NEW MODEL ARMY - No Rest For The Wicked 1985

Second album by New Model Army from Bradford and it is the band's first release on a major label and their last featuring bassist and founding member Stuart Morrow. Whilst having their roots in Punkrock, the band have always been difficult to categorise. Their fight against injustice, war or political grievances they make clear in their lyrics and they also skilfully translate them into melodic songs, and they've been doing it since 1980.

"Sacrificing the experimental Post-Punk doodling that worked so well within defined songs on the first LP Vengeance strangely enough works here for this incredible band that won't hear any malarkey about how bad second LPs are supposed to be. A more direct approach works wonders, rendering every song a possible single, every one a flaming, emotion-wracked foray into human thoughts, customs, and politics. And Justin got some unparalleled British lyrics for this kind of statement-oriented music and tremendous songwriting on side one. "There is no rest for the wicked ones," he sings, like a saddened preacher, a sentiment you see again on the terrific 'Drag It Down', like a guy standing at the edge of a pointless fray wondering why human beings are always so stupid. But he's also capable of great empathy for the times in England as they are in the 2010s, when so many young people are struggling economically, as 'Young, Gifted & Skint' makes clear. Don't miss 'Grandmother's Footsteps' & 'Ambition', too; you won't hear busier bass playing on a hotfoot U.K. Post-Punk record this year. The evidence here is that New Model Army are getting even better when you might have expected the usual decline, suggesting that Justin is an artist with great ideas you can't exhaust, and all three members have the talent to make it something other than regurgitation." (Jack Rabid)

Over the years, New Model Army have gathered a wide selection of fans, many of whom dedicatedly follow the band. Originally calling themselves "The Militia", after the song "Christian Militia", they later universally adopted the term "The Family" for their multi-generational and gendered group. - Great Record!

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IDEAL - Der Ernst Des Lebens 1981

Almost a year earlier, Ideal had set a milestone in the young NDW scene with their debut album and it's still a fantastic record and a year later the second followed, which is again a strong statement from the Four. Der Ernst Des Lebens has become a bit more mature and smooth in terms of sound and the rough Punkroots (so I want to call it) are a bit lost to the mix, but the record still impresses with its good variable songs and they do this in an expressive way, no Ideal album is fucking boring!! As you can easily see, this is the promo version with a different cover and the lyrics are printed in English and French. Recorded again with the line-up of Humpe, Deuker, Behrendt & Krüger. Conny Plank was the producer and all songs were recorded in his studio, released then at WEA. At the time, the label emphasized almost like a prayer wheel that it was a "dance combo (from West Berlin)" and that the music was "definitely dance music". There was talk of "strict rhythms that demand movement and pop music" as well as "music without frills, without superfluous ornamentation. The roots in the New Wave movement are not denied. And yet the possibilities of studio recording have not been neglected". The descriptions may seem wooden, but ultimately the hodgepodge of them all is understandable. Ideal combined melodic features of the Schlager with the drive of New Wave, mixed with a bit more offbeat passages. Catchy, hard riffs and the typical subtly psychedelic interjections, with South Seas/Caribbean flair and an emphatically decadent mood, eleven nuggets that still sound fresh.

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THE CURE - More Rarities 1979-1989

Well, this nice compilation I have made a few years ago and sheds light on the first ten years and the phases the Cure have traveled through. I joined the band at the time of their first records, where they recorded short, almost punky songs, changing to dark sounds with Faith and Pornography, but always reflecting my emotions and accompanying me until the early Nineties. The last interesting album for me is Wish and after the formation changed and I couldn't relate to the '96 album anymore. The Cure were an important band and left remarkable traces in the music world and the range of their songs creates room for interpretation and listening pleasure that definitely doesn't get boring and if a band manages to accompany me a long time of my life, it is exceptional and innovative enough to recommend its name to others. Got a bit of a sore throat and the beer tastes kinda weird but I want you to enjoy every single song on this compilation and I'm sure you'll find tracks you may not have heard of. Enjoy this sucker with a glass of wine and a kiss!

