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9th November 2013

Steve Ignorant with Paranoid Visions

Zounds

The Cravats

Craig Temple

‘When…?’ album launch.

LP/CD/DL available from November 11th 2013

The Dome, Tufnell Park, NW5 1HL

Tufnell Park Tube

Bus: 134, 4, 390, C11

£15 from: The venue – The Tufnell Park Dome HERE or Gig Box HERE

Formed in Dublin in 1981, Paranoid Visions quickly allied themselves to the anarcho punk fraternity of the second wave of punk rock in the early 80’s. Heavily influenced by the Crass ethic of DIY music, the band formed their own F.O.A.D label and licensed their records to All The Madmen, home of the Mob, Thatcher on Acid, Blyth Power and the Astronauts.

Paranoid Visons played gigs and toured with the likes of Poison Girls, DIRT, Blyth Power, Subhumans and The Instigators. In the early 90’s they played with bands like Snuff, the Macc Ladds and Manic Street Preachers before calling it a day in 1992. Despite their disbanding, the 90’s saw Paranoid Visions becoming the biggest punk band Ireland had ever produced, featuring on several TV shows, newspapers and being offered numerous record deals from Major labels. In 1996 they reformed to play support on some dates for the Sex Pistols Filthy Lucre tour. In 2001 they reformed again and played with the Damned, The Dickies and at the Wasted Festival in Morecombe. While these reunions were always designed to be short lived, with the 2005 reunion, formed in support of the re-release of their back catalogue, it was decided to continue the momentum.

March 2007 saw the release of the album “40 Shades Of Gangreen”, the first new material for sixteen years. The run up to this release saw the band playing dates with bands such as The Levellers, The Damned and Sonic Boom Six as well as dozens of UK and Ireland headline slots.

Since 2007 the band has been consistently gathering momentum, with a fixed line-up, to include regular gigs in Ireland, UK, USA and Europe (with bands suck as The Lurkers, Subhumans, GBH and Goldblade), Rebellion and Punx Picnic, the release of ‘The Treasure From The Wasteland EP’ (2008), singles ‘I Am The One – 1970s EP’ and ‘Strobelight And Torture’ (2009), album ‘Beware Of The God’ (2009), plus a series of ‘Hate From The Cities’ and ‘Live In Fibbers’ compilations. There have been several appearances including two feature films (‘3Crosses’ and ‘Little Foxes’), the Podge & Rodge Show for RTE Television, and radio sessions for Phantom and 2FM. This has all been supported with much national press coverage and includes extensive interviews with State Magazine, Hot Press and The Big Cheese.

2010 saw the release of a retrospective, ‘Black Operations In The Red Mist’, which garnered universal praise in countries such as Germany, Japan, USA and Holland.

2011 started with a bang with the announcement of the bands first trip to the USA for three highly successful headline shows and the release of the “Der Election EP” which became the first Irish punk record to hit the national charts in 30 years, debuting at number six, one place above Take That and one behind JLS and Tiny Tempah!!!! The band are currently completing their new album, entitled “Hail Tsunmami” for release in 2012 on Overground Records / FOAD. The album will be preceded by a single in November on FOAD (CD) of Outsider Artist (featuring TV Smith) / Control (featuring The Shend) / Prophet For The Lost (featuring The Blame) and 6 live bonus tracks. A 7″ version on Inflammable Material / FOAD will be released at the same time as a limited edition.

On November 19th the the band will support Steve Ignorant at his Last (ever) Supper show at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London.

2012 saw the release of the bands most critically acclaimed and commercially succesful album to date “escape from the austerity complex”

2013 sees the released of the “up the anti” EP, via scarred for life records and two releases where the band are joined by Crass’s Steve Ignorant: “Join the Dots EP” (7″) on All The Madmen records and the album “when…?” on Overground records.

Overground records website may be looked at HERE

The new Steve Ignorant with Paranoid Visions 7″ single on wonderful white vinyl is now available from the All The Madmen singles club HERE

The Mob’s first 7″ single for thirty years, pretty in pink vinyl is now available from the All The Madmen singles club HERE

My ‘review’ on The Mob / All The Madmen Facebook page of the tracks that would become this record from May 2013 below.

It has been around thirty years since the last record was released by The Mob. The audio of two new tracks were sent down the wire to Penguin Towers last night and have now been mulled over in enough depth, after repeated plays, for me to confirm that this single, soon to be released on All The Madmen records, is going to be a stonewall classic. My preferred track is ‘Nothing You’ve Got I Want’. A gentle song of innocence and hope that rolls along like a river until the epic crescendo. ‘Rise Up’ is a track that has been performed live by The Mob for several months now. Studio wise it is a hard hitting bass driven track with some nifty drum / percussion work from Graham Fallows.

The Mob in 2013 still have the integrity that shone through like a blinding light during the early 1980’s. These two new tracks show this integrity in abundance. To get the new single by The Mob and the other releases on All The Madmen records please browse the website; please join the singles club to get all the records in gorgeous coloured vinyl…! Please remember All The Madmen records is a co-operative and all monies gained goes straight back into funding new projects. P.S: ‘Nothing You’ve Got I Want’ has a very special person performing on the track. This person was around The Mob literally at the very start of the band… A beautiful track indeed.

Following on from Joseph Porter’s rollicking good read ‘From Genesis To Revolutions’ which was a factual account of Joseph’s growing up in the west country and eventually highlighting his subsequent joining of Zounds and the  adventures thereafter, we get ‘Full Circle’ which is a ‘fictional’ critique of the anarcho punk scene in the early 1980’s with all names changed to protect the great mass of black clothed warriors of the day, some events fictionalised did in fact happen.

