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Anarcho-punk collective CRASS surprise-release four further remastered original albums on vinyl

September 2, 2019

Anarcho-punk collective CRASS surprise-release four further remastered original albums on vinyl 

Yes Sir, I Will

Penis Envy
Ten Notes On A Summer’s Day
Christ, The Album

Buy link: 
https://crass.lnk.to/CrassCatalogue

Watch video of co-founder Penny Rimbaud explaining their resurgence
https://youtu.be/YMHOpuFoMPw

Off the back of their surprise release of three remastered original versions of their trail-blazing and vital albums; Stations Of The Crass, Feeding Of The Five Thousand (The Second Sitting), Best Before 1984, British anarcho-punk collective, Crass, have today announced a further four remastered albums available now on vinyl: Yes Sir, I Will, Penis Envy, Ten Notes On A Summer’s Day, Christ, The Album, to be released on their own Crass Records (distributed by One Little Indian). Drummer and co-founder Penny Rimbaud, has also announced the release of his own 7” – ‘War and Peace’ – a double A side single featuring two cover versions of Bob Dylan’s ‘Masters of War’ and George Harrison’s ‘Isn’t It a Pity’.

Crass have remastered the collection of albums alongside Alex Gordon at Abbey Road, with the intention that the pressings would sound “as it was in the beginning”, with original artwork. They have recently been causing a stir amongst long-time followers, surprising fans when they shared a free download of their compilation album Best Before 1984 for 24 hours only, and sent out their infamous Crass spray-paint stencils. Crass members have been working in partnership with One Little Indian Records, who have filled hoards of stamped envelopes sent in by fans with the stencil. Rough Trade  also handed hundreds of stencils out to fans in the lead up to April 1st, when the first remastered albums were dropped. 

In their active years, Crass and their wider collective and fanbase were known for the anti-fascism Crass symbol which was sprayed all over London and the Underground. 

During the late ’70s and early ’80s, Crass were at the forefront of the punk scene in London, promoting anarchism as a political ideology and popularising the anarcho-punk movement. The band believed in direct action, performing organised squats, spreading anti-fascism messages and encouraging resistance of political authority through DIY leaflets, sound collages, art, poetry and film. 

In the years since their disbandment in 1984, the individual members of Crass have continued to work on music, art and poetry projects expressing their political ideologies, including Eve Libertine’s recorded recital of Jack Kerouac’s ‘Sea’, and Penny Rimbaud’s lauded spoken word album in tribute to Wilfred Owen’s war poetry, ‘What Passing Bells’.

Rimbaud, co-founder of Crass and the famous anarchist/pacifist open house Dial House in Essex (alongside Crass bandmate Gee Vaucher), had this to say about the album remasters: “Crass was then and this now, but the lyrics remain tragically relevant, indeed, Crass were often so prophetic that it’s only now that their warnings might make sense to those who in the day preferred to keep their heads firmly buried in the sand. ‘Global warming? Nah, let’s go down the lido.’ Where the Pistols and The Clash now sit comfortable in the backlit annuls of rock’n’roll history, Crass continue to contribute to the ever-growing voice of global dissent.

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