PLAGUE UK - Vaccination (*A REVIEW*)

Plague UK are like a Sound Effects era Jam, or Billy Bragg with balls fronting a rock band. Poppy tuneful and catchy undercurrents amongst the waves of almighty full Rock on and pogo anthems. Vaccination is a real shot in the arm, the perfect prescription. A righteous, rioteous soundtrack and antidote to these trouble torn times.

PRE/POST-SCRIPT Plague UK have history they first broke out as The Plague in the Punk rock days of the Roxy, infecting it with their Pop Punk racket more times than most. A couple of singles were released and an album wasn't, until now, a few decades later in a time where fundamentally nothing much has really changed since then.  Plague UK have come back, or should I really be saying Marc Jefferies (Vocals/Guitar and Song writer) has returned, as he's the only original member in this new improved version.  VACINATION is available from the bands web site:  www.plagueuk.com Go get yerself injected!

BLACK BOMBERS - Vol 4 (*A REVIEW*)

Vol 4 is Black Bombers follow up to their eponymous debut album; this one's a mini album, and it’s “a shit kicker!" six slabs of pure and raw Rock'n'Roll which sound like the smell of burning rubber, greasy leather and dirty denim, as the roaring rhythm and bruised opening track Day after Day will testify. Next up there’s the scorching and screaming Relentless, followed by the feral howl of Animals ‘n' Cages. Gnarley is just that; a rough'n'ready instrumental, which reminds me of a soundtrack to one of those old Biker B-Movies. Sometimes is a taunt, tense guitar slashing full throttle cry of anguish. A gritty and growling cover of Green on Reds Hair of The Dog closes the proceedings on this short stubbly and skuzzie Rock’n’Roll kiss. That sounds like a street fight between The Gun Club, The Stooges and The Long Ryders. Available on the ever wonderful Easy Action Records.

ALVIN GIBBS & THE DISOBEDIENT SERVANTS - Your Disobedient Servant. (*A REVIEW*)

This review of Alvin Gibbs (UK Subs / Urban Dogs) long awaited solo album is its self long over due. The limited edition of 300 has sold out, but a CD digi pack is available from those good folk at Time and Matter Records. It’s a short, sharp, sweet and straight to the point blast of Rock'n'Roll. There are traces of Mott The Hoople, Iggy Pop and the UK Subs spread across the twelve tracks. Alvin’s unique and distinct vocals, interesting and intelligent lyrics offer both political and social comment along side personal tales from the Rock'n’Roll frontline. There are piercing guitar licks and ringing riffs strewn everywhere, and the pounding drums and thumping bass threaten to bring the house down. While the splash of spaced out and sublime psychedilia lifts the roof off. Alvin’s Dissobedient Servents are a Punk’n'Roll who's who of musicians. Mick Rossi (Slaughter and The Dogs), Brian James (The Damned / Lords of the New Church), Jamie Oliver (UK Subs), James Stevenson (Chelsea), Leigh Hegerty (Ruts DC), Timo Kaltio (Hanoi Rocks/Cheap'n'Nasty), Mel Wesson (The Verve/UK Subs), Steve Crittall (The Godfathers), Barrington Francis (The Saints) all play their part, and between them they have produced an album that is beyond brilliant, the sound is greater than the sum of it’s ‘blood fueled guitars.’ A contender for album of the year?...yeah!....too right!!!!

BREXITSHAMBLES

Sore losers....Nobody knew what game they were playing, and now they do, the rules keep changing. Who in their right minds would enter into a deal if they didn't know what they would get at the end. Now the people do know, there are adverts on the sides of bus stops now explaining what may happen if there is a No Deal Brexit, back in 2016 during the referendum there were lies on the side of a bus. So now it only seems fair and just that the people have another chance to decide whether Britain should leave the EU based on a more informed choice. Now that would be democracy! If the people are not given this chance they will have been sold a dead parrot!

We are being led like Lemmings over the White Cliffs of Dover, a nation's suicide. Albion is down and out. A disunited kingdom....green and unpleasant lands. Blood on the streets and hate on the internet.

