a split with Crass, because it was my introduction to Poison Girls way back in high school, I really, really like it, and I want you to hear it.

Track listing:
1. Old Tarts Song
2. Crisis
3. Ideologically Unsound
4. Bremen Song
5. Political Love
6. Jump Mama Jump
7. Under the Doctor
8. Reality Attack

HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX. HEX.

More like this:

Omega Tribe -
No Love Lost (1983)

Lost Cherrees -
All Part of Growing Up (1984)

Conflict - Against All Odds (1989)

Easily the most musically adventurous record from these anarchopunk legends. Of the record's six tracks, only two -- "Slaughter of Innocence" and "A Message to Who" -- could be considered standard fare for the band, and they're arguably the two best songs they ever recorded. Elsewhere, there's the epic, multi-suite, 14-minute title track, something resembling a ballad ("Assured Mutual Destruction") and a skit-like track parodying the commercialization of punk ("The Greatest Show on Earth") that never quite takes off. And then there's "A State of Mind", an experimental, electronic dance track that features a pitch-shifted voice moaning "Ecstasy!" over and over again, and is unlike anything else they ever recorded.

Track listing:
1. Against All Odds
2. Slaughter of Innocence
3. Assured Mutual Destruction
4. The Greatest Show on Earth
5. A Message to Who
6. A State of Mind

Eyes glare, beast and master, animals both, crazed and weary
There can only be one real winner here, the results are now seen clearly
Teeth marks bare where fur once protected, flesh hangs dangling in shreds
Their faces grimace, rejected strips of meat exposed, selected
Bloodstains and saliva splatter the fuel of precious life
Master and servant segregate the ritual sacrifice
Driven mad and into frenzy, limbs torn, skin is shorn
Like sex perverts at a peep show, this is the ultimate in porn

More like this:

Lost Cherrees -
All Part of Growing Up (1984)

Toxic Waste -
Belfast (1987)

Crass - Christ the Album (1982)

Arguably the greatest peace-punk record ever made. The proper album is a total game-changer, and finds Crass dialing in their already established sound, then firing it off into the great unknown. Chaotic, static-y sheets of guitar stabilized by a tight, muscular rhythm section, masses of news-sourced dialogue clips, and a sneering, pissed-off cockney poking holes in everything he sees -- politicians, the family unit, television, gender roles, other punks, Christians, skinheads, warmongers, meat eaters and more all find themselves in the crosshairs. The second disc is a collage of raw live stuff, interviews, spoken word, 'behind-the-scenes' recordings, and the like.

I seem to have been on a bit of a nostalgia trip of late (see also: this, this, this, this, and this) and I'm just gonna go with it. Sure, maybe this stuff is not all that obscure, but enough people read this blog that, statistically speaking, I'm practically guaranteed that at least like a hundred of you have never heard this.

Track listing:
   Christ the Album
1. Have a Nice Day
2. Mother Love
3. Nineteen Eighty Bore
4. I Know There Is Love
5. Beg Your Bardon
6. Birth Control 'n' Rock 'n' Roll
7. Reality Whitewash
8. It's the Greatest Working Class Rip-Off
9. Deadhead
10. You Can Be Who?
11. Buy Now Pay as You Go
12. Rival Tribal Revel Rebel, Pt. 2
13. Bumhooler
14. Sentiment (White Feathers)
15. Major General Despair
   Well-Forked - But Not Dead
1. Banned from the Roxy
2. The Sound of One Hand Clapping
3. Punk Is Dead
4. Nagasaki Nightmare
5. Darling
6. Bata Motel Blues
7. Berkertrex Bribe
8. Fold It in Half
9. Big Hands
10. Bumhooler
11. Big A Little A
12. First Woman
13. Arlington 73
14. Bomb Plus Bomb Tape
15. Contaminational Power
16. I Ain't Thick
17. G's Song
18. Securicor
19. I Can't Stand It
20. Shaved Women
21. A Part of Life
22. Do They Owe Us a Living
23. So What
24. Salt 'n' Pepper

Patriots' progress is a backstep
A cruel noose around a young neck
They teach our children in the classroom
To respect a madman on a rostrum
To praise the the dirty works of battle
Bring out the ribbon, balloon and rattle
To dig their own graves in the cold earth
So sad and pointless now to give birth

You should also listen to:

Chaos U.K. -
Chaos U.K. (1983)

Omega Tribe -
No Love Lost (1983)

Aus-Rotten - The System Works... for Them (1996)

A bunch of white nationalists just invaded my city, and with the aid of local cops, paraded around downtown, wearing "Pinochet Did Nothing Wrong" shirts and peddling fear and hatred to anyone who'd listen. What a fucking waste. Here's a stone classic of heavy, raw anarcho-crust that sounds as relevant now as it ever has.

