Press Release- S*M*A*S*H / NxtGen R*E*P*E*A*T Records 24 March 2014 20 Years ago, a punk rock trio from Welwyn Garden City called S*M*A*S*H smuggled a song about killing the hated, corrupt and discredited Tory government into the Top 30 of the hit parade. Their righteous anger struck a chord right across the country, as they played to packed venues across Britain before appearing at the massive Anti-Nazi League Carnival of 1994 on a float with Billy Bragg and across Europe with The Ramones and The Cramps, and even went on to perform on Top of the Pops. Fast forward two decades and we have another detested, unrepresentative government of the rich-for -the-rich, and the sense of bottled up, unrepresented, unexpressed anger and frustration is as vehement as ever. To help give this potent force a voice, S*M*A*S*H have re-recorded their anthem and show no signs of mellowing with age; the guitars are, if anything, even more strident and urgent than they were in 1994, while the barbed lyrics still bristle with incandescent, righteous anger, and have been rewritten to suit the current condemned government :David Cameron and the other one / Boris Johnson, Teresa May / Denis McShane expenses claim / Milliband Milliband / Jeremy Hunt rhyming slang / I want to kill somebody / Right now
CONDEMned manages to combine these targets in one magnificent poetic rant of rage, showcasing breakneck verbal gymnastics married to knowledge and wit, all accompanied by an understated laid back piano sample. Life tasted sour since they came to power / But the truth I say is louder / I'll say it louder til I'm up the tower While NxtGen may be half the age of his label mates, they are clearly contemporaries in their disgust at the present government, and their burning desire to do something about it. As NxtGen puts it, To be found you gotta be loud and have a different sound, step out from the crowd, just rise from the underground
With this release R*E*P*E*A*T Records hopes to help raise rebel music loud and proud from the underground; any profits will be given to Love Music Hate Racism, an organisation that uses the power of music to combat the divisive racism which those in power gleefully use to help keep us weak. The Tory Baiting single will be available on picture disc vinyl from good record shops and by mail order from the R*E*P*E*A*T website here and via download on 24 March 2014.
Sat 29th March CAMBRIDGE PORTLAND ARMS with S*M*A*S*H, NEXTGEN and SUPPORT S*M*A*S*H https://www.facebook.com/pages/smash/54281614881?fref=ts
S*M*A*S*H AND NXTGEN ARE BOTH AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS
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