Who was it that said no deal was better than a bad deal? Oh yeah, the same bloody person that can't get her own party to vote for her deal never mind the rest of 'em, Why? because they all know it's a bad deal. How Terressa May has still got a job is beyond me, our parliament should have been disbanded from the start, and worked together for the common good of the country, not their party's or own egos.. I mean, they couldn't have done a worse job. I do wonder some times that if Jo Cox (the murdered Labour MP, who believed we were stronger together, despite our differences) hadn't, been killed by a far right crazy had still been around things might have been slightly different. Mind you, that's like saying that if Nigel Farage had been killed in his helicopter crash a few years back we might never have had the referendum in the first place. Just saying....

This is what happens when from the very off two years ago when that pig fucking cunt Cameron under estimated the mood and will of the people and the power of populist politics when they voted to leave the EU. This didn't have to be. Brainwashed by the media with the years of anti EU propaganda....our sausages aren't the right length and our crisps are too crispy, then there was the constant attacks on imigrants; they're taking our jobs and houses, all fed Nigel Farages UKIP racist and reactive politics

There's more info about what leaving EU may mean than there was at the time of the referendum,

How was it ever gonna end well if the person in charge didn't believe in what she was trying to deliver. The worst Prime Minister ever; Weak and stubborn. Can't even take responsibility for her actions, or rather lack of action. Two fuckin' years she's had to sort something out, and her deal has made no one happy, leave or remain.

The Will of the People

Blaming the MP's for this Brexit fuck up, well at least they are standing up for what they believe in.

THE KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT!

Lord of the flies in front of our eyes. Dead kids have become the norm. Law and disorder on the streets. The moral panic shifts as white kids are stabbed to death, or a 'knife murder' as I've heard the news reports refer to the latest attack, on not just a person but on society itself, what sort of a place have we become. Celebrity culture has got the X-Factor, Britain has got no talent. Dumbed down and out! Prices slashed everything is up for sale, and everyone's living and dying the fantasy!

THOUGHTS ON A SUNDAY

Did you know the highest number of terrorist plots the secret services have foiled have been from the Right Wing  not from Muslim extremists! What does that tell us....Well for one Right Wing extremism is still on the rise and two the powers we let be don't like to talk about it. Why? I dunno you tell me....perhaps our establishment still still harbours the Racist views it allways has from the days of empire to Stephen Lawrence and the more recent Windrush scandal and the Brexit bollocks.  We are in this mess because the the will of the people wasn't and still isn't prepared to accept that immigration is nothing to fear.

IT'S BEEN A LONG WHILE

Major computer problem, hence no posts for what seems like ages.  These words come via one of those smartphone gadget things.  Still not much has been happening ....HA! HA! HA!  BREXIT!  BREXiT BREXIT....A great British tragedy, our democracy dies infront of our eyes.  The powers that we let be are allowed 'meaningfully' vote after vote on Teressa May's shitty deal and the people are being denied a second referendum.  Perhaps that will be meaningfull now people are more informed about the consequences.  If all these votes are being described as meaningfull does that mean previous ones have been meaningless, including the referendom itself?

THIS NOTEPAD SAYS....

TIMES UP....

R.I.P. Pete Shelley (The Buzzcocks)

A man who was just as influential and important as Joe Strummer and John Lydon in the history of Punk Rock!.... Don't ever forget that!!

THOUGHTS ON A THURSDAY.

These are turbulent and trouble torn times, insecure and unsure times. The government is divided and parliament is in crisis. David Cameron should be hung for treason for having a referendum in the first place, along with Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage amongst many others for gross deception with their campaigns of lies, and still the bullshit goes on! As for Teresa May....well under normal circumstances she and her government would have their sad sorry arses kicked in a General Election. In one breath they talk of democracy and not going against the will of the people and in the next they try and hide things about the Brexit Deal from the peoples representatives their MP'S and quite rightly the government is held in contempt of parliament, while trying to put the final vote on the deal back,no doubt trying to buy more time, but that's one thing capitalism doesn't sell.