Track listing:
1. Intro
2. The System Works for Them
3. The Battlefield's Still Red
4. When You Support These Fucking Bastards
5. American Ethic
6. No Justice, No Peace
7. Too Little, Too Late
8. Poison Corporations
9. Tedium
10. B.A.T.F.
11. The Crucifix and the Flag
12. The Flags Will Cover Coffins

Take your fucking race war and shove it up your ass

Also listen to:

Toxic Waste -
Belfast (1987)

Decrepit - Tired of Licking
Blood from a Spoon (1999)

Toxic Waste - Belfast (1987)

Irish anarchopunk. Raw and and extremely pissed-off, very much in the tradition of Crass records, Belfast is a post-breakup compilation for which Toxic Waste took to the studio with members of Dirt to re-record some songs, and tacked on previously unreleased tracks to fill it out. I honestly thought that I was done with this kinda stuff, but I guess there's nothing like living in a crumbling failed state to reinvigorate one's interest in hyper-political, system-fucking, punk-upping anti-music.

Note: Hey there Anon! As intent as you are on commenting "LE CRINGE" on this, I'm not going to publish it. Feel free to try again using less obnoxious language.

Track listing:
1. Traditionally Yours
2. Religious Leader
3. As More Die
4. Tug of War
5. Listen Margaret
6. Song for Britain
7. Traditionally Yours
8. Burn Your Flags
9. Dear Little Dinosaur
10. Belfast / Plastic Bullets
11. We Will Be Free

We will see you rot
And we will see you fall

You'd also like:

Chaos U.K. -
Chaos U.K. (1983)

Omega Tribe -
No Love Lost (1983)

Lost Cherrees - All Part of Growing Up (1984)

Excellent UK anarchopunk. All Part of Growing Up is among the more accessible peace punk records, with a sound that's not all that far removed from X-Ray Spex, or even the Go-Go's. As so many people do, when I first fell for punk in high school, I fell hard, and ended up listened pretty much exclusively to crust and peace punk, so Lost Cherrees' less overtly pissed-off, more melodic approach eventually helped to ease my transition back towards less spiky sounds. "Yet Still Comes the Rain" remains one of my all-time favorite punk songs.

Track listing:
1. Blind or Dead
2. Nervous Breakdown
3. Escalation
4. F-Plan, G-Plan
5. You're You, I'm Me
6. Nothing New
7. Poem
8. Why Does It Have to Be a Dream
9. Young and Free
10. Yet Still Comes the Rain
11. The Wait
12. No Way
13. You Didn't Care
14. But the Rape Goes On
15. Dream of Peace
16. Pleasant Valley Sunday

It's another sacrifice for the human race

If you like this, try:

Omega Tribe -
No Love Lost (1983)

Contropotere -
Solo Salvaggi (1992)

Omega Tribe - No Love Lost (1983)

One of the great peace punk records. Bouncy, catchy, pissed-off, and apocalyptic. A record that, along with Christ: The Album, changed my life in high school.

Just gonna throw this out there: back in the days of Napster, I downloaded a song by some unknown alt rock band that lifted its chorus from "Another Bloody Day", which isn't actually on this LP. Does anyone out there know who it was?

Track listing:
1. Duty Calls
2. Profit
3. Aftermath
4. Freedom, Peace, and Unity
5. What the Hell?
6. Mother of Cultivation
7. My Tears
8. Nature Wonder
9. Pictures
10. Man Made
11. My Tears Reprise (No More Wars)

Angry songs and bitter words
We've heard it all before

You'd also like:

Icons of Filth -
Onward Christian Soldiers (1984)

Rudimentary Peni -
4 E.P.s

Chaos U.K. - Chaos U.K. (1983)

Classic debut of harsh, noise-addled street punk from Chaos U.K. One of my all-time favorite punk records. I'm particularly fond of the dark, rhythm section-heavy "The End Is Nigh" and "Victimized". I also blame this LP for my pretending to like -- and subsequently drinking way too much -- Woodchuck cider, for about six months when I was 16.

