PILES OF SHIT

Not actually piles of shit at all, just gloriously shitty punk. While I might never try to convince someone that LUMPS OF MERDE are "brilliant," "technically proficient," or perhaps even " very good," I fucking love the shit out of this demo. Plodding mid tempo sloppy three chord peace punk that came about 8 years too late...by the time they recorded this tape (in just 7 1/2 hours, the insert proudly proclaims) in 1986, most of the bands from the UK anarcho/peace punk scene had either broken up or moved on to other, less punk, musical expressions. But not THE LUMPS OF MERDE...."Breadline Britain" with its half spoken vocals and political message, and "Temperary Escape" (their spelling, not mine) with it's very mid 80s drum sound, wailing echo guitar leads, and the added bonus of a warped cassette tape distorting the end of the tune even further, this is pure rudimentary UK punk that will win you over in an instant. They hail from the West Country, the same Wessex that gave us the the seminal Wessex '82 EP, and I would guess that these kids grew up listening to SMART PILS, SUBHUMANS, A HEADS and the like, and as soon as they were old enough, they started bashing shit out themselves...we should consider ourselves lucky.

THE 6 SECONDS DEMO