The Violators - Tied To The Tracks 7"EP

Wowzers people, its Sunday 30th November and that might mean something to some of you, but as I’m just back from a beach in the South Pacific, I've probably enjoyed the all-inclusive resort to its logical limits. And I wouldn’t have been able to bring you this blistering release. A new 4 track 7”EP sees the return of the Violators, who were originally brought to us by No Future records back in the early 80s. Nathan Brown picked up a copy and gives his view.

Reformed bands are stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. People will bitch about how many of the “original” members of the band are still playing. Others will decry them as irrelevant and simple nostalgia compared to the crop of new bands. If they sound like they did on the early records they may be dismissed as their own tribute band. But if they stray too much from the original formula they will get complaints from people who were looking to fill a hole as they never got to see them before they split. If they play at Rebellion they’re “only in it for the money”.  And so on and so on. The Violators reformed, playing Rebellion last year (and presumably this year) and followed that up with an appearance at the 100 Club in London. I would have made the trip up for the latter had I not been out of the country. So, when I saw that a new release had come out on a Philadelphia based label I was on it straight away. Their singles on No Future are probably among my most played records. The drummer, Greg, had some copies for sale and I was lucky enough to get in there early and buy one.

The Violators - Die With Dignity 12”EP

This six-track (seven) EP contains material primarily from past singles and compilations, but it nonetheless represents some of the highlights from this skunk outfit’s intriguing career. “Die With Dignity” and the classic “Gangland” epitomize the Violators’ highly dramatic, accessible style; so if you don’t have the original releases, you should find favour with this inventive post. The Violators were part of the UK ‘82 punk wave that swept over the world, but even among all those legendary and influential bands, they stood out. They combined the buzz-saw guitar punk sound and youthful rebellious energy of '82 along with darker varied elements of post punk, not the usual verse - chorus - verse - scheme, but still great songs you can sing along to after you've listened to them once. Because "Live Fast Die Young" is on this rip, you have the complete discography of this awesome band.

The Violators - Summer Of '81 7”

Clockwork punks? A “street level Joy Division”? The Oi! Banshees? A band that tried to stretch the boundaries a bit, the Violators emerged from the Clockwork Orange dystopia of …err… Chapel En Le Frith. Some, such as Garry Bushell (twat), were predicting big things for them, which never happened. They came and went leaving only a tiny handful of records, leading you to wonder what they could have done if they’d got as far as doing an album back in 1982. The Violators were signed to No Future, one of the bigger punk labels of the time, and made their first appearance on the Coutry Fit For Heroes compilation with two tracks Die With Dignity, an atmospheric track featuring the melodic vocals of co-vocalist Helen, and Government Stinks, a thrashier song featuring the growled vocals of band main-man Shaun “Cess” Stiles. This mixing and matching of male and female vocals and of the more tuneful elements of punk with the more aggressive sounds gave them the potential to reach a wider audience than some of their peers. Their second, possibly best known single, featured (the A Listed!) Summer Of ‘81, not the only punk single of the time about police brutality and the riots, but one of the most tuneful, and the more aggressive, slightly ridiculous but catchy, Live Fast Die Young. Bushell reviewed the single in Sounds alongside the Dead Kennedys Halloween, suggesting that the Violators were the future of punk. Not for the last time Bushell was wrong.