Pour les fans de Rock, Folk & Blues, Indé et Alternatif, et Comédie.
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With an original line-up of vocalist Terry Buchan, guitarist Stevie Ross, bassist Alan Paget, and drummer Andy McNiven, The Exploited’s name was a symbol of their politics. The band’s debut performance came in December 1978 at the Craigmuir School, after a night before of stealing Sunday papers, milk and bread rolls and redistributing them around their local area with a note saying “a gift from the exploited”. Following the gig, Wattie Buchan, Terry’s brother, joined The Exploited, and has remained the figurehead of the band’s outspoken anti-authoritarian, anti-fascist and anti-racist stance.
Inspired by the likes of Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned, the band created simple, no-nonsense punk rock, and formed their own record label in 1980. Through the label The Exploited issued their debut EP “Army Life”, which remained in the independent chart’s Top 20 for 18 months. The band’s subsequent singles “Barmy Army”, “Dead Cities” and “Exploited Barmy Army” all charted highly and helped introduce the second wave of punk rock in the UK, notarised by its speed and aggression.
In 1981 The Exploited signed with Secret Records and released their debut album “Punks Not Dead”. The album peaked at No. 1 in the independent charts and No. 20 in the national chart. The same year the band released their first live album “On Stage” and embarked on a national tour alongside Discharge, Anti-Nowhere League, and Anti-Pasti. The Exploited subsequently released the albums “Let’s Start a War” in 1983, “Horror Epics” in 1985, the live album “Live at the Whitehouse” in 1986, and the EP “Jesus Is Dead” also in 1986.
Ahead of their fifth studio album “Death Before Dishonour” in 1987, the band released the single “Sexual Favours”, however marked the decline in marketability for punk rock. The Exploited therefore expanded their style to a crossover from punk to thrash metal and released “The Massacre” in 1990, followed by “Live in Japan” in 1993, and “Beat the Bastards” in 1996.
After an extended hiatus of seven years, the band released the album “Fuck the System” in 2003 on Dream Catcher Records, followed by a tour of the UK and U.S. After a cancelled show in Montreal, Canada, due to the band not being allowed in the country, fans started a riot destroying eight cars and breaking several store windows.
Originally formed under the name U.K Subversives, lead singer Charlie Harper wanted his band to bridge a divide that Harper felt shouldn’t be there. A rhythm & blues blues singer by trade, he nonetheless felt a strong kinship with the up and coming punk rock movement. In his mind, it shared too many similarities with the thriving, blues influenced pub-rock scene to be separate from it. So in 1976, he put together the first line-up of what would later become the U.K Subs to act as a bridge between the two scenes. Despite the line-up of the band changing frequently at first, the band scored their first session on Radio 1 legend John Peel’s radio show in 1977, and would go on to have several more in the next two years. These sessions were vital to the success of the band, and as a direct result of them they scored a record deal with GEM Records in 1979.
They released their debut album “Another Kind Of Blues” the very same year, and both the album and its lead single “Stranglehold” were top 30 hits on the albums and singles charts. Between 79’ and 81’ the band were hailed as one of the last true punk bands to see mainstream success, with their 1980 album “Crash Course” rocketing into the top ten at number eight. However, they were not able to maintain this kind of success, especially as straight punk rock was becoming increasingly passé in the face of the much cooler New Wave movement. However, Harper and the Subs were far stronger than fashion, and the band kept on going stronger than they ever were, releasing album after album and touring with the likes of The Ramones and Agent Orange all throughout the 1980’s.
The band remain cult heroes to this very day, a band who many more famous acts wouldn’t exist without. Guns N’ Roses themselves paid tribute to them on their covers record “The Spaghetti Incident?” with a version of their track “Down On The Farm”. With a back catalogue of tracks that would make any punk band worth their salt green with envy, and a live show that delivers every single time, the U.K Subs come highly recommended.
Prior to the formation of Subhumans in 1980, vocalist Dick Lucas had played in the local band, The Mental. Lucas was then joined by guitarist Bruce Treasure and drummer Andy Gale, before former-Audio Torture bassist Grant Jackson joined the fold. Initially performing under the moniker Superhumans at the request of Bruce’s mother, by the end of 1980 Subhumans was cemented with Trotsky replacing Gale on drums. In 1981 the band issued a debut demo tape which caught the attention of punk band Flux of Pink Indians, who offered Subhumans a record release on their Spiderleg Records label. That record surfaced in December 1981 as the EP “Demolition War”.
