This is episode 1341 of EXD. Tonight’s show was put together by Bee Traverse, Christian Overall, Commie Francis, Rob Ferraz and Stephen Perry. On this edition :
- A radio exchange feature with Commie Francis from the Uneasy Listening show at WPRB in Princeton.
- Anarchist corner feature on Conflict
- Current events featuring F.I.F.H., Ihkras, and Druj
- New releases by Exo Gen, Voragine, Lakra, and Nuclear Fear
- Classics by Nervebreakers, the Dickies, Killing Joke, The Actionauts, and White Heat
Below please find a playlist.
Download the show here
Addiction - 侵略者 (MCR Company)
Radio Exchange feature - Uneasy Listening
Commie Francis hosts a radio show called Uneasy Listening. The show airs on WPRB out of Princeton University.
OKAY FOR CANADIAN RADIO (Commie Francis)
BEYOND PINK - You’re Stupid, Hurray (Lipstick Machinegun / Cnts on Discount) THE LULLABIES - Flags (Rock Against)
(theme) BLUE OIL - Free Fleas on the Roof (alternate version) (Dissidents)
ANGRY CANADIANS (Commie Francis)
THE MODERNETTES - Static (Vox Desperatum)
UZU - Aswad أسود (Symphony of Destruction) (theme) BLUE OIL - Free Fleas on the Roof (alternate version) (Dissidents) 7TH FIRE - Parasite Party (this was never released)
Mixed Bag (Rob)
NERVEBREAKERS - How Can You Tell? (Exexan Existential Vacuum)
THE DICKIES - Gigantor (PVC)
KILLING JOKE - Tension (Edsel)
THE ACTIONAUTS - Party Dog (Second Chance)
WHITE HEAT - Nervous Breakdown (Valium)
Current events inspired set of music (Bee)
F.I.F.H. - Land of the Free (Boner)
BLUNT FORCE GRIND - Nationalists Can Go Rot in the Grave with their Ancestors (Sordid Bin Records)
New Releases plus a song for Steven Leckie (Christian)
NUCLEAR FEAR - Pantomime of Power (LVEUM)
After CRASS, when most people think of the anarcho-punk genre they think of Conflict. A description of the band in Ian Glaspar’s book the Day the Country Died is blunt, aggressive and uncompromising as their lyrics…..they were the first anarcho punk band to militantly make animal rights a major issue, and their dogged refusal to back down from even the most violent confrontation generated much controversy and often placed them at odds with the more liberal, pacifist stance taken by many of their peers in the scene.
CONFLICT - Conflict (Crass)
The band formed in the infamous Cold Harbour Estates which was known as the most dangerous street in Britain due to the high crime rates. Like many bands, Conflict originally started out as a friend from high school. The original line up was Colin Jerwood on vocals, “Big” John Clifford on bass, Graham Ball on guitar, and Ken Barnes on drums. Their first show was April 11th, 1981 at Sherwood Church Hall. Paco makes his live debut on October 8th, 1981 at the Red Lion in Gravesend. Conflict played with Anthrax.
Things moved quickly for Conflict. On December 11th, Penny Rimbaud was recording the Man that House built at Southern Studios. Gary Bushell was often writing about Conflict in the British press often at Crass’ expense. They also had help from Paul Friday who was in the Crass camp, Stig from Icons of Filth and Ian Astbury from Southern Death Cult so they had lots of boosters. But Steve Ignorant was the reason why that first single got recorded. Steve joined the band and asked Crass to put out the Conflict single and so having that sponsorship really made that first recording happen.
That first single sold 7,800 copies in the first 3 weeks. It was Number 3 in the indies charts upon it’s release in June 1982. The name of the ep is derived like this - house of the title being the corrupt courts of law, the prisons full to bursting with petty criminals, the derelict tower blocks where the poor eke out a frugal existence in squalor, the churches where the insipid masses flock for reassurance and forgiveness, and of course the slaughterhouse, a manmade hell on earth, heavy with the stench of innocent blood.
Gee Vaucher made a model of that house that appears on the cover was made out of paper mache. It took a month to build. She lit it on fire to take the photo for the back cover.
Conflict’s next release was a live single recorded at a Victorian Girls school that had become a Spanish anarchist centre named Centro Iberico. This came out on the Poison Girls label - Xntrix.
The next release was “It’s Time to see Who’s Who”. It gets released on Corpus Christi which was the unofficial label of Crass. Crass had a policy of only doing one off singles. However the album did break with convention. Most album cover artwork was black and white this artwork was full colour cover, which had the air of lavishness to it. The record was released in April 1983 and spent 3 weeks in the top of the indie charts. The record was described as an awesome assault on the senses that married relentless street punk with peace punk sensibilities. I want to play the song “Meat Means Murder” because it represents an evolution within the anarchist scene into animal rights.
