Punk pioneers Crass continue their vinyl reissue series, re-pressing their limited releases by adjacent artists through Crass Records. The series, including over twenty bands and solo artists recorded at the legendary Southern Studios and produced by Penny Rimbaud, continues with two more historic pieces from the Crass Records catalogue; ‘Barbed Wire Halo’ by Annie Anxiety and ‘Neu Smell’ by Flux of Pink Indians.

“Trying to categorise Annie Anxiety is a futile task… [she] exudes a magnetic presence on anything she’s contributed to” The Vinyl Factory

New York City musical maverick and performance artist Annie Anxiety, aka Little Annie aka Annie Bandez, began her illustrious career (including work with Adrian Sherwood, Coil, Current 93, and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry) with Crass. They released her first solo single, 1981’s ‘Barbed Wire Halo’ alongside ‘Cyanide Tears’, an extraordinarily prescient piece of jagged electronics, samples, and skeletal rhythms, led by Annie’s nightmarish vocals.

She tells us; “When creating this single with Penny I hadn’t heard the word ‘avant-guard’ nor could I spell it - I only got explained ‘concretism’ via an interview I did in Berlin regarding some of my work three years ago - My father was a printer so I grew up with sound of printing press and subway train beats and always heard melodies and cross rhythms within those beats - I was just making dance music / disco tunes to my mind and Pen heard those same tunes I was hearing - my first recording, in retrospect I guess, was pretty ‘out there’ at its release, but to us it was dance floor for a club yet to be invented- one day”.

Penny Rimbaud expands; “Annie Anxiety is a total enigma, a passionate voice in the wilderness of consensual reason. Dada in instinct, Monroe in affection, Rambo in inflection, Annie rams it home with divine thunder. An instigator and innovator, she’s the bonkers angel of Yonkers, NYC. With no time to spare, Annie takes to the road with complete conviction, overtaking Kerouac halfway down 5th Avenue. Catch her if you can”.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hello Horror
2. Cyanide Tears

Punk pioneers Crass continue their vinyl reissue series, re-pressing their limited releases by adjacent artists through Crass Records, in association with One Little Independent. The series, including over twenty bands and solo artists recorded at the legendary Southern Studios and produced by Penny Rimbaud, continues with two more historic pieces from the Crass Records catalogue; ‘Barbed Wire Halo’ by Annie Anxiety and ‘Neu Smell’ by Flux of Pink Indians.

“Flux of Pink Indian’s anti-capitalist, vegan, anarchist ideologies still resound today (possibly even more than they have in years)” The Quietus
Flux of Pink Indians were an iconic anarcho-punk band active from 1980-1986. In 1981 the band signed to Crass Records, releasing their debut EP ‘Neu Smell’ the same year, featuring indie hit ‘Tube Disaster’. Pulsating bass and grinding, distorted guitar chaos underpins a vicious takedown of media sensationalism and the reporting of everyday tragedies.

Penny continues; “Punk as it should be, but very often wasn’t, Flux assaulted the airwaves with an intelligent humour which, more often than not, was missing with other protagonists of the genre. Grim as it might have been, ‘Neu Smell’ must rate as one of the true gems of the time. Both drowning and waving, Flux’s irony could always put a smile on your face. If not the Ace, they were undoubtedly the Joker in the pack. Join the shuffle”.

Penny finally notes that “Our (Crass’) interest was never in personalities, profits or power, and neither did we have time for reformist liberals. Our position was solidly revolutionary; we took no prisoners. Talking the talk was never enough for us, no, we demanded that we also walk the walk. Ours wasn’t a show, it was a battle, not a living, but a lifestyle, a lifestyle with a difference – rather than looking only to ourselves, we sought to share our gains. I feel that this willingness added great strength to the form of anarchism that we practiced both on stage and out on the street.”

