Rough Trade Us
2007
12 Crass Songs
About This Album
While in the minds of many punk rock was supposed to be about upending the rules and assumptions that had come to govern rock & roll in the mid-'70s, punk also helped revive the ranting spirit that had informed the best political music and art through the 20th century, from the Situationalists to the Fugs. Among the first wave of British punks, none ranted with greater ferocity and sense of purpose than Crass, who actually were the anarchist firebrands the Sex Pistols pretended to be, though the brutal report of their music was rarely as impressive or as intelligent as their lyrics. Crass were massively influential during their 1977-1984 lifespan and beyond, both as musicians and as activists, and Jeffrey Lewis' 12 Crass Songs is a surprising example of just how far their ideas have reached. Best known for his witty anti-folk tunes, musician and cartoonist Lewis first heard Crass while he was a college freshman in 1993, and the blunt wit and angry idealism of their songs made a powerful impression on him. As he began performing, Lewis began looking for ways to merge the fury of Crass' broadsides with his acoustic-based music and he recorded some lo-fi interpretations of some of their tunes in his bedroom.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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