CONFLICT - Meat Means Murder (Corpus Christi)
Colin had a school project where they had to go in and paint a slaughter house. Prior to the project Colin hadn’t considered food. Seeing what happened in there turned Colin into an animal rights activist.
“To a Nation of Animal Lovers” ep is the follow up which suggests a deeper commitment to this subject. This recording features a new guitarist named Kevin Webb who replaced Steve. Steve Ignorant also makes guest appearances as a vocalist. I want to play Whichever Way You Want It which is a furious rant on vivisection.
CONFLICT - Whichever Way You Want It (Corpus Christi)
This came out in August 1983. Conflict’s next move was to start up their own label Mortarhate. Mortarhate would release the rest of the Conflict releases and would also release other anarcho bands. Mortarhate became an important development in the anarcho scene. The label started out as a way to release Icons of Filth “Not on her Majesty’s Service” which came out as a cassette. A conflict demo called “Crazy Governments” also came out. But the first vinyl release is “The Serenade is Dead”. It was a 3 song single that spends times in the national charts. I like the song “The System Maintains” but I wanted to play a faster number called the Positive Junk to illustrate the scrappy nature of their sound. The song is about the hypocrisy of self-seeking mainstream punks.
The next release has been described as the band’s finest work - Increase the Pressure. The A side is 7 new studio songs. The B side contains a substandard live recording from Brixton Ace. People usually focus on the studio songs which felt like a build on the musical and lyrical fury of the previous material. A controversy on activist tactics sparked around the release. Conflict wanted to print home addresses of people involved in Orkney Isles which was a barbaric seal cull.
CONFLICT - Law and Order (Mortarhate)
“From Protest to Resistance” is probably the most well known song on this release I picked the song that proceeds it because I felt it captured the energy of the band without the long wind up of the other song.
In March of ‘85, Conflict release a benefit single called “This is not enough…stand up and fucking fight”, which was a fundraiser for Stop the City. This was a campaign to bring awareness to corporate globalisation.
CONFLICT - This Is Not Enough (Mortarhate)
The band mispriced the cost by printing on the cover a price that was 2p under what the actual cost was and so Conflict wound up losing money on that even though they sold a ton of records.
That was followed up by “The Battle Continues” which was recorded in August and released in October. This is one of their most inspired songs.
CONFLICT - To Whom It May Concern (Mortarhate)
The next album to come out is in August of 1986 titled “Ungovernable Force’. The record goes straight to No 2 in the indie charts. This is my favourite Conflict record because of how it all flows into each other. This recording features their new bassist, Paul Hoddy who also played in Broken Bones. What is most remarkable about this album is that it was written in the studio. The band didn’t have one song written. I find it hard to believe. Here is a montage to Crass.
CONFLICT - C.R.A.S.S. (Mortarhate)
In 1987 the band would do a huge festival called the “Gathering of the 5000”. There is video and the audio gets released as “Turning Rebellion into Money”. Many fans were attacked by police coming out of the show. 52 fans were arrested. Their guitarist Kevin would leave the band and the sound changed again. 1988 was the year the band worked on regrouping from the gathering mess and they recorded and released “The Final Conflict”. There was a song on there called “I Heard a Rumour” which was about all the shit talking and backstabbing in the scene. This eventually sees Colin leaving the scene in ‘91/’92. Wore out from the constant defending of himself. It emotionally wears a person out.
CONFLICT - I Heard A Rumour (Mortarhate)
The band would continue recording, playing out and releasing records. Still a lot of great material to mine from this later period of their back catalogue. “Against All Odds” was recorded at the same time as “The Final Conflict”. “Conclusion” comes out 4 years later and has an air of finality. The band went on to do other things and in 2000 they played a reunion type of show that kick started a resurgence in band activity. This era was as good and controversial as the early stage. Paco became plagued with health issues and passed away in 2015. Colin passed away a few weeks ago. Conflict were arguably the best anarcho punk band to exist.
The wire summarized Conflict as
Rejecting hippy anarchism for direct action, particularly on the topics of animal rights and corporate globalization, Conflict came to replace Crass as anarcho-punk's ethical template.
Gonna go out with “Cruise (and more)” because Chris was asking me if the songs was in the set. The song is about the cruise missile which is really about the military industrial complex.
CONFLICT - Cruise (And More) (Mortarhate)
JACK ACID - Jaywalking (New Disorder)