SO MESSED UP aka SERVE THE SERVANTS

With little due care to health, safety and musical ability  So Messed Up aka Serve The Servants brought their take on punk rock to the stages of several Music Venues in the North Herts Area during the early 90's. Think Nirvana and The Damned.... (the names give that away) and you will have no idea what these guys (Jason Dare / Keith Piggot) gal (Gill Bickell) and a drum machine (Dr Bondage) sounded like, which was....well pretty stripped back basic and primal there were Rottenesq vocals over a rudimentary guitar drone, bass plod and a drum machine that sounded like a brick in a washing machine. But Hey Ho! this is Punk Rock and who gives a fuck, this bunch certainly didn't, and Yeah, Yeah, Yeah it wasn't the most together or tuneful stuff but it was real, played with passion and it had a heartbeat. The enthusiasm and amateur ability made it all the more authentic and 100% pure Punk Rock, or alternatively it was shit, opinion was divided, but when Serve The Servants (in)famously supported Jeff Buckley at Bowes Lyon House in Stevenage, the man himself whilst watching the band was heard to say “Who are these people?” and someone from Big Cat Records was mildly interested/entertained. Fast forward to now, and Jason Dare has lovingly issued the recordings that So Messed Up aka Serve The Servants made in 1993, plus some new material he's recorded on CD. Contact the man himself for a copy via email at: jasondare@live.co.uk

BARNSTORMER 1649 - Restoration Tragedy (*A REVIEW*)

Attila The Stockbrokers new album Restoration Tragedy is a history lesson about 17^th Century England circa 1649, a time of continuing Civil War, bad harvests,and rising food prices the country was in strife with factions and sects (The Levellers, The Diggers and The Ranters) fighting for social, political, economic and religious change in a divided country, of Parliamentarians and Royalists, ruled by a Rump Parliament under the control of Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army. One King had been be-headed and another exiled/escaped, and still the poor weren't being listened to.

The Levellers Trilogy, two traditional Diggers Songs and a Attila original sets the scene for a performance of some Roundhead Renaissancecore courtesy of Attila and Barnstormer 1649. Prides Purge is a catchy tub thumping number that recounts when in 1648 those loyal to the king were excluded from parliament. Like several songs on the album it juxtapositions historic events with present day ones in this case corrupt members of parliament and their dodgy deals, time for another purge?! The Fishermans Tale is a toe tapping sea shanty about not catching King Charles II before he escaped England. Monarchs Way charts his journey, after his defeat at the The Battle of Worcester this track is an atmospheric instrumental; you can smell the musket smoke in the air as battle weary Roundheads lie slumped around a fires glowing embers. Lord Protector is a doomy dirge lamenting that Cromwell was no better than the king. Burford Requiem is just that a simple slow instrumental to remember those Levellers killed by turncoats in Cromwells New Model Army at Burford Town. Piped polemics bringing the past into the present as The Man With The Beard links the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the leader of The Levellers John Liburne, together while warning of the growth of a religious cult of personalty, it's also a great example of a present day ranter at work, spreading the word with humour through music and song. On the track Wellingbourgh and Wigan Attila and his Barnstormers sets the diggers story to a spade wielding ska folk jig of a tune. The Ranters were an interesting bunch, and attracted the more lunatic fringes of society to their ranks, they were 'blasphemeous' ie they saw god differently to others,and foulmouthed. Abiezer Coppe was one such man and his tale is told by Attila, while also recounting his days when he first began his journey as a ranting poet in the 1980's alongside the likes of Seething Wells and Little Brother. The English Civil War has been a fertile ground for musicians to feed from; Bands like New Model Army and The Levellers were named after radical factions in the War, this is referenced in The Voice, which may be about Thomas Rainsborough the New Model Army leader, or Justin Sullivan, New Model Army Guitarist/Vocalist.  A World Turned Upside Down the old diggers ballad, has been covered by amongst others Billy Bragg, The Barracudas and Chumbawumba, who also recorded The Diggers Song, originally written by Diggers leader Gerald Winstanley. Barnstormer 1649's versions seem to carry more conviction and authenticity to these ears.

