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Personal Punk review Ian Glasper’s ‘A Country Fit For Heroes’

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“Collecting the stories of over 140 UK punk bands from the eighties who only released EPs and demos, or only appeared on compilation LPs, this book is a celebration of the obscure, a love letter to the UK’s punk underground”

 

By the time the first wave of UK punk grew bored of itself, it no longer mattered. As the new decade loomed, a fresh wave of bands, from all pockets of social class, were rushing in to fill the vacuum. Spawning a multiplicity of unruly offspring – lofty anarchism, council estate antics, post-punk gloom – the genie was well and truly out of the bottle. What are now termed UK 82 and anarcho punk enjoyed their, admittedly less lucrative, moment in the sun, and as the mid-80s approached, much of it had withered on the vine or followed the money, leaving the scene free to fully embrace its DIY tendencies.

Ian covered all of this in his books Burning Britain, The Day The Country Died and Trapped In A Scene. Clearly unable to let it go, A Country Fit For Heroesis his attempt to hoover up the lesser known bands of the period while jumping at the chance to scoop up the ones that got away. I gotta say, if Glasper keeps scraping at the bottom of this particular barrel, he might even get to my band. That’s not a pejorative, mind; garage bands, lo-fi tape-deck recordings and tinny, teenage thrashings – this is the sweet spot. Kicking off with a foreword by co-founder of No Future Records, Chris Berry, here are bands who featured on Bullshit Detector, A Country Fit For Heroes, and those released by Mortarhate, as well as through labels like Loony Tunes, Rot and Colin (CONFLICT) Jerwood’s Fight Back Records. He’s even found a band who released an EP on Gargoyle Records (they of the first CHRON GEN EP and little else). All sub-genres have been constituted into one volume, with countless bands I had never heard of, let alone heard. There are those who held a certain mystique – the tale of the elusive THE SNAILS humanises the legend, same for Hull’s BORN B.C., who lured me in with their track on the Hardcore Or What? compilation, and those ‘positive punk’ spear-headers, BRIGANDAGE. Cardiff’s THE HERETICS gives Kip Xool (IN THE SHIT, FOUR LETTER WORD, BAD SAM) the opportunity to let fly with his whip-dry wit, the SUBHUMANS-connected ORGANIZED CHAOS finally get their moment, and just in case you were starting to enjoy yourself, that one-man-vegan-misanthrope STATEMENT is here to spoil the fun. Yay!

 

Lengthier pieces offered by bands missing from previous volumes don’t disappoint; KARMA SUTRA tell an enthralling tale of a rough start leading to punk redemption, NO DEFENCES’ story takes them from Bullshit Detector to recording for Crass Records, and INTERNAL AUTONOMY avoid many of the typical attitudes and talking points, concluding with a poignant coda. Some of the most engaging stories come from obscure corners: the lovably chaotic young lives of ASSASSINS OF HOPE, unexpectedly gripping stories from VORTEX and HYSTERIA WARD, VEX’ affecting tale of destructive lifestyles with a positive outcome, and a welcome light is shone on NOX MORTIS’ powerful use of war poetry. Other note-worthy inclusions are the hilarious fake band origins of ANABOLLIC STEROIDS, Stoke’s cult noise heroes ASYLUM, Bill (NAPALM DEATH/CARCASS) Steer’s first band DISATTACK, and the CHUMBAWAMBA-connected PASSION KILLERS. You can also finally read about a pre-HERESY PLASMID, the HDQ & LEATHERFACE-connected HEX, as well as FACTION, POTENTIAL THREAT, EVE OF THE SCREAM, INDIAN DREAM, X-CRETAS, REVULSION and POST MORTEM. And there are so many more. Still no SIX MINUTE WAR/FALLOUT, though. Gotta respect that integrity.

Bigger than ever – 686 pages – A Country Fit For Heroes continues Glasper’s forensic excavation of the UK punk scene. Brushing dirt from the more obscure, but no less worthy, pieces of the archaeological puzzle, he returns to the geographical grouping of earlier books. Cross-boundary connections are uncovered, bonds formed between scenes, hindsight perspectives laid bare, and the always fascinating present day catch-up – including one man’s incarceration on Rikers Island. Personally, I was just delighted to discover that Matt from Cardiff’s SLAUGHTER TRADITION set up the great record store Tangled Parrot in Camarthen, South Wales, a place I make a point of visiting when in that part of the world. But I digress. Aside from the small niggle of omitting sleeve art – opting instead for a welter of band photos – this book is mouth-watering manna from heaven for the punk nerd. That would be me, then. Crucial.

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