“Zounds! I was Never so Bethumped with.... the Soundz of Punk Rock’n’roll!!”

Some time ago I posted the proclamation that Wire's Pink Flag (1977 Harvest) may be the best punk rock album of all time.  I still stand by that, but making such claims can be complicated and ultimately unconvincing.  There’s so much great punk (as well as sooooo much bad stuff...) out there, and much of it - contrary to popular perception - is  extremely diverse in sound and attitude.  Case in point: meet Zounds, the best anarcho-punk band of the early 1980s.  They were very different from Wire in all senses of style and sound, but they too are on my top 5 list of best punk bands of all time.  

Whereas Wire explored the artpunk aesthetics that paved the way for bands like The Fall, Zounds   cultivated their sounds in the communes of anarcho-peace punk - a second-wave movement of UK punk rock that took seriously the political and cultural principles of philosophical anarchism.  Anarcho-peace punk exposed the John Lydens of first-wave punk for the media sellouts they’d become by offering a more politcally-charged, stripped-down-and-sped-up form of punk music that was uncompromising and intentionally uncommercial. The thing that gets me about Zounds, however, is there’s real musicianship and artistry in their songs - they’re a politically and stylistically focused band that proves just as aesthetically clever as groups of the artpunk tradition.

       

Zounds was formed in the Reading area of England in 1977 by the frontman Steve Lake.  Early in their career the band became friends with fellow rockers and activists, Crass, and even lived at their famous Commune, the Dial House, for a period of time.  The group released their first Ep, Can’t Cheat Karma, on Crass’s label (of the same name) in 1980.  Here’s the title track of that release:

A song like that has as much in common with artpunk & postpunk sensibilities as say the sounds of their Crass Records contemporaries. It reminds me of Gang of Four more so than Rudimentary Peni or Flux of the Pink Indians - and perhaps that’s why I like it so much...

I was inspired to make this post, however, due to another recent vinyl acquisition: Rough Trade’s 1981 release of Zounds first Lp The Curse of the Zounds. If Pink Flag’s my number #1, this one’s the runner-up, so I was thrilled to find it in the used record bins in such great condition.  Here’s the track, “Die He Jump” followed by "Fear" and lastly "New Band":

Zounds definitely sits on the mellower side of the Crass Records sound spectrum.  The guitars are cleaner, for instance, and the rhythms are less grinding.  Yet their message and attitude were just as uncompromising; they’re definitely punk rock. This album deserves a listen - as do their many singles and 7”s... Check it out:

Curse of the Zounds!

Also, the Wire Pink Flag link has expired on the previous posting page, so here’s a new one:

Wire's Pink Flag

Enjoy! And feel free to comment!

Best Punk Record Ever: Wire’s Pink Flag, No Question About It!!

Punk Rock is an overwhelming genre; it’s difficult to navigate around all the hackneyed cliches that pass off as Punk acts. I feel sorry for the recent teenager that's just discovered the stripped-down, 3 power chord phenomenon that first shocked the music world in the late 70s; there’s just too much junk to wade through these days in this digital information age. A student asked me recently for a list of punk rock essentials; I’m not sure I ever answered that daunting question, but here’s an attempt to begin an answer.

The first on my list, without a doubt, would be England’s more artsy punk rockers, Wire. Members, Colin Newman and Graham Lewis, formed the band in London in 1976. They released 3 seminal full lengths in the late 70s, disbanded in the 80s, and reunited in the 90s to record several more albums, the most recent being released in Dec. 2010. Most critics and musical enthusiasts celebrate the first three albums (of the late 70s) as their most important material. Their debut Pink Flag (1977 Harvest/EMI) is by far the best album of the 1st wave Punk movement; the next two releases, Chairs Missing (1978 Harvest) and 154 (1979 Harvest), moved more towards Post-Punk/Art Punk sounds and away from the minimalism that distinctly defines 1st album's style. They’re great albums as well, but Pink Flag is a dead serious essential for all rock collections! Here’s the opening track “Reuters”:

What an awesome opening to an album that continues to be good the whole way through! Here’s the song that cost the 90s Britpop band, Elastica, a lawsuit (see Elastica’s strikingly similar song “Connection” - a big radio hit in the mid to late 90s...); Wire’s song is called “Three Girl Rhumba”:

And now Elastica:

Hmmmm. That guitar rift is almost exactly the same, for sure, but I don’t know if I would sue Elastica over it....

In the song, “Mannequin,” one can clearly hear their nascent movement towards Post-Punk sensibilities. Here’s the track:

That’s a good song. Wire has obviously had a major, widespread impact on many musicians over the years. R.E.M., for instance, has covered the song, “Strange,” from the Pink Flag Lp on their album, Document (1987 I.R.S.). Here’s the Wire version:

That song almost reminds me of early Velvet Underground or early Stooges; it's good stuff... Also, Dischord Records enthusiasts may notice that Minor Threat, at one point, covered the Post-Punky track, “12xU,” from the Wire debut:

Minor Threat really plays that song hard and fast. Definitely check it out as well. 4 Men With Beards rereleased the Vinyl version of Wire’s debut album in 2006; it sounds really good! I cannot recommend it enough. This is the best punk album ever! Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/?arkzmtcllli

Now, before we depart, I must leave you with this:

Ahhhh, American hardcore...