First They Came For The Anarchists…
Category: A Call To Arms
Squirty Dotters
It’s been a while in the making, but the “Dirty Squatters Compilation: Music For The Homeless” project is now ready and available for download. Featuring two CDs worth of music, one full of punk / hardcore / crust / grind and the other with ska / dub / folk / spoken word, there should be plenty for every revolutionary spirit to enjoy.
The comp is dedicated to the memory of Gary DS (2000 Dirty Squatters etc.) and the family and friends who were tragically killed with him in a car crash in 2011. Gary and the band were stalwarts of the punk / squat scene and are fondly remembered by this old punk.
The minimum donation is £3 per disc, from which two quid goes to the two groups being supported (Punk 4 The Homeless and Squatters’ Action For Secure Homes) and the other quid towards the physical release of the comps, with any extra donations going straight to the homelessness projects. Once enough money has been raised for the pressing, you’ll also get the hard copy sent to you too (of course, this depends on enough people buying the download in the first place).
There are some mighty fine artists contributing to this, and the folks behind it have put in a lot of work to get to this point. You shouldn’t really need to think twice about clicking the download links. So don’t waste brain power, just do it.
Lest We Forget
The Plebs Are Revolting!
Here’s another entry in my occasional series of crude political propaganda. This one has a space for you to add a relevent rebellious website address. Rad.
Click for larger printable version
Anthrax – One Last Drop 7″
Click for larger image
No, not that one, the proper one.
This is a limited vinyl pressing (300, each numbered) of their first new studio tracks in 25 years, originally released on MCD in 2009. The band have put this out to raise money for Bradford’s legendary ‘1 in 12 Club‘, who are facing large bills for essential safety work on their building.
Which means the first thing you’ll get for your money is a warm glow from having helped out a punk institution.
You’ll also get a heavy fold-out card cover with a piece about the club, lyrics to both tracks and some classic Anthrax artwork. They even include the MCD for free. Oh, and there’s a record.
Never mind the 25 year gap, this is about as fresh as punk gets. The pace may have slowed a fraction but the urgency hasn’t diminished one bit. The A side has a really powerful sound, almost an Oi! feel but with more depth to it. The flip is more traditionally moody @-punk, perked up with a simple semi-acoustic refrain along the way. The whole thing is like the second EP on steroids, and I’m really impressed with the progression. I’d even go as far as saying that, as a whole package, it’s the best thing they’ve done to date.
The whole deal is £4 plus postage direct from the band at anthrax_uk@hotmail.com or buy it on ebay for a little bit more.
OP’s opinion: 
Mixing It Up For The Indonesian Punks!
As mentioned a couple of days ago, I’ve put together a mix for my punk friends in Indonesia. It’s not much, but I hope that someone who’s had a bit of a shit time at the rough end of this theocratic fascism ends up with a smile on their face after listening to it. Same goes for you lot too.
1. Blaggers ITA – Emergency
2. Extinction Of Mankind – Fourth Reich Religion
3. Rudimentary Peni – Teenage Time Killer
4. Inner Terrestrials – 1066
5. Burnt Cross – Mob Violence*
6. PAIN – Propaganda And Information Network
7. Appalachian Terror Unit – Judgemental, Ignorant, Stupid And Blind*
8. Doom – Reasonable Force
9. Bender – People’s Army
10. Oi Polloi – Bash The Fash
11. Restarts, The – Bolloxology
12. Warprayer – White Over Red
13. Jesus Bruiser – Oh Really
14. Propagandhi – Technocracy
15. Autonomads, The – Cloud Song
16. Hellbastard – Massacre
17. SubHumAns – This Year’s War
18. Division’s Ruin – Resist And Occupy
19. Spanner – Quiet Life*
*these are available from Iron Column Records
All in FLAC format. Once you’ve unzipped them, you’ll find that it’ll all fit perfectly onto a CD-R. There are a couple of skips, a few pops and the occasional bit of background noise in places. This is because some of the vinyl is old, not all of it was particularly well-treated in the past, and / or I didn’t have time to give it a deep clean before ripping. Nor could I be arsed with cleaning up the rips afterwards. Keeps it real though, eh?
