The Dissidents - History Repeats

  

  In my last update I wrote "When I'm looking for music to feature on here and on the show there's a few must go to UK labels that I keep my eye on. These include Grow Your Own Records, Drowning Sailor, Serial Bowl Records, Brassneck Records and Little Rocket Records. All great labels who are very reliable. If they're releasing something you can pretty much guarantee it'll be a winner."

  Helping to prove my point are Grow Your Own Records who've just released a new album titled A Better World. It's a split lp featuring Philadelphia political punks The Dissidents (https://www.facebook.com/dissidentsphilly) and California anarcho punks D.O.V.E. 

  As always with Grow Your Own, loving care has gone into producing a beautifully packaged vinyl and cd version which you can find here : https://growyourownrecords.bandcamp.com/album/a-better-world 

   The album kicks of explosively with The Dissidents offering up No Air, a song I featured on here 4 years ago https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-dissidents-no-air.html

  The album maintains this standard throughout with both bands bringing their A game.

  Today I'm going to highlight a tragically all too topical song, it's called History Repeats... 

Once again, blood is shed In back alleys left for dead As they sit back making laws Protecting life that never lived History repeats Once Again Innocent blood is shed Once again blood is shed Bodies pile on stolen land Starvation, bombs and death Ethnic cleansing not self defense History repeats Once Again Innocent blood is shed History repeats Every day History repeats

The Dissidents - Brother Did You Weep

  

  The Dissidents are a political punk band from Philadelphia who's line up (Rachel (vocals), Janine (bass/vocals), Nicole (guitar/vocals), Bill (guitar/vocals) & Shawn (drums)) is made up of members from the likes of Witch Hunt, The Pist, Mischief Brew, Mankind and several others. You can find more info on them here : https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-dissidents-no-air.html and here : https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-dissidents-numbers-station.html

  They've just contributed a powerful anti war track to a compilation album titled No Genocide: A Benefit for Mutual Aid in Gaza. The album also features songs from the likes of The Mob, Oi Polloi, D.O.V.E., Rat Cage and Dogma to name but a few. It's an international benefit compilation available on digital and cassette for on-the-ground humanitarian mutual aid in Gaza. You can get more info here :   https://thedissidents.bandcamp.com/album/no-genocide-a-benefit-for-mutual-aid-in-gaza

  The Dissidents' track is their version of a song (https://ewanmaccoll.bandcamp.com/track/brother-did-you-weep-3) from 1968 by Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger which was covered in 1972 by The Minor Birds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOCmdKNM8Mw). It depicts the devastating impact of war (originally it was in protest against the Vietnam War). It's called Brother Did You Weep...

Disc of sun in the belching smoke
Blazing huts where children choke
Burning flesh and blackened blood
Charred and blistered like smouldering wood

O brother, o brother did you weep
O brother, o brother can you sleep

Wall-eyed moon in the wounded night
Touching poisoned fields with blight
Showing the ditch where the dead girl lies
Courted by ants and hungry flies

O brother, o brother did you weep
O brother, o brother can you sleep

Scream of pain in the morning breeze
Thunder of bombs among the olive trees
Hymn of rubble and powdered stone
Anguished flesh and splintered bone

O brother, o brother did you weep
O brother, how can you sleep?

Programmed war, efficiency team
Death brings dollars to the war machine
People trapped between imaginary lines
The total destruction of Palestine

Oh brother, have you got no shame?
Oy eicha, they're killing in my name

The Dissidents - Numbers Station

  

  A couple of years ago I posted a song by an anarcho/political punk quartet from Philadelphia called The Dissidents (https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-dissidents-no-air.html). I commented that it was hopefully just an introduction to a band we'll hear more from and happily, that is now the case.

  They've a split ep with Manchester hardcore punk outfit Vitriolic Response which will be released on 7" vinyl on September 1st but which is available on Bandcamp now :  https://thedissidents.bandcamp.com/album/the-dissidents-vitriolic-response-split-ep

  Vitriolic Response contribute a couple of impressively ferocious blasts of punk fury whilst The Dissidents kick things off with 3 equally pissed off tunes. I'll play the opening track, Patronised, on the next Just Some Punk Songs show. It's a message to guys who talk down to women, who have "so many words but nothing to say." The song I'm posting below though concerns itself with the short wave radio stations which have been arounds at least since World War 1 and which are believed to be intelligence officers operating in foreign countries. 

  It's called Numbers Station...

Waves, waves flying out through the air High frequencies reach everywhere Are you receiving out there chorus Numbers Station (x4) Null 258 Signal sends the message through Wires inside us picking up a secret code Towers rising from the wilderness No one knows who put them there or what they’re for Chorus Run, try to stay out of the light Messages sent in plain sight Making their way through the night Chorus Hidden network pulsing out around the globe If you know the sequences you can decode We are thousands moving in the underground Making something beautiful from what we’ve found Chorus Hidden networks pulsing round the globe Thousands moving in the underground Wires inside of us (x4)

The Dissidents - No Air

  

  Hey there fellow punk fans, you've probably noticed it's been a decent week for new releases. Plenty of big hitters (and Just Some Punk Songs' favourites) putting out new material. No doubt you've already come across new songs by Bob Vylan, Wonk Unit, Chubby And The Gang, Raging Nathans, Benefits, Wild Billy Childish etc so instead of featuring one of those on here, I think I'll just play something on this week's show (Sunday, 8pm UK time :  https://www.facebook.com/events/210359827728398/). 

  Instead, I'll point you in the direction of a rough and ready digital demo today ("tape coming soon"). It's by a new 4 piece from Philadelphia called The Dissidents who feature a line up comprising of members of bands such as The Brood, Mischief Brew, Witch Hunt, The Pist, Aus-Rotten, & Bong Daemon; Janine St Clair (bass & vocals), Rachel Courtney (vocals), Bill Chamberlain (guitar) and Shawn St Clair (drums). 

  The Demo boasts 5 tracks of pissed off punk which rage against the boys in blue ("all cops are culpable"), the treatment of immigrants ("crime against humanity"), unlawful killing by those in authority ("just another racist murder") etc. Hopefully just an introduction to a band we'll hear more from, you can find it here :  https://thedissidents.bandcamp.com/album/demo

  This is the lead track, it's titled No Air...