Whilst failing to significantly raise the band’s profile, the record led to the subsequent EPs “Reasons for Existence” and “Religious Wars” in 1982. The same year Subhumans formed their own label Bluurg Records, which focused on cassette recordings. In 1983, once again released on Spiderleg Records, Subhuman issued their debut, studio album “The Day The Country Died”. Now considered a classic and quintessential release of the anarcho-punk genre, the record has its thematic roots in George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, epitomised on the single “Big Brother”.
Marking the band’s first solo release on their label Bluurg, Subhuman’s subsequently released the EP “Evolution” in 1983. The full-length “From the Cradle to the Grave” followed the same year, as did the EP “Time Flies… but Aeroplanes Crash”, featuring both live and studio tracks. Following the release of their third full-length “Worlds Apart” in 1985, the band split citing differences in musical direction. Far-removed from the band’s initial hardcore recordings, the band’s final release “29:29 Split Vision”, showcases Subhumans’ more melodic, sung aesthetic.
Dick Lucas went on to join Culture Shock in 1986 and subsequently form the ska-punk outfit Citizen Fish in 1990. A brief Subhumans reunion occurred in 1990, before a fully-fledged reunion tour in 1998 of the UK and U.S. In 1998 the band release an EP of previously unreleased recordings “Unfinished Business”, before issuing the live album “Live in a Dive” on Fat Wreck Chords. The band’s fifth studio album “Internal Riot” arrived in 2007, followed by a tour of Europe and the U.S.
Scottish Hardcore rockers The Exploited will certainly blow you away if you witness their hard-hitting and fast paced form of punk at a live venue.
Influenced by the “first wave” punk bands such as Sex Pistols and The Clash, this anti-fascist, anti-Nazi group from Edinburgh burst onto the scene in the early 80’s with their debut album “Punks Not Dead”, and have gathered a loyal punk following ever since.
The band are straight to business when they are finally set up to perform, with Lead Vocalist Wattie Buchanan looking pumped up as he paces the stage, his trademark red Mohawk resembling a shark’s fin circling its prey in the water.
As he screams and bellows his politically charged lyrics in a distinctive Scottish growl, his brother Wullie pounds the drums so hard that before long you’ll find your head bobbing to the frantic beat, with little respite between classic tracks such as “Dogs of War” and Chaos Is My Life."
Despite Wattie suffering from a heart attack on stage in Lisbon during their subsequently cancelled European Tour earlier this year, the band have announced a new album to be released in late 2014, and you can expect to see The Exploited thrashing on a stage near you, very soon!
Commander Eugene & Faye Fyfe and the rest of the band were just as lively, sounded the same as they did in the eighties. Everybody rocked along to their new material & particularly the original songs, a great pre The Stranglers gig artists, brilliant A1
Energy, Angst and Great Great music.
Superb support from Nick Parker and Sam Green & The Midnight Heist.
Excellent night from start to finish.
Make sure you never miss an opportunity to see any of these acts.
Punk is a genre that has been recreated time and time again since the revolution began in the 70s. It has been adapted and changed and merged with genres including pop, rock, grunge and metal. Therefore the fact that London outfit UK Subs can boast to being one of the first street punk bands is a pretty impressive feat.
It is perhaps due to this legacy that vocalist Charlie Harper has remained a constant in the band since its formation in 1976. Their live show is now a piece of history as much as it is a gig as the current quartet attempt to recreate some of the basement intensity of the original punk movement. The fans old and new are completely invested in this mentality and head bang along with hands held high to the likes of 'You Don't Belong' and 'Left For Dead'. Their music is well known as the band remain onstage for over twenty tracks yet the energy never depletes all evening. The punk movement may be a distant memory, but UK Subs are going as strong as ever.
Arrested after their very first gig in 1980, the Anti-Nowhere League never ever showed any signs of staying out of trouble and have since found themselves banned from venues and radio-stations all over the UK, and have even been kicked off Top of the Pops after lead singer Animal was walking around with a 3ft Axe. Casual.
The Anti-Nowhere League is a hardcore punk band who have followed the “we don’t give a toss” principles of punk music since day one, and fans have loved them for it. An Anti-Nowhere League gig will contain throngs of boozed up fans reliving the 80s and having the absolute time of their lives from start to finish.
Prepare for foot-stomping, head-banging awesomeness during a League show. Songs like “We are the League”, “Streets of London” and “So What” will get you riled up and ready to rebel just like these guys want you to. An Anti-Nowhere League concert is a real blast from the past and still as cool as it was in the early 80s. If they play at a venue near you, definitely check them out!
SUBHUMANS was definitely as primate as it gets. Have to hand this one to SUBHUMANS, as they really got it the right way last night. They even managed to make it to my favourite list of show I've ever attended! Anyway just saying that Subhumans handled this one particularly good, full of energy, great sound... absolutely trembling!. If they were to be playing again anytime soon, well... I'll see you there!