Some notes about each song (and a bit of showing off):
1. Taken from the ‘Blaggamuffin’ mini-LP, Words Of Warning WOWLP19, 1991
2. Taken from the ‘Northern Scum’ LP, Profane Existence Vinyl Retentive Series VR001, limited edition of 200, split red / black wax, 2007
3. Taken from ‘Rudimentary Peni’ 7″ EP, Outer Mongolian Records BOOBOO1, 1981
4. Taken from the ‘Enter The Dragon’ 10″ EP, Maloka MAL017, 2001
5. Taken from the ‘Break The Law, Not The Poor’ 7″ EP, Tadpole Records tadpole030, Lukket Avdeling Records LAR-014, Loud Punk Records LOUD23, Opiate Records Opiate15, Rawby Records RAWBY008, Active Rebellion ACT021, Arripurri Records (none), Schizo Zine (none), Höhnie Records (none), Rusty Knife Records (none), 2011
6. Taken from the ‘Our Universe Commences Here’ LP, Iron Man Records IMB6003, 2001
7. Taken from the untitled split 7″ EP with Oi Polloi, Profane Existence Exist120, 2011
8. Taken from the untitled 2011 US tour EP, marbled wax, Black Cloud Records (none), 2011
9. Taken from the ‘People’s Army’ 7″ EP, Words Of Warning WOW39, limited edition of 500, clear red wax, 1994
10. Taken from the ‘Guilty 7″ EP, Ruptured Ambitions RA01, 1994
11. Taken from the ‘Outsider LP’, Rodent Popsicle Records RPR105, limited edition of 500, split red / white wax, 2007
12. Taken from the untitled split LP with Morne, Alerta Antifascista AA53, limited edition of 400, white wax, 2009
13. Taken from the ‘A Political Treatise In Six Parts’ 10″ EP, La Société Pue Prod, limited edition of 300, 2009
14. Taken from the untitled split 7″ EP with Sacrifice, War On Music WOM017, 1st pressing of 1000 copies, 2010
15. Taken from the ‘No Mans Land’ LP, Ruin Nation Records BOLLOX024, Mass Productions MASS124, Pumpkin Records PUM022, 2010
16. Taken from the untitled split 7″ EP with Dissent, Torture Garden Picture Company TG-39.0, limited edition of 500, purple splatter, 2010
17. Taken from the ‘Internal Riot’ LP, Bluurg Records FISH50, 2007
18. Taken from the untitled split LP with Easpa Measa, Contraszt! Records #18, Suburban Mayhem 003, Holy Shit Records (none), Distro-Y Records DY05, 2010
19. Taken from the ‘Crisis’ LP, Iron Column Records ICR1, limited edition of 100, split red / black wax, 2011
Click here to request the download link.
If you are the copyright owner and want us to take down your music, just click here and let us know. We’re really not trying to piss anyone off.
Never Surrender, Never Give In!
In recent days, punks in Aceh, Indonesia, who were attending a benefit gig to raise money for orphans, were arrested en masse, humiliated, and put into 10-day religious fundamentalist ‘re-education’ programmes. Their crime? Being punks.
The Aceh state government implements a form of sharia law. Having a weird haircut, wearing black clothes, and hanging out with people of the opposite sex, apparently breaks that law. Never mind the fact that these kids, who generally don’t have much of their own to start with, were raising cash for those with even less. Or that, on the whole, punks tend to respect human dignity, embrace equality and show compassion to the wider world around them. No, the only thing that matters to these religious nuts is blind obedience to their own fucked-up ‘morality’.
In response, punks from around the world (including yours truly) are getting their shit together and doing whatever we can to show solidarity with our Indonesian brothers and sisters.
First off, protest. Most countries will have an Indonesian embassy or consulate that can be contacted. Check out this list for yours. Send them a polite email or letter protesting against the actions of the Aceh authorities. Here’s the one I sent if you need a starting point:
Dear Sir / Madam
I am writing to you to express my concern at this report on the BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16176410
I find this action by the police in Aceh to be totally unacceptable, an affront to human rights that paints your country in a very poor light. I would suggest that the problem is not with the young people, it is with the intolerant people that they have to live among.