Restoration Tragedy is more than just a record it's a work of art; both musically and lyrically it paints pictures. Brilliant stuff! the album is out now on Roundhead Records, only available on vinyl or CD, because it is more than just the music that matters, and you don't get a booklet that puts all the historical references in the songs into context with a download. Available from Attila's Webpage.

FOOTNOTE:

The 1960's Underground Scene, 80's Anarcho Punk, and the environmental movements in the 90's Red Wedge, and Momentum have carried on the Diggers / Levellers and Ranters visions of a commonwealth for all to share, freedom of expression, political change. are all part of a lineage from The Peasants Revolt, The Tol Puddle Martyrs, The Chartists, The Womens Suffragette movement and Trade Unions. The English Civil War is a period in our history which the rich and powerful have tried to erase, no doubt because they know that the same issues exist today as they did then, and as they have throughout our countries history; Inequality and Injustice. To really turn the World Upside Down the King Capitalism needs unseating! Protest and discontent is growing so the wealthy need to take care, but then again so do the poor, as  power  can corrupt.  Alternatives to the present lie in the past, and to build a better future people need to understand and be inspired by Britains rich heritage of rebellion, dissent and protest.....STAND UP NOW! REFUSE TO BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP IT!

"KEEP THE LANTERN BRIGHT"

Fifty years and nothing much has changed in France or Britain, the difference is that the French know how to hold a good protest! They're on the streets for days not hours, that's what's left of them after the paving slabs have been ripped up and thrown at the police.

Here in Britain the people are going to be brainwashed into 'Brexit Boredom' in the hope that they'll accept anything the politicians we keep in power decide what is good for us. Deal or No deal, the choice is theirs not ours, because we had our say in the referendum, when the will of the people was to leave the EU, any choices were based on untruths written on the side of a bus and populist propaganda. Prime Sinister May's deal is shite, people know it and politicians to the left and right know it, and then she's got the bare faced cheek to stand up and say that the people must “Trust politicians to deliver on the vote” when it comes time for parliament to vote deal or no deal, cos that's the choices, unless there is another referendum, or a peoples vote to see if the will of the people is still the same as it was two years ago, or if it has changed, without another vote our democracy is in danger of collapse, because no one is gonna be happy if they don't get what they voted for, especially as they didn't really know what they were voting for, but when they do....”I Predict a Riot!” Fuck Project Fear this is project the future! Because the time is right when things get tight

It was in the news a while back that the Water Canons that the then Mayor of London Boris Johnston bought in the wake of the 2015 Riots, but have never seen action, as the then Home Secretary, a one Terressa May refused to authorize their use by the Police, have been sold for scrap at a substantial financial loss to the tax payer, thanks for that. But here's a thought....oh the irony should the British people take to the streets as a result of a Botched Brexit, where are those water cannons now they're needed. No wonder there's talk of The Army being prepared for any potential civil disobedience. What with the Tory Cunts cuts in police funding reducing a Police Force to a Police Presence on streets where stabbings are common place and gangs fight amongst themselves. If there was ever a time to mobilise forces now's the time. Imagine....If the people were united; Gang members woke up from their Drug Daze, joined forces with the eco-warriers, anti fascists, Momentum supporters and pissed off people from whatever side of the political divide, and took to the streets of London for a good protest. Vive Le Differance!

SPEACHLESS!

We are fucked, is this shit for real. The free world controlled by an orange ego maniac. No ifs no butts Trump is a C**T! Ronald Regan, George Bush Snr and Jnr were all bad, but Donald Trump is beyond bad

In 1968 the anti-establishment and revolutionary movement the yippies demanded that a pig should be nominated for President. Fifty years later their demands have been met, and there is a real pig in the white house.

Donald Trump is the ultimate result of peoples distrust in the present day democratic political system, appealing to the lowest common denominator of Populist politics; ignorance and prejudice. The rest find his attitudes beliefs and values appalling. His position of power legitimises Racism, bigotry, sexism in not only the eyes of American citizens, but those in other countries who hold the same abhorrent and archaic views. A former cohort of his, the equally repulsive and repugnant Steve Banner has been visiting far Right supporters across Europe for his Neo-Con Global Agenda and Trump has appointed a sex pest; Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court Judge. A total spectacle!