Track listing:
1. Selfish Few
2. Fashion Change
3. You'll Never Own Me (False Prophets)
4. The End Is Nigh
5. Victimized
6. Parental Love
7. Leech
8. Chaos
9. Mentally Insane
10. Urban Guerilla
11. Farmyard Boogie
12. No Security
13. What About a Future
14. Hypocrite

It's cold outside, it's cold outside

You might also like:

Rudimentary Peni -
Four EPs

H.D.Q. -
Hung, Drawn and Quartered (1985)

Icons of Filth - Onward Christian Soldiers (1984)

One of the all-time great anarchopunk records. The current political atmosphere in my country (not limited to Trump) is making the crust I listened to back in the day feel relevant again, especially simple, driving, pissed-off shit like this that makes me want to form a mob and throw molotov cocktails at the White House.

Track listing:
1. Why So Limited?
2. Mentally Murdered
3. They've Taken Everything
4. Fucked Up State
5. Present & History
6. Dividing Line
7. Now We're Getting Warmer
8. Sod the Children
9. Show Us You Care
10. Death Is the Only Release
11. Fool Britannia (A Song for Europe)
12. One Second to Midnight
13. Midnight
14. Onward Christian Soldiers
15. Self-Styled Superiority
16. Power for Power

They, the arse
We, the excretion

More like this:

Doom -
Monarchy Zoo (1996)

Cress -
Monuments (1997)

Contropotere - Solo Selvaggi (1992)

Dark, inventive Italian anarchopunk/crust. Solo Selvaggi is a truly great 7" from front-to-back, but when I go to put it on, I'm thinking about the dramatic, iconic (in certain circles) opening, in which vocalist Lucia Vitrone builds from near-whispers to vicious, cathartic screams over a mournful piano line.

Track listing:
1. Quello Che Hai
2. Zona Luce
3. Naufraga
4. Briganti

Walk a little faster
Someone's home

You will probably also enjoy:

Ambush -
Lach! (1994)

Icos -
Fragments of Sirens (2007)

Cress - Monuments (1997)

UK anarchopunk. Drum machines, keyboards, samples, and sharp, machine-like guitars give Monuments a cool, dark, almost industrial atmosphere. Def some Crass influence at work here -- they even sample some of the samples from Christ the Album -- but musically, they're a very different beast. The end times are upon us.

Track listing:
1. Earth
2. Prisons
3. TV Screen
4. Progress
5. Fear
6. Monuments
7. Beasts
8. One
9. DIY
10. Sirens
11. Machines
12. Illusions
13. Safe

Fear surrounds us on all sides

If you like this, listen to:

Misery -
Next Time (1995)

Counterblast -
Balance of Pain (1996)

Rudimentary Peni - Echoes of Anguish (1997), The Underclass (2000), Archaic (2004), + No More Pain (2008)

Perhaps the greatest of the OG British anarchopunk bands, the magic of Rudimentary Peni came from their lead singer, Nick Blinko, being a certified crazy person, and his allowing this to play a central role in RP's creative output, from their artwork to their increasingly deranged music (if you haven't yet, make sure to take in Cacophony at least once.) The just over one hour of music on these four EPs represents the entirety of the band's output since their last full-length, 1995's divisive Pope Adrian 37th Psychiatric, and they find the band cutting all of the musical fat, simplifying their approach into a minimal, primitive, almost early black metal-like approach, with an average of about three or four lines of lyrics per song.

Track listing:
-Echoes of Anguish-
1. The Flame of Insanity
2. In Memory of Pain
3. Dissolution
4. Only Death
5. Womb So Scorned
6. Time Passing
7. Echo
8. Voice
9. Stone
10. Trial By Separation
11. From the Heart
12. Your Secret Life
-The Underclass-
1. Captive of Atrophy
2. No Other Truth
3. Essence
4. Bequest
5. The Mirror
6. The Underclass
7. Unchanged
8. As Nothing
9. Choice of Evils
10. The Internal Censor
11. The Ocean of Misery
12. Clandestine Harem
-Archaic-
1. One and All
2. Suffer
3. In Crematorium Flame
4. Lost
5. The Rain
6. Mercy of Slumber
7. The Curse
8. The Enlightened Dreamer
9. X.N.H.S.
10. Farewell Tomorrow
11. House of the Void
12. Rehearsal for Mortality
-No More Pain-
1. A Handful of Dust
2. No More Pain
3. Eyes of the Dead
4. Prayer for the Unborn
5. The Death of the Author
6. Grave Object
7. Doodle Bug Baby
8. Annihilation
9. Sublime Fantasy No. 1
10. Pachelbel's Canon in E

A collection of empty cells
You are the crumbling walls of a prison