| CD REVIEW GBH |
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Band : GBH Originally going under the name Charged GBH (the “GBH” part coming from the law term “Grievious Bodily Harm”), this Birmingham based British band was formed in 1978 and, on the strength of only a 1980 demo and rehearsal tape, emberked on several UK and US tours in the early ‘80s. Along with Discharge, Broken Bones, The Exploited, and The Varukers, they were among the pioneers of the English Street Punk (often nicknamed “UK82”), often mixing a portion of humour in their socio-political lyrics. Throughout their career they have gone through a couple of line-up changes, but lead singer Colin Abrahall and guitarist Colin “Jock” Blyth have remained loyal to the cause and style of purist Punk music (except for experiments towards a more Speed Metal geared direction on their 1992 release Church Of The Truly Warped). In later years the line-up was completed by bassist Ross Lomas and drummer Scott Preece, and the band has upheld a steady diet of touring. Throughout the years the foursome was singed to several labels: starting with Clay [opened proceedings with the now legendary 12-inch EP Leather, Bristles, Studs, And Ance in 1981 and followed that up in 1982 by the full-length City Baby Attacked By Rats, and the singles No Survivors (in 1989 the label would release a live album under that title too)and Give Me Fire/ Man Trap; the 1983 single Catch 23/ Hellhole; the 1984 full-length City Baby’s Revenge & EP Do What You Do; and 1986’s EP Oh No, It’s GBH Again], the band went on to Captain Oi! [1986’s full-length Midnight Madness And Beyond, 1987’s full-length No Need To Panic, 1988’s EP Wot A Bargain, 1989’s A Fridge Too Far, 1990’s From Here To Reality, and 1992’s Church Of The Truly Warped], SOS (just for the 1996 release Punk Junkies), Idol [first releasing the split albums (with Billyclub) Punk As Fuck and Punk Rock Ambiance in 1998 & 2001, then also the 2004 full-length and single Cruel And Usual], Go-Kart (issued the in-between album Ha Ha in 2002), and in 2007 Castle eventually released the compilation Race Against Time, which had the appropriate sub-title The Complete Clay Recordings (no need to explain what material was in this box set, I suppose). On November 10, 2008, the supported Rancid at their Rock City, Nothingham (UK) show, and announnced they had singed to Hellcat Records to release an album in the near future. Well, seen as the previous studio album went back to more than 4 years before that announcement, who can blame the band for having their album out “only” 17 months later? Recorded/ produced by Rancid’s own Lars Frederiksen, by the way, a GBH fan of old! No need to worry about the musical content of the album : those having come in contact with the band’s music before and having liked what they heard can simply go out an buy the album without pre-listening sessions. If you’ve never heard any GBH, you’re either very young and haven’t dared to check out your parents’ vinyl collection yet, or were living on another planet! Anyway, for those needing to check the kind of Hardcore-driven Punk Rock this British band makes, it suffices to visit myspace.com/gbh. Among the songs posted there’s even 3 off the new album (divide that by 3 and multiply by 13, and you get a 39-minute’s album worth of sheer Punk attitude)! Alternatively, you might wait for the band to pass in your neighborhood during the tour they’re starting come May 15 (Belgium, no go! You’ll have to catch the band either in Eindhoven (South of Holland) or Steenwijk (North Of Holland). I’ve always liked GBH, and I’m grateful for haviong been able to review their latest album…doesn’t mean I’m about to place Perfume And Piss into my year-lists, though! 92/100 Tony. |