In giving a platform to an impressive array of other bands, Crass Records broadened the front of what popularly became known as anarcho-punk. Not, it must be said, a moniker that Crass themselves much favoured. In this respect, Crass’ classic line, “There is no authority but yourself”, makes its point. Crass sought to empower others, and the output of Crass Records does much to confirm this, while ‘2 By 2 And Back Again’ seems to nail it – “get out of your own way, we’re all in this together”. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Neu Smell / Tube Disaster / Poem
2. Sick Butchers
3. Background Of Malfunction

Zounds are an English post-punk band from Reading, Berkshire, formed in 1977. Originally they were part of the cassette culture movement, releasing material on the Fuck Off Records label, and were also involved in the squatting and free festival scene. The name of the band is derived from the old English "zounds", a contraction of "God's wounds", referring to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ, formerly used as a mildly blasphemous oath. The band met up with fellow anarchists Crass when, legend has it, their van broke down on the road. They made their way to nearby Dial House, where Crass were based, who helped them with repairs. The two bands became friends, and although musically very divergent, they shared many common political views. Zounds shortly afterwards released their first EP, ‘Can't Cheat Karma’, on the Crass Records label in 1980. The EP featured possibly their most well-known track ‘Subvert’, a call to arms against the grind of daily life. The release of this EP and association with Crass led to an increase in the band's profile in the embryonic anarcho-punk scene, touring with both Crass and Poison Girls. They split in 1982 but reformed in 2007, and remain active today.  

Penny continues; “Zounds could have made a fine pop group, but they were far too socially sassy to fall for that one. No, their committment to radical political change, so abundantly clear in their lyrics, set them apart from the commercialism that had so blighted the likes of The Clash and other punkish pretenders. Having been drawn from the ranks of hippy bands like Here and Now, Zounds encouraged dissent and personal change, and, at their own cost, to pursue and promote them as ideologies. Can't cheat karma? No, nor ever beat it. Zounds were hip to this fine point. Want a better life? Then make it for yourself. Ain't no one gonna help you out on that one. Find your own way, it's the only way there is”.  

First released on 7” vinyl, limiting the sound, the new series has been remastered for 12” by Alex Gordon at Abbey Road Studios, allowing them to be heard as never before. This, plus enlarged replicas of the original covers, brings new gusto to their already radical sound.

TRACK LISTING

War
Subvert
Can’t Cheat Karma

Rudimentary Peni were a British punk band formed in 1980 emerging from the London anarcho scene. Lead singer/guitarist Nick Blinko was notorious for his witty, macabre lyrics and dark pen-and-ink artwork, prominently featured on all Rudimentary Peni's albums. They recorded their first EP in 1981 released on Outer Himalayan. The band played their first London show the same year with Flux of Pink Indians and Subhumans. The ‘Farce’ EP was released on Crass Records in 1982. Rudimentary Peni stopped performing in the mid-80s after bassist Matthews was diagnosed with cancer. After a 4 year hiatus, they recorded ‘Cacophony’ (1988), a sonic tribute to seminal New England horror author H.P. Lovecraft. The band continued to record and release material into the 21st century, including the album ‘Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric’ (1995) and the EPs ‘Echoes of Anguish’ (1998), ‘The Underclass’ (2000), ‘Archaic’ (2004) and ‘No More Pain’ (2008), and maintained a diverse cult following in the US punk scene. They were namechecked in the Oscar-nominated Sound of Metal, included in a succession of cult band shirts worn by Riz Ahmed. Most reissues of their 1980s albums are now out of print.  

Penny Rimbaud remembers of Rudimentary Peni; “They were awkward buggers, they made an art of it. In a their roudy mix of off-kilter growls of anguish and savage squeals of pain, they were the precursors of American hardcore. They set a new standard of existential angst with their brain-storming acts of aural violence and skull-breaking falls from grace. Hitting the nail fair and square on the head, they had it made, and it was bad, bad, bad which, of course, made them super good. Love 'em or leave them, Rudimenary Peni didn't give a toss. They were in for the kill, and damned nearly made one. Listen at your own peril”.

First released on 7” vinyl, limiting the sound, the new series has been remastered for 12” by Alex Gordon at Abbey Road Studios, allowing them to be heard as never before. This, plus enlarged replicas of the original covers, brings new gusto to their already radical sound.

