Album Review by Mark Bayross
I guess this was always going to happen – the ultimate statement of intent from a group who have set their stall in anarcho-punk confrontation. Originally recorded in 1988, recent (global and domestic) political events have prompted the Leeds band to rearrange and re-record these songs of protest.
Sung mainly acapella with the occasional acoustic guitar and the voice of Simon Lanzon as accompaniment, these short-but-sweet songs begin with THE CUTTY WREN, written during the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381, and continue chronologically through to Kay Sutcliffe’s COAL NOT DOLE, a bitter reaction to the injustice of the 1984-5 Miner’s Strike.
The latter song and THE BAD SQUIRE, an adaptation of a poem by Charles Kingsley written in the mid-1800s in defence of poachers (who apparently were having a pretty tough ride at the time) are two new additions to the original collection, while the band admit that they needed to “learn enough about their voices” before attempting this re-recording.
You can pretty much guess the subject matter here – exploitation of the working class by the rich, miscarriages of justice, the uncaring attitude of successive governments – while the music is obviously folky, given that most of these songs were written in or around the 19th century. Particularly intriguing are THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN, a mid-1870s dream of a utopian equality, and HANGING ON THE OLD BARDED WIRE, wherein even the horror of the First World War serves to accentuate the divide between the rich and the poor, those who gave the orders, and those who were duty bound to follow them.
You have to admire the originality of this record. While cynics may think it’s a blatant attempt to reinforce the band’s anarchist credentials, it remains a remarkable and often spine-chilling collection of songs. Even more thought-provoking is the contemporary relevance of many of these subjects: you have to remember that there have been two insurrections against the Poll Tax – the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381 and the riots of 1990. On both occasions, the tax was scrapped. Just goes to show that popular action can make a difference.
