Discharge - Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing

I guess after my anti political-punk rant a while back, this post may seem a little hypocritical. Well by large I stand behind what I said. I still can't stand Crass and still dislike the vast majority of anarchy infused bands that I've heard of late. But like usual there are exceptions. In this case the exceptions are the local heroes Conflict and the ever venom spitting and brilliant Discharge.

So what's my justification behind putting this band on a pedestal above pretty much every British anarchist punk act of the same era? I think it might be Discharge's straight forward, pissed off yet not quite preachy methods of getting the message across. Yes, they dabbled in the more awkward end of youth loved politics but they were also pacifists and at times came off as down right intelligent. It's also the amazing speed at which they played. Whilst lesser acts (like Crass) played slow meandering songs that really give you the opportunity to get sick of the annoying vocals and severe lack of enjoyable qualities. Discharge played at an incredible rate, drawing them almost closer to speed-metal style as opposed to the simple "punk" label in which they are dubbed. Simple two minute tracks that often focused on topics such as their disgust of the effects of nuclear war and the people who put such practices in to action. The song "Drunk with power" is a fantastic summary of their thoughts. Boasting the fantastic line "drunk with power and obsessed with death" only shows that little has changed in terms of our political leaders general stance and that Discharge are every bit as essential as they were in the eighties.

The Nightmare Continues
Drunk With Power
Free Speech For The Dumb

Expired