TRACK LISTING

Sacrifice
Cosmetic Plague
Subdued Violence
Only Human
The Bile Ball
Farce
Bloody Jellies
Mice Race
Defined By Age
Zero Again
Bubble

Crass Records, alongside One Little Independent Records, reissue their iconic three volume compilation series, ‘Bullshit Detector’. 

‘Bullshit Detector’ was the name of a series of compilation LPs put together by the anarcho-punk band Crass and released on their own label. Three editions were released between 1980 and 1984, consisting of demo tapes, rough recordings and artwork that had been sent to the band.

The sound quality of the ‘Bullshit Detector’ series was mixed and often basic, or even poor, as Crass would master the tapes directly to record without any additional production or enhancement. For Crass, the expectation of a polished performance was missing the point.

After punk had already been co-opted, re-packaged and sold back to us, ‘Bullshit Detector’ volumes 1-3 were, and still are, seen by many to capture the purest ethos of punk culture, an event that inspired hundreds to take to their bedrooms and garages and join the DIY revolution.

Crass believed in the power of community and that their movement was for everybody. These compilations are an admittedly harsh but important part of that story; when Crass gave punk back to the people.

TRACK LISTING

Voice Of The U.K. - Waiting For Bardot
Omega Tribe - Nature Wonder
Suspects - Random Relations
Your Funeral - Think About It
Krondstadt Uprising - Receiver Deceiver
Deformed - Freedom
No Label - Let’s Get It Right
The Rejected - Same Old Songs
Boffo - Garageland
XS - Fuck The System
Polemic Attack - Manipulated Youth
Gardener - A. Gardener’s Song
Toxic - Tradition Of Slaughter
1984 - Breakup
Unknown Artist - Insert
Toxik Ephex - Police Brutality
Sic - Low
Molitov Cocktail - Ain’t Got A Clue
Naked - Mid 1930’s (Pre-war Germany)
Capital Punishment - We’ve Realised The Truth Now
Anthrax - All The Wars
Endangered Species - Slaughter Of The Innocent (Curiosity Kills)
Pseudo Sadists - War Games
Total Chaos - Pyscho Analysis
Dougie - War Without Winners
St Vitus Dancers - The Survivor
Stegz - Christus Erection
Metro Youth - Brutalised
Normality Complex - Black Market Shadow
Youth In Asia - The Power & The Glory
Riot Squad - Security System
Destructors - Agent Orange
The Pits - U.K. In Dreamland
The Bored - Riot Style
Toby Kettle - Theatre Comment
Chumbawumba - Three Years Later
Passion Killers - Start Again
Amerikan Arsenal - Get Off Yr Ass

Crass Records, alongside One Little Independent Records, reissue their iconic three volume compilation series, ‘Bullshit Detector’.

‘Bullshit Detector’ was the name of a series of compilation LPs put together by the anarcho-punk band Crass and released on their own label. Three editions were released between 1980 and 1984, consisting of demo tapes, rough recordings and artwork that had been sent to the band.

The sound quality of the ‘Bullshit Detector’ series was mixed and often basic, or even poor, as Crass would master the tapes directly to record without any additional production or enhancement. For Crass, the expectation of a polished performance was missing the point.

After punk had already been co-opted, re-packaged and sold back to us, ‘Bullshit Detector’ volumes 1-3 were, and still are, seen by many to capture the purest ethos of punk culture, an event that inspired hundreds to take to their bedrooms and garages and join the DIY revolution.

Crass believed in the power of community and that their movement was for everybody. These compilations are an admittedly harsh but important part of that story; when Crass gave punk back to the people.

Sleeve notes from ‘Bullshit Detector Three’ read: “Don’t expect music when the melody is anger, when the message sings defiance, three chords are frustration when the words are from the heart.”

