nfh UK

..............................

England, Ireland, Scotland
In the late 70s there was a period when I wouldn't buy a record if it wasn't from the UK. By about 1982 I'd gotten so I wouldn't buy a record if it was from the UK. Things have changed little since. It's an odd place for bands...groups pop out of the garage and hit the cover of NME in a few months, then get dropped and battered by the hyperactive rock press. Bands plan haircuts before they learn how to play. But from time to time there's something really good that comes from Britain...British kids pay more attention to music than Americans do, and despite all the style hopping they can come up with the goods now and then. There are probably more good bands from the UK than I give credit for...a good source to follow what goes on there is Jack Rabid's excellent fanzine The Big Takeover, which is published in New York. Jack follows the scene in the UK with incredible persistence and has pretty good taste to boot.

REVIEWS OF UK LPS, CDs AND 12" RECORDS - on its way someday
REVIEWS OF UK 7" SINGLES - same here

past Noise For Heroes features:

THE AMERICAN RUSE - Johnny Thunders / Dolls /Radio Birdman fans make their own records
THE BARRACUDAS - Covers their entire career...based on an interview with Jeremy Gluck in the summer of 1998
THE BUZZCOCKS - Manchester, England's finest band and one of the all time best punk groups ever. Two articles together, one right after they split in 1981 and the other on their 1989 reunion tour.
THE CLASH - a short memoriam on the death of Joe Strummer written in December 2002
THE MEMBERS - London band that mixed punk and reggae with sophisticated arrangements and gret working class lyrics. Recently updated based on an interview with JC Caroll and Nicky Tesco (Adobe Acrobat pdf format)
THE REZILLOS - Scotland's outrageously great sci-fi cartoon punk band
THE SMALL FACES - A big feature based on an interview with Ian McLagan on this brilliant 60s mod outfit (Adobe Acrobat pdf format)
STIFF LITTLE FINGERS - Ireland's greatest punk band featured in the days just after the Go For It album was released
THE TOM ROBINSON BAND - A great political punk band from 1977-1979 who deserve the same level of respect accorded to the Jam and the Clash
SENSELESS THINGS - High speed Buzzcocks flavored punk pop...an 80s version of the Undertones
THE UNDERTONES - In retrospect somewhat of a one lp wonder, but these guys had punk pop magic in a bottle while it lasted.
THE VIBRATORS - There from the beginning days of the 100 Club, a great pogo punk band, from a 1982 article