The Crass - Stations Of The Cross - Recorded August 1979

Straight out of the punk scene of late 70's London, The Crass are definetely at the roots of political punk. Hell, this CD was recorded at the groups Anarchist commune just outside of London. The lyrics reflect the radical ideas of the band, landing somewhere between Noam Chomsky and a gang of drunken Cockney football thugs. The music is generally faced paced (what a suprise!) but there's a few tracks where they slow down the pace and focus on a soliloquoy by one of the band members. The bands (lack of) technical musical ability is apparent in the simplicity of their style. But it does not affect the sound of the music, as they are able to take their limited skills and make some great songs. One of the things I really liked about this album was their obvious disregard for punk conventions. A lot of the songs are so far away from punk that they could only be best described as trance. It was also nice to hear a band that could shot 'oi' without having to fake the accent. So if you're into fast paced music with a hard edge and an even harder message then check out the Crass. Or if you're sick of some of the 3 chord bullshit that's passed off as punk nowadays, check em out - they're a real breath of fresh air.