The Exploited
Beat The Bastards
Spitfire
This is a reissue of the 1996 album of the same name. I checked my computer (I never dump anything) and found that I hadn’t reviewed it then… I’d save myself some time and just reprint the worlds I said about this great album of raw, crunching hardcore punk rock from one of the original movement.
And judging by the incredible turd of a country England has become, it is no surprise whatsoever that The Exploited’s opinion of their country is the same today as it was then as it was in 1986. Songs of social upheaval and angry violence like “System Fucked Up,” “Law For the Rich,” “Massacre Of Innocents,” and “Fightback” are timeless frustrated punk anthems. But there’s a difference today. In the mid-1990s, I reckon that England, along with several other European countries, completed their programs of placing cameras on every street corner. The Exploited were understandably outraged, and say so in “Police TV.” Today, more than ever, this rings true, and if you check the news, England’s crime is out of control, yet the country is repressing non-criminals and criminalizing lawful behavior at an unprecedented rate. Thus, Beat The Bastards is perhaps a survival manual as the next wave of incompetent, ivory-towered government clowns across the sea sees what they can do to make things even worse.
Spitfire Records: http://www.spitfirerecords.com
