Originally issued in 1981, Punks Not Dead was the
Exploited's first full-length album. They'd issued singles like "Army
Life" and "Exploited Barmy Army" previously, and those were
re-recorded for what was hailed and/or reviled as a jagged, messy, and more
aggressive reaction to the punk "establishment" of the time. The mix
of hate and love toward the Exploited was fine by vocalist Wattie Buchan and
his revolving cast of band members; they just wanted a reaction, to get people
to really listen. Tracks like "S.P.G.," "Out of Control,"
and "I Believe in Anarchy" were mush-mouthed dynamos of chanting,
ranting, and ragged song structure, early templates of the U.S. hardcore scene
to come.
Take a moment and think of how many times you've heard, read or even come
across the phrase “Punk's Not Dead”. Interesting how it has become one of the
most passed around sayings of the last four decades, yet the debut album of the
same name by The Exploited still seems to be very much underrated in a world
that nowadays regards bands such as Green Day and Blink 182 as 100% Punk Rock. A
phrase that very often arrives in many topical conversations regarding the
state of politics, the significance of the Punk Rock genre as a whole or even
the riotous speeches and righteous riots that many an angered political
individual would perform.
Put simply, The Exploited's first album is perfect evidence of a band being so
much more influential in terms of their concept than the music itself. Thirty
odd minutes of simple, fast paced, furious Punk Rock may not sound much to the
common listener, but it's with these thirty minutes and seventeen songs that
“Punk's Not Dead” is surely proved to be a worthwhile album. Comprised of no
other than an aggressive ex-soldier from Scotland in Wattie Buchan, alongside
three other equally as “politically correct” musicians who barely sound as if
they so much as knew what the names of their respective instruments were, The
Exploited began as a political statement. That statement can safely be summed
up thusly:
“PUNK’S NOT FUCKIN' DEAD!”
Whatever you would expect from a Punk Rock album released in 1981 can probably
be found in spades on this particular album, as it is musically one of the
simplest and unsophisticated releases ever made. However, it is also a very
organic and live-sounding record. Right from the opening title track, rowdy
chants of a menacing yet youthful following of the band literally take place of
the guitars, drums and bass work, until a chainsaw riff cuts through your ears
as easily as a knife would through butter. This, if you haven't yet worked out,
is indeed the staple of The Exploited's sound. Every one of the following seventeen
songs generally follows in the same way, and for every change in tempo or every
lyric that includes the well-known 'F' word, there is always innocent, youthful
banter between each member of the band or even a devoted fan of Punk Rock.
Lyrically speaking, it both sounds and reads as if a six-year old could have
done it easily, but at the same time, all you need to do is look at this
album's title, and discover the answer to that question, or the solution to
whatever problem or quip you might have. In the very satirical 'Royalty' Buchan
orders you to “Sign me a picture of the queen now/Dirty little Bitch, Fucking
little Cow”, whereas in the equally as aggressive “Son of a Copper” all known
innocence of any individual is scoured when Wattie spits out “I won't end up
like my Dad/And I won't end up being a Screw/Working with animals in a Zoo”. As
said before, these could be advantages or disadvantages to any budding
listener, but it is the idea that this album is nothing more than staple of
classic Punk Rock, and quite rightfully so. Even when songs such as 'Exploited
Barmy Army' and 'Sex and Violence' literally depend on out of control
repetition of their respective song titles, it works in such a way that,
although hard to forget, can be forgiven when reviewing this album
professionally. This may well be part of the fact that not only Wattie Buchan,
but also every other member of the band contributes to vocals, whether it is the
soulful group shouting/singing/screaming or the sole example of any member's
voice. It's all heartfelt (!), menacing stuff, but its stuff that manages to
stay directly in contact with the 'Back-to-Basics' approach of playing Punk
Rock.
The instruments themselves however are probably the main problem here. It's not
exactly a well concealed fact that the band had tried to emulate the rawness of
albums such as “Never Mind The Bollocks” or The Clash's self-titled debut, but
“Punk's Not Dead” could well have benefited more from a clearer and more
definitive approach to practising instruments more than was perceived upon the
album's release. For instance, the guitar work, whilst it does have a couple of
tempo changes, never really attempts to show off to the listener with its plain
existence, whereas the bass is more than just a little prominent. As well as
this, the bass proves its worth on the album by introducing many of the album's
tracks in 'Mucky Pup' and 'Free Flight', the latter of which basically centres on
the instrument's performance.
The only other thing that hasn't been said so far about the album is the
significance of the song structures themselves. The song structures in “Punk's
Not Dead” can be perceived as a 'Love/Hate' relationship by each respective
listener. Whereas the more straightforward, battering ram approach of 'Cop
Cars', 'Army Life' (an ode to Wattie Buchan's life prior to The Exploited) and
'Blown to Bits' constantly impresses those who lust for classic Punk, the more
tense likes of 'Dole Q' and the extremely sinister 'Out of Control' serve as
two of the album's true highlights, offering not only an unsettling sound but
also a deviation from the norm. However, the last point simply points towards
the fact that whereas some listeners love this difference in structure, others
may be disinterested simply because of the fact that they are used to short
bursts of Punk Rock, speeding along at eighty miles per hour.
If ever you wanted to know just why the phrase “Punk's Not Dead” is thrown
around as much as it is, this album is definitively the answer. An erratic and
chaotic collection of simplistic Punk Rock tunes, some sub-par, some above
average, it is something that has been on this planet for the last thirty
years, and has played a wonderful yet somewhat unnoticed part within three,
perhaps, four decades of fast paced, furious and politically charged Punk. This
album is honestly for everyone to listen to, but may only be kept like a prized
possession by those who love and strive for the very existence of Punk Rock.