It's Not You/Winter/Faded Smiles aka I Don't Know/Play With Me/I'm A Cult Hero/Going Home Time/The Violin Song/A Normal Story/Throw Your Foot/All Mine (live)/Play For Today (live)/At Night (live)/A Forest (live)/Forever (live)/Push/Lime Time/A Night Like This/The Exploding Boy/Hey You!!! (12'' Mix)/Fear Of Ghosts

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V/A - This Is Mod Vol.1 (Rarities 1979-1981)

Let's round off the small mod phase on wdthtc with the following compilation called This Is Mod, a small series by Anagram Records and a total of six CD's were created in the mid Nineties. The focus is on rare 7Inches, mostly by English bands, which only made it to this format and very sought nowadays. The British mod revival may have been a fad, driven by fashion and most of the time too derivative, but it did produce some cool singles. Musically they move in a decent PowerPop area with smart clothes and the artwork is also impressive, plenty of infos about each band. Consistently interesting and the last post for today, Bundesliga is waiting, Cheers!

1.Opening Up - THE CIRCLES

2.Billy - THE CIRCLES

3.Can We Go Dancing - THE AMBER SQUAD

4.You Should See What I Do To You In My Dreams - THE AMBER SQUAD

5.Can't Sleep At Night - THE CIGARETTES

6.It's The Only Way To Live - THE CIGARETTES

7.Choose You - DEAD BEATS

8.Julie's New Boyfriend - DEAD BEATS

9.On No - DEAD BEATS

10.Nobody Loves Me - THE LETTERS

11.Don't Want You Back - THE LETTERS

12.Happy Song - THE NIPS

13.Nobody To Love - THE NIPS

14.Saturday Night - THE ODDS

15.Not Another Love Song - THE ODDS

16.Circles - THE CIRCLES

17.Summer Nights - THE CIRCLES

18.They're Back Again - THE CIGARETTES

19.I've Forgot My Number - THE CIGARETTES

20.All I Want Is Your Money - THE CIGARETTES

21.I've Got Me Parka - THE SUSSED

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TEENBEATS - Strength Of The Nation 7'' 1979

Formed 1979 in Hastings and the quintet consisted of Huggy (vocals), Ken & Paul (guitars), Eddie (bass), Dave (drums) and they signed to Safari Records and released two singles. Neither of the singles made the UK charts but I Can't Control Myself was a hit in Canada. Info: The Teenbeats were one of the better bands on Britain's late Seventies mod revival scene. Their timing was impeccable and making their debut just as the mod revival was gathering steam, they further stoked the fires with a killer cover of the Troggs' 60's hit "I Can't Control Myself", and followed this up with the even better "Strength Of A Nation". They had the attitude, the look, and the sound (recalling but never, ever mimicking the Who, the Troggs at all) but somehow never rated cutting a complete album, at least in the eyes of the record companies of that era, but their songs made it onto many a mod revival compilation, most recently Castle Records' 2003 Mod Revival Generation: Time For Action. They broke up around 1981, and are fairly well memorialized on the March of the Mods website. (Bruce Eder) - Good record in my opinion.

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CRASS - Demo 1978 + The Peel Sessions 1979

This unofficial release came out in 2021 and feautures the demo recorded on February 27th 1978 & the Peel Sessions from March 28th 1979 by Crass, an English art collective and Punk band which formed in Epping, Essex 1977. They promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a way of life, and a resistance movement and were the brittlest and most hard-line radical of the first Punk wave, Crass issued a blitz of records that were ruthless in both their unrelenting sociopolitical screeds and their amelodic crash of noise. The line-up changed a bit over the years, but the group's mainstays were Steve (vocals), Eve & Joy (vocals), Penny (drums) and G. Sus, who did tape collages and provided the distinctively bleak black and white artwork on the fold-out posters that usually enclosed their LPs, were also important contributors. The Feeding Of The 5000 was their first album and for me, their best, with eighteen emotional statements and perhaps the most uncompromising early British Punk record (was in my collection and had to be sold at the time because of my ailing financial situation). Before disbanding in 1984, they made four albums and a few singles, mostly on their own label Crass Records, and are fondly remembered as an innovative and extreme band of the early Punk movement.

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REDNECKS - Blitzkrieg Bop 2007

"We called ourself the Rednecks because we hated boring sloppy hippies! We played Kick-Ass Rock'N'Roll. The New York Dolls and the Ramones inspired us. The second concert saw us open for our idols, the Troggs. They watched our show and dug us too! We're in heaven! Listen!!!!.... and Kick!!!" All tracks were recorded live on October 18th, 1978 @ Salle Du Faubourg in Geneva, Switzerland (opening for the Troggs). The Rednecks were a Punk band from Geneva and consisted of Francis Seilern (vocals/guitar), Babine (bass), both from Jack & The Rippers, Sandro Sursock (vocals/guitars) from the Bastards and Paul Zouridis (drums) from the Scelerates. The band was specializes in cover versions of their favorite crunchy Punk and Rock & Roll songs by the Ramones, Heartbreakers, Pirates, Chuck Berry, etc.... and these recordings shows the band in absolute top form and all tracks are present here in a consistently recording quality. Hit after Hit and I can imagine how incredible this show was. I think, these songs are the only releases by them, so relax and listen to this limited to 300 copies CD-only!

