Back in the dark days of
1982, much of my time was taken up with listening to the makers of what was
known at the time as 'hardcore punk'. It was all about fast, loud guitar rock
music with a political message of anarchy and war. All very heavy. Bands such
as Discharge, GBH and One Way System come to mind. Vice Squad were cut from the
same cloth. Vice Squad could produce good music, and indeed this album entered
the top 40 charts of the time. Thankfully the second album Stand Strong Stand
Proud was a marked improvement. Of course, it’s sod’s law that it didn’t fare
as well as the dodgy debut in the UK charts, but in every other way, it was
superior. Better songs, better playing, better sound and you could actually
hear the vocals properly too. Not exactly a great record, but a good one. Out
Of Reach, a smart enough single which trailed the album just about made the Top
75, but this was to be the high watermark for the band. The anthemic title
track was another good single, but missed the chart completely.
Stand Strong Stand Proud,
despite several throwaway numbers, clashes with social malignancies like
vivisection (“Humane”), political passivism (“Freedom Begins At Home”), and
the steady erosion of punk values (“Out Of Reach”)
with power and complete credibility. In addition, Beki’s
point of view provides a welcome contrast to the typical male-dominance in
modern-day hardcore. Of the other material ‘’Cheap’’ sounds a bit like the
pop-punk of C86 four years early, perhaps the Shop Assistants in a bad mood and
‘’No Right To Reply’’ is agreeably fast and riffy. The band cover Bowie’s doomy
‘’Saviour Machine’’ quite well and ‘’Rock “N” Roll Massacre’’ combines powerful
guitar work with a song about pop music fatalities including Jimi and Sid.
There are a couple of offerings that fly by without leaving much impression,
but the album ends strongly with the neat mid-pace stomp of ‘’Deathwish’’ and
strong anti-war song ‘’Propaganda’’.
Highly recommended.
Ripped from the 2000
Captain Oi! Release to MP3
1. Stand Strong Stand Proud
2. Humane
3. Cheap
4. Gutterchild
5. Rock 'N' Roll Massacre
6. A Fistful Of Dollars
7. Freedom Begins At Home
8. Out Of Reach
9. Saviour Machine
10. No Right Of Reply
11. Deathwish
12. Propaganda
13. Tomorrow's Soldier
14. Darkest Hour
15. Citizen
16. Scarred For Life
17. Faceless Men
Is anyone home?
ReplyDelete