TRACK LISTING

Avert Aversion - Oh What A Nice Day
Awake Mankind - Once Upon A Time
A Nul Noise - Hibashuka
Animus - Nuclear Piss
Peroxide - Ministry Of Death (M.O.D.)
Untitled - We Are Taught To Kill
Xtract - Fight For Peace
Verbal Assault - Not Yet Ron
Fifth A Column - Counterfeit Culture
Potential Victim - People
7th Plague - Rubber Bullets
Rebel A - Genesis To Genocide
Alienated - Living In Fear
Barbed Wire - Weapons Of War
Rob Williams - Lies
Reality Control - The War Is Over
Youthanasia - Power
Sammy Rubette & Safety Match - The Ballad Of Maggie The Maggot
Politicide - 51st State
Markus Abused - The Killing Machine
One Man’s Meat - Your Country Misleads You
Direct Action - Death Without A Thought
Crag - Voice Your Protest
Attrition - In Your Hand
Napalm Death - The Crucifixion Of Possessions
The Impalers - Sun, Sun, Sun
Health Hazzard - Picture Show
Phil Hedgehog - Radio Times
Malice - Faceless
Michael Kingzett Taylor - Paranoia
Brainwashed Pupils - The Demonstration
No Defences - Work To Consume
A.N.E.E.B. - Berlin Wall
Carnage - Carnage
Warning - Beasts Of Fiction
State Of Shock - Excess Youth
Neale Harmer - Hard Nut
Dead To The World - Action Man
Dandruff - Life In A Whiskey Bottle
Richard III - Will You Care?
Funky Rayguns - The Hare And The Tortoise

Crass Records, alongside One Little Independent Records, reissue their iconic three volume compilation series, ‘Bullshit Detector’, on LP, available in both classic black and special edition grey vinyl. 

‘Bullshit Detector’ was the name of a series of compilation LPs put together by the anarcho-punk band Crass and released on their own label. Three editions were released between 1980 and 1984, consisting of demo tapes, rough recordings and artwork that had been sent to the band.

The sound quality of the ‘Bullshit Detector’ series was mixed and often basic, or even poor, as Crass would master the tapes directly to record without any additional production or enhancement. For Crass, the expectation of a polished performance was missing the point.

After punk had already been co-opted, re-packaged and sold back to us, ‘Bullshit Detector’ volumes 1-3 were, and still are, seen by many to capture the purest ethos of punk culture, an event that inspired hundreds to take to their bedrooms and garages and join the DIY revolution.

Crass believed in the power of community and that their movement was for everybody. These compilations are an admittedly harsh but important part of that story; when Crass gave punk back to the people.

TRACK LISTING

Andy T - Jazz On A Summers Day
Counter Attack - Don’t Wanna Fight For You
Alternative - Change It
Clockwork Criminals - We Are You
Reputations In Jeopardy - Girls Love Popstars
Crass - Do They Owe Us A Living
Amebix - University Challenged
Sceptics - Local Chaos
The Sinyx - Mark Of The Beast
Frenzy Battalion - Thalidomide
Icon - Cancer
The Speakers - Why
A.P.F. Brigade - Anarchist Attack
Fuck The C.I.A. - Right Or Wrong
Caine Mutiny And The Kallisti Apples Of Nonsense - Morning Star
The Sucks - 3
Porno Squad - Khaki Doesn’t Go With My Eyes
S.P.G. Murders - Soldiers
Eratics - National Service
Red Alert 8 - Who Needs Society
The Snipers - War Song
Armchair Power - Power
Disrupters - Napalm
Andy T - Nagaski Mon Amour
Action Frogs - Drumming Up Hope (Ferret Skank)

Punk pioneers Crass continue their vinyl reissue series ‘2 by 2 And Back Again’ with reissues from Sleeping Dogs and Lack of Knowledge. Sleeping Dogs were one of only two American bands to release on Crass Records, and in 1982 their sardonic and sludgy, but politically sharp, hardcore made up the ‘Beware’ EP. They were first formed under the moniker Arsenal by the late artist, and designer of the iconic Crass logo, David King. ‘Beware’ showed the originality and potential of Sleeping Dogs, even as Crass’s Penny Rimbaud and Crass guitarist Phil Free augmented the band’s sound for the studio session. The front cover of the single featured its own striking image, courtesy of King. Sleeping Dogs disbanded shortly after, reemerging briefly under the new guise of Brain Rusta few years later. Distorted, biting, and beat-driven, the collection is a well-researched and poignant expose of Western imperialism.