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D.O.A. - Talk Minus Action Equals Zero 1991

Time for some live stuff and this little recording from Canada's D.O.A. was captured at Club Soda on December 21st 1989 in D.O.A.'s native Vancouver and released via Restless Records. I certainly don't need to tell you much about these veterans, powerful and dynamic songs with corresponding angry words characterize the music of the quartet, at this gig with Joey (vocals/guitars), Chris (guitars), Brian (bass) and Jon (drums) they deliver a perfect performance. Talk Minus Action Equals Zero is among the albums that demonstrate how exciting and vital the Canadians can be on-stage and together they prove quite riveting on such left-leaning, angrily socio-political rants. This performance was recorded eleven years after D.O.A.'s formation, and it's clear that the band softened their blow very little during those years. (Alex Henderson) - If you like tough, straightforward music in a fast, loud, and hard-hitting style with a pronounced sense of humor plus a strong progressive political stripe, then this the right sound for you.

America The Beautiful/13/Burn It Down/Murder In Hollywood/Lumberjack City/Waiting For You (Part 2)/Fuck You/Woke Up Screaming/Liar For Hire/2 + 2/Let's Wreck The Party/The Prisoner/Do Or Die/Fuck That Shit/General Strike/Race Riot

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V/A - Powerpearls Vol.6 2000

Uhhaaa... next round of the grandiose Powerpearls series, today with Volume #6 and you know what that means. Seventeen fresh PowerPop nuggets from all over the world have made it onto this Compilation and the selection is once again considerable and equipped with plenty of rare 7inches (one song per record). It's been a long time since I discovered this style of music with enthusiasm and since then I have had a number of Schnittchen as guests in my house and basically no more words are needed to review this rare record I think, do you agree? Let's do it like this, it's best to use the opportunity to leave your review/opinion in the comment section, that's what it's for and I'd be really interested in what you think about the material, and please, don't be shy. 😌 I say: this package is damn cool and a must have for any true wdthtc follower, Enjoy!

1.Ghosts Of Princes In Towers - RICH KIDS

2.Hjälp Mej - PINBALLS

3.Ten Years - STARJETS

4.Sha La La JEDRZY DMOCHOWSKI

5.No Place Like Home - THE NEIGHBORHOODS

6.Here Today, Gone Tomorrow - THE STRAND

7.Dancing - THE BADGE

8.Let Go/Accept Me - DIRTY LOOKS

9.N'Importe Quoi - FLOO FLASH

10.Time Out - THE DOUBT

11.Hey You/Time Enough - STAIRS

12.Ordinary Joe - WHITE HEAT

13.She Said Go - PRIVATE DICKS

14.Puto Da Rua - OPINIÃO PÚBLICA

15.Favourite Girl - KNIFE EDGE

16.Natascha - ROXETTE

17.It's Cold Outside - STIV BATORS

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THE CIRCLES - Angry Voices 7'' 1980

Another band of the Mod movement are the Circles from the West Midlands and let me give you some great infos from discogs: Formed in May, 1979 by Mick (vocals/rhythm guitar), Tony (lead guitar/vocals), Glenn (bass/vocals) & Keith, former drummer with the new wave outfit the Neon Hearts. After circulating a few demos they released their debut single Opening Up on Graduate Records in November 1979. It reached #3 in the indie charts and over the years has achieved cult status. Like many of the mod revival bands of ‘79 the Circles never released an album and after another promising single on the Vertigo label Angry Voices (which went to sell some 20.000 copies) they decided to call it a day in late 1980. In 1985 Graduate released the track ‘Circles’ (not a Who cover) with a demo version of ‘Summer Nights’ as the b-side. The single went nowhere with no existing band to promote it. In 1999 the Circles reformed to play the 20th anniversary of the legendary Mods Mayday 79. Inspired by the fresh interest they have since continued to play live and also released a comeback single on Detour Records. Cool Stuff

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