Vice Squad - 'Battle of Britain'

‘Everybody’s on Top of the Pops’ as a wise lady fae Fife once said. Polly Styrene made it and Siouxsie Sioux got there too but not Beki Bondage and her band Vice Squad who maybe missed the first wave by the time they came out of Bristol in 1979. But at a time when many of their contemporaries have run out of spit and spunk, Beki and the current incarnation of the band have something to say and new music to share in 2020. She’s still got it – check out the video for ‘I Dare to Breathe’ for starters.

Let’s face it – there’s never been more for a punk rock song-writer to get pissed off about than now. With dead cities all over the country, Wattie and The Exploited are looking like f*cking Nostradamus just now and Becki and her partner Paul ‘Lumpy’ Rooney don’t miss when they let rip on a variety of topics.

There’s a song called ‘Poverty Face’; ‘Ignored To Death’ rails against isolation and homelessness; then there’s ‘Born In A War’ (refugees) and ‘No Evil’ (animal welfare). Put these topics in the hands of an acoustic snowflake and you’d have a horrendous dirge but here they get a right good ‘punks not dead’ blast and austerity, factory farming, Brexit, fake patriotism and cognitive dissonance all get a good kicking into the bargain too.

It’s not all fury though. ‘When You Were 17’ is almost touching and tells of first tattoos and under age booze while the penultimate track ‘You Can’t Fool All Of The People‘ goes right off-piste by mixing in violin and climaxing in an epic heavy guitar/orchestral blend. The comedic ‘Pulling Teeth’ closes the show and should leave you with a smile on your face and cleanse your palate.

In the spirit of original punk, it’s a DIY production but then things have moved on a bit now. It’s out on October 16th, 2020 via LAST ROCKERS RECORDS/CARGO RECORDS. The album will be available digitally, on CD and a limited edition of 250 copies on white vinyl / 250 copies on black vinyl which can be pre-ordered here: https://cargorecordsdirect.co.uk/products/vice-squad-battle-of-britain