TRACK LISTING

Same Old Story
Concrete
Suzy’s Song
(I Got My Tan In) El Salvador
Soldier

Punk pioneers Crass continue their vinyl reissue series ‘2 by 2 And Back Again’ with reissues from Lack of Knowledge and Sleeping Dogs. Lack of Knowledge formed in 1978 and explored the intersection of punk and new wave, withbrooding synth and an angular, melancholy edge. Their greyscale, gothic delivery recalls the likes of The Damned and Joy Division, but they found a home in the capital’s thriving anarcho-punk scene, seemingly more in-keeping with their work ethic. They consistently and defiantly subverted expectations, taking what a band seeking commercial success would do, and at each turn doing the opposite. Unpretentious, and embodying the very essence of DIY value, they have since become something of a cult hit, with their original 1984 Crass Records release now a bona fide collector’s item.

TRACK LISTING

We’re Looking For People
Another Sunset
Girl In A Mask
Radioactive Man

‘This Is Your Captain Speaking’, by Captain Sensible (a founding member of punk rock legends The Damned), mixes pure punk audaciousness with hints of psychedelia and goth as well as choral music, to create something undeniably ‘Captain’.

The EP features vocal contributions from the band, Dolly Mixture and engineer John Loder’s young daughter Tash. Penny Rimbaud, who wrote the lyrics for the first track, ‘What D'Ya Give’, features on drums throughout.

Tongue-in-cheek and also raw, the EP represents a pivotal moment when two of punk’s original trailblazers joined forces. First released on 7” vinyl, limiting the sound, the new repressing has been remastered for 12” at Abbey Road Studios, allowing this release to be heard as never before.

This, plus enlarged replicas of the original covers, brings new gusto to the already radical sound.

TRACK LISTING

(What D'Ya Give) The Man Who's Gotten Everything?
Oursouls To You
The Russians Are Coming

‘Angry Songs’ by Omega Tribe is anarchist punk at its finest, with powerful unrelenting lyricism, caustic riffs and an immediacy that came to define the genre.

It was produced by Penny Rimbaud plus Pete Fender and included Hugh Vivian on guitar and vocals, Daryl Hardcastle on bass, Pete Fender on guitar and Pete Shepherd on drums.

The band have recently reinvented themselves, are creating and releasing new music, and they have a new album out.

First released on 7” vinyl, limiting the sound, the new repressing has been remastered for 12” at Abbey Road Studios, allowing the release to be heard as never before.

This, plus enlarged replicas of the original covers, brings new gusto to the already radical sound.

TRACK LISTING

Another Bloody Day
Profiteer
Is This A Future?
Time For Change

Ten Notes on a Summer's Day was Crass's final album under the Crass name. It was released in 1986 and consists of a vocal and instrumental version of the same tracks in an avant-garde musical style.

Recorded at Southern Studios in the Winter of 1984 / Summer 1985. Penny Rimbaud says in the liner notes: “Just as throughout our seven years’ existence as a punk band we had made concerted efforts to avoid specific political pigeonholing (‘left-wing, right-wing, you can stuff the lot’), so, musically, we attempted to push the barriers, always avoiding the obvious.”

In one respect alone we were absolutely consistent; our inconsistency. If the essentially rowdy Feeding of the Five Thousand and Stations Of The Crass had established us as the thinking man’s bovver band, so Penis Envy broke the mould as an almost lyrical, yet still very angry piece of rock’n’roll feminism. And just as at the very time that the BBC thought us safe enough to be given airplay, so we ploughed in with Christ, The Album, an uncompromisingly avantgarde noise album which in its own way went a long way in redefining rock’n’roll’s limited parameters.

Then, in much the same way as our fifth album, Yes Sir, I Will, owed more to free jazz than to rock, so Ten Notes On A Summer’s Day nudged itself towards modern European atonality, and us completely out of the rock’n’roll arena (as testified to by dramatically reduced record sales). In this sense, Ten Notes On A Summer’s Day truly was a swansong.”

The vinyl edition comes in a single sleeve with printed inner – bag/insert. The CD comes in cardboard digipack type packaging.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
1. Ten Notes On A Summer’s Day (Vocal Mix)

Side B:
1. Where Next Columbus? (Instrumental Mix)