I was once a young punk, complete with the haircut and fashion. I am now a 46-year-old adult and would still call myself a punk, even if I no longer look like one (it’s not just about the clothes and hairstyles). As a punk, I have been to university and I am now a youth worker supporting homeless young people. I still love punk rock and go to many punk rock concerts, and I have met punks from all over the world (including from Indonesia). The young punks I meet are, without exception, kind and compassionate people. They are involved in human rights campaigns, many of them are vegetarians, they stand up against fascism and racism and believe in equality and dignity for all. Surely these are values that we all desire to see encouraged in our young people?
I would ask you to use whatever influence you have to persuade your government to intervene in the situation in Aceh, and ensure that the police service allows these young people to enjoy their punk culture and grow into happy and compassionate adults. Instead of imprisoning and humiliating them, I would suggest that people just take some time to talk to them.
Yours faithfully
People are also starting to organise protests at Indonesian embassies / consulates, such as this one planned for the UK next week. Keep an eye on the social networks, or organise one yourself and get spreading the word.
Depending on where you are, other options could be available. The important thing is to make sure that the Indonesian authorities know that we’re watching them while we watch each other’s backs.
Secondly, put a solidarity mixtape / CD-R together and pass it on to the folks at Aborted Society Records. They’re collecting as many as they can, ready to be packed up and shipped out. At some point early in the New Year, they should be off on their journey to punks who could do with a bit of moral support right now.
Making mixtapes for each other is something of a punk tradition, one that I’m proud to have maintained (albeit with more modern media), and I’m putting a vinyl selection together as I type. Once it’s done, I’ll post it up here too.
For an absolutely brilliant insight into the positivity some of these misfits generate, with not much more than a bunch of ukeleles, watch this:
Book ‘Em, Danno!
Following on from yesterday’s little exercise in improving police-community relations, I’ve branched out into literature. This flyer can be downloaded in a convenient 4-to-an-A4-sheet format ready for printing, then cut up and surreptitiously inserted into all manner of inflammatory material. These seditious publications can be found in your local library, bookshop or children’s school.
Remember, in the wrong hands, words can be deadly to the current social order, and have even been known to cause uncontrollable urges for liberty, equality, and solidarity. If we must allow people to have access to words, then we also have a responsibility to point out the perils of using them recklessly.
Grass War
In the last couple of days, Brit cops have issued a news bulletin asking people to snitch on any ‘anarchists’ they know. Quite what they define as an anarchist beyond their cut ‘n’ paste job from Wikipedia is anyone’s guess. Local librarians who let you borrow anarchist books? Retailers (I’m looking at you, Amazon!) who will sell you anarchist books? Performances of plays by that dangerous anarchist queer Oscar Wilde? Having shared tea-making facilities for more than five people? What about babies, those natural born anarchists?
As a good citizen, I’ve knocked up this sticker design (8 to an A4 sheet) to help the Old Bill along. Download a ready-made sheet for your printer in either black and white or colour (ODT format, which will open with Open Office (free open source software) and Microsoft Word / Office) and use it widely in your community.
I used an open source DTP program called Scribus (latest developmental version) to lay out the sticker. And, like all of my graphics, the image was edited beforehand with GIMP (yep, you guessed it, an open source alternative to Photoshop).
Anti-Fascist Oi! (‘n’ Ska ‘n’ Punk ‘n’ Dub ‘n’ Rockabilly…)
Click to enlarge
Here’s plenty of advanced warning to all punks, skins and herberts to get saving and make a date in their Filofaxes for an upcoming anti-fascist fundraiser featuring Cardiff legends The Oppressed and a load of their mates. The gig will be an absolute stormer, trust me. Roddy and the boys have lost none of their edge over the years and, like a fine wine, have just got better with age. So polish your boots, iron your sharpest togs and get along for a proper ol’ moonstomping session.