You Can Be You/All Systems Go

Yeah…back again with a double post of more, yes can you believe it, more from the world of Crass Records. As mentioned in the Split 12” Closed Shop post, Honey Bane was the first artist to appear on Crass records with a banging 7” EP. Originally starting out as Donna And The Kebabs (or Honey And Crass) the three tracks explore some of the underside of London circa 1979 as seen through a young Ms Bane’s eyes while on the run from Social Services. Girl On The Run explores the homeless and desperate conditions of a young pregnant girl on the city streets. Porno Grows has a deceptively pretty piano that belies the rants at the seedy side of Soho and the Red Light sex industry exploitation, while the final track Boring Conversations does exactly what it says on the tin, kicking off with some Spanish Flamenco Guitar, Bane talks about the conversations she’s had with the Social Services and how she wasn’t letting them into her head.

If Discharge were blazing a whole new trail for Punk Rock to travel then the Poison Girls were doing likewise but going off at a completely different tangent. Both bands were sat at almost opposing extremes though both were similar in the way they were polarising critics, leading to both of them being either loved, hated or studiously ignored.

If Discharge were playing unlistenable music (for unliveable times) then Poison Girls were playing music for pleasure in a very mature manner and it was a sign of the times that the only people able and willing to appreciate both bands at once was the Punk crowd who were acknowledging, perhaps, not only the form but the content. All Systems Go was Poison Girls' first 7" record totally of their own and featured two tracks, Promenade Immortelle and Dirty Work. Though very much their own record, the connection to Crass was still on full display as in being released on Crass Records, produced by Penny Rimbaud, featuring Eve Libertine on backing vocals, with photography by Gee Vaucher. There was something of the epic about Promenade Immortelle; something modestly, even shyly majestic. If ever a song was fit to be played on national radio then surely this was it? If ever a record might appeal to teenage Anarcho Punk Rockers and their parents alike then - surely - this was the one? Not that Poison Girls had lost their edge in any way or their spikiness as evidenced by the other track on the record, Dirty Work. Propelled by tribal drumming and scorched by fuzzbox feedback, the words are delivered in an almost robotic fashion.

Donna And The Kebabs and Poison Girls ripped from the 7” singles to MP3 @ 320kbps

Honey Bane; You Can Be You 7”

A.     Girl On The Run

B1.  Porno Grows

B2.  Boring Conversations

Poison Girls; All Systems Go 7”

A.     Promenade Immortelle

B.     Dirty Work