I’m here today to do you a great service. For reasons unknown and preposterous, it’d taken me a long time to get onto listening to Crass (because nobody told me about them) and I’m doing everything in my power to stop that happening to anybody else because boy, you don’t want to miss out on this one. They’ve been taken to court, discussed in Parliament and almost prosecuted by the Tories; Crass was big in the anarcho-punk movement, their political voice prominent and uncompromising and of course, their tracks fantastic.

Saying all that, The Feeding of the 5000‘s opening track Asylum is not for the faint of heart… Eve Libertine’s powerful vocal pounds out complete and utter blasphemy as the overloaded, droning buzz filters in and out

Christ forgive?                                             shit who forgives             down now from your papal heights

you dug the pits of Auschwitz                                 fucklove prophet of death

                   unfair                     warfare warfare warfare warfare warfare warfare warfare warfare

Jesus died for his own sins, not mine.

Told you they were controversial.

Meanwhile, as the snare marches and bass licks in Do They Owe Us A Living and End Result, you can feel the extent of Crass’ big, kind of loutish sound. Their pace is clean-cut and infectious, the kick pumping and bass chugging as Steve Ignorant’s vocal bites in. They’ve Got A Bomb is my favourite – the hoarse feedback builds as the gruff bass emerges, falling about at jarring angles while the electric guitar shrieks above. The sharp period of silence that rages within it was apparently designed to cut the energy short, prompting the listener to truly reflect on the reality of nuclear war. Jesus, this takes me back to writing my A-level Drama and Theatre Studies essays. Still, this kind of stuff is what makes Crass renown in the ‘art-punk’ culture; their anarchic artwork, physical imagery and musical creativity is one of a kind.

they’ve got a bomb, they’ve got a bomb, and they can’t wait to use it on

me

More on Crass’ artistic lyrics: Punk Is Dead showcases the stunner “tired of staring through shit-stained glass” (but jokes aside, their words are seriously powerful), as well as a great, snaking bassline climbing around, Ignorant chanting throughout. Banned From The Roxy is its own triumph in its measured and militant snare, riffs hitting steady then accumulating into the chorus, bass bulging and cymbals brassy. Must take an anarchist to get banned from the supposed hub of punk, huh?

Side B presents the iconic, understated, and frankly quite self-explanatory Fight War, Not Wars, while Joy De Vivre delivers potent, feminist anarchy in Women to disturbing sci-fi whirs. Both You Pay and Angels really show off Crass’ vitriolic venom as the measured stomping of the bass and kick build up messily, snare rattling along restlessly.

Do They Owe Us A Living runs again at the end of the record, under the title Well?… Do They?