Joseph Porters ‘From Genesis To Revolutions’ book was placed up to KYPP a year and a bit ago now and that post may be viewed HERE

Full Circle

What? Another fucking book about the anarchist-punk scene in the 1980s? Well…sort of… This is about all the people and places I knew then but one step removed. From an emotional standpoint it’s a much more accurate picture of what I thought and felt at the time, and that’s why it’s more important to me than ‘Genesis’ which was just a means of raising some money towards the Blyth Power recording! As a piece of narcissistic self-obsession it’s more accessible than ‘The Bricklayers Arms’. It’s now available priced £10 via Blyth Power HERE

Joseph Porter

Steve Lake from Zounds wonderfully entertaining book on his life with Zounds including all the lyrics to the all the tracks Zounds recorded along with some nice photographs of Brougham Road courtesy of yours truly!

This is part Steve’s autobiography, part band history and part insiders story of the 1980’s UK anarcho punk scene.

The band were formed around the nucleus of Steve Lake from Reading, Berkshire and evolved from a number of jamming sessions with other musicians and friends in Oxford, taking in influences from the Velvet Underground to the Sex Pistols. The band began performing gigs in 1977/78 with a line-up of Steve Lake (Vocals/Bass), Steve Burch (Guitar) and Jimmy Lacey (Drums), adding Nick Godwin (guitar) at their second gig – adopting the name ‘Zounds’, chosen from a dictionary by Burch. Soon, Burch left the group and was replaced by Lawrence Wood. After this the band slowly became more politicized owing to troubles with police and unfolding events of the cold war, and became more and more involved with free festivals, alongside The Mob, with whom they developed a close association.

The band met up with fellow anarchists Crass when, legend has it, their van broke down on the road. They made their way to nearby Dial House, where Crass were based, who helped them with repairs. The two bands became friends, and although musically very divergent, they shared many common political views. After undergoing several line-up changes Zounds shortly afterwards released their first EP, Can’t Cheat Karma, on the Crass Records label (although drummer Joseph was replaced for the recording by a session drummer) in 1981. The EP featured possibly their most well-known track “Subvert”, a call to arms against the grind of daily life. The release of this EP and association with Crass led to an increase in the band’s profile in the embryonic Anarcho-punk scene, touring with both Crass and the Poison Girls, as well as performing several squat gigs in West Berlin.

The band released their first album The Curse of Zounds on Rough Trade Records in 1981, recording and mixing the LP within five days. The cover art, by anarchist artist Clifford Harper, featured a painting of fire fighters apparently trying to put out a blaze at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. However, the picture continued onto the back cover, which showed that in fact they are spraying the fire with petrol, thus feeding it. The band released three more singles on Rough Trade, Demystification (a psychedelia-influenced track backed with “Great White Hunter”), Dancing and More Trouble Coming Every Day, as well Le Vache Qui Rit (initially intended for a split EP with The Mob for an anti-draft benefit in Belgium).

The band split up in late 1982, Steve Lake disaffected with the Anarchist music scene in general and the band worn out from touring. Bass player and vocalist Steve Lake and guitarist Laurence Wood continued to work together for a while as The World Service with original Zounds member Nick Godwin, whilst drummer Josef Porta went on to join the The Mob and later Blyth Power. Lake continued work as a solo artist recording two albums with Nick Godwin and Brian Pugsley.

From All The Madmen HERE 

Also available from Active Distribution HERE

Official re-mastered reissue of their excellent tape on the All The Madmen Record label from 1986-1987. Often overlooked due to its rarity, but long deserving of a quality reissue. Stunning female vocals over melancholy, yet catchy Gothic punk backing. Not unsurprisingly what one might get after these peace punks listed a magazine ad saying they were looking for band members, who “must be a fan of The Cure, Wire, and The Associates”. For fans of The Mob, Part 1, UK Decay, Blood and Roses etc.

Limited to only 500 copies, with the first 100 mail-order editions on coloured vinyl containing a bonus disc of rough mixes, compilation tracks, and live recordings.

Available from General Speech website HERE

The KYPP post on Hysteria Ward which includes some of these rare tracks may be viewed HERE

2 comments
  1. Tony Puppy
    Tony Puppy
    October 26, 2013 at 9:55 pm

    I have some issues with Josef’s book – it’s fine for him to slag off all of his experiences along the way of his life but Anarcho Punk is nothing to do with the quarter of the book (pages 100-126) concerning his time with the Guardian Angels on the tube. Then from page 126 to 168 when he says the anarchists are the same as the police is all a fiction: not facts or even ‘faction’ as Joseph declares.

    He uses the Guardian Angels experience to blacken Anarchist punks, then concocts a scenario to blacken anarcho-punk further. It reads like it was written by a reporter for the Daily Mail.

  2. molly
    molly
    November 18, 2013 at 3:03 pm

    I’m writing a fictional account about a struggling pop band, Eggborough. It’s part Gothic Horror, part social commentary. The bongo player Joe Putas , who had fallen out with most of his old associates by writing satirical poems about them, has moved to the North of England and married the piano player, Fannie. She however turns out to have shades of Lady Macbeth. She pushes out other band-members, turning the head of the naive Putas. But things come to a head when Fannie starts having an affair with a young guitarist on the South Coast. She persuades the Cuckold Putas in to allowing the young Buck in to Eggborough, displacing the old guitarist. Putas seeks horrific revenge on Fannie, but his vengeance involves sleeping with the wife of the ousted old guitarist. The book ends with the embittered Putas sitting alone in a drafty garret in the north, drafting further versions of his autobiography in which he presents himself as infinitely more clever and popular than his long abandoned friends.

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