CUTTINGS FROM THE PASTINGS.

Denial of the now. Britain is no longer a global super-power, it's once mighty fleet is reduced to an aircraft carrier with no planes, coal mines and steel plants replaced by theme parks, out of town shopping malls and other service industries. The days of empire are gone. What better way to celebrate a post Brexit Britain, lets have a 'Festival' to show the world what we are good at....putting on a show, they never get enough of reminding us about the 2012 Olympics.

Politicians punch above their weight hard talk and threats in Brexit negotiations if the EU don't give in to their demands, posturing to Putin during the Novichok spy poisoning situation. It's not the sound of them quaking in their boots that I hear, it's the sound of laughing.

The number of Police officers is at it's lowest since 1980, it's no wonder kids get away with murder. No need to worry about the 'obesity crisis' as people start to starve when Britains food supply's run out, if reports of government stock piling food and medical supplies are to be believed. Highest levels of poverty since the days of Margaret Thatcher.

Talk of the Leave campaign being funded by Russia are dismissed as a crazy conspiracy by Remainers, but think about it !?!?!?!? Divide and Rule....Who would benefit from a divided Europe? The real superpowers; Russia, America and the new kids on the bloc, China,

Decaying and Diseased This so called democracy is rotten to the core. Mind control for the proles they've sold themselves to slavery, smart phones and smart meters for the thick, free speech for the dumb. Erase and eradicate in a totalitarian state. Left and Right become one.

UNTITLED POEM OF MINE

A country with ideas above it's station Britain is no longer an Empire nation.

Two World Wars and One World cup; I really do not give a fuck!

That was then and this is now, as they try and slaughter sacred cows.

A past that cannot be erased you can't exhume a million graves.

Or wash away by hand the blood stains on England’s green and pleasant land.

Killed for the wealth that they flaunt, society is at fault

broken homes and poverty too much violence on smart phone screens.

Reports of violence on the TV news everyday, something has gone seriously astray.

Send an email write a tweet don't talk to anyone on the street.

Cold steel in the chest, rivalries laid to rest.

Live is cheap no price to pay moped riders getaway.

Snake oil selling quack politicians offer solutions to the people for the problems governments created. Tell them what they want to hear, but still let them live in fear.

Those with the money, they don't care, they can survive through project fear, when it becomes an actual reality, can they? When an angry mob have broken into their gated community

For the shit we are about to receive I hope you will be truly happy if you voted leave

If it's no deal all the way / Lets see how you really feel come judgement day//

JEW DECIDE*

*Just a play on words, that's all, but in Britain’s present political climate; Accusations of anti-Semitism against Jeremy Corbyn, or witch hunt and smear campaign as I like to call it, I would like to point out that I am not anti-Semitic/Zionist. To paraphrase the late, great Joe Strummer....”I am anti-racist, anti-fascist, anti-violence. I am pro-creativity and against ignorance.” I'd also add to that list....anti-power, anti-control and pro-free speech.

So putting things into context, it is not anti-Semitic for me to criticise the Israeli government and its Racist power and control policies towards the Palestinian people and anyone else that dares to speak out against the actions of the Israeli state, and support the opposition.

I don't care who threw the first rock, it is time that the whole conflict in the middle east is brought to a stop, before it destroys us all. It's also worth mentioning that as well as the 6 million Holocaust victims, lest we forget that 5.5 million “enemies of the German state” (Criminals, the Insane, homosexuals, communists, Socialists, Jehovah Witnesses and gypsies were also murdered in atrocious circumstances. As staunch left wing agit-punkers; the recently, reformed and still relevant Crisis said “The Jews weren't the only ones!” (Ironically when Doug Pearce and Tony Wakefield from the band left and formed Death in June, they were accused of being Fascists due their imagery and lyrics, something they refuted.)