Vice Squad - Battle Of Britain (Guest Review By Ralph J Rivera)

    

  When you see someone as knowledgeable about music as Ralph J Rivera casting superlatives around about a new release you generally sit up and take notice. And then if you have a blog, you send him a message asking if he'll tell everyone else how good it is. 

  Over to Ralph... 

  So when Mister Mick Fletcher asks you if you wanna review the new album by one of your all-time favourite bands - You just don't say no! I have literally been in love with Ms. Beki Bond since 1981! I had an awesome picture of her with blue spiked hair hanging in my bedroom for years.

I hopefully don't need to go into the history of this original UK82 band for you guys. They put out a couple of amazing albums and a string of hit 45's that you should know by now. "Last Rockers" is to this day one of the greatest Punk songs ever written and not only have I covered it in pretty much every band I was in but also MR. Rikk Agnew so that's all you need to know about their past.

Around 2000 Beki rejoined the band she founded as a teenager and has been blazing a trail of new releases and most recently a string of EP's that all led up to THIS! 2020 finally sees the release of "The Battle Of Britain". An album that's been teased and hyped since 2019. SO IS IT ANY GOOD?

Let me say this - As a lifelong fan I can honestly say this is THE BEST RECORD Vice Squad has ever released in their career! How many UK82 bands can you think of that can claim that? All the EP hit songs are here PLUS 7 new jams never heard before. My only disappointment was they didn't include the 2020 version of "Beautiful Toy" which is my favourite new Vice Squad song. But I've rambled on enough. If you know this band,,used to listen to them or even never heard them before - HIT THAT DOWNLOAD LINK and wrap your head around some of the best Punk Rock out these days with a singer that just goes BEYOND greatness!

https://vicesquad.bandcamp.com/album/battle-of-britain-album

  This is the title track, Battle Of Britain... 

Vice Squad - Everybody’s in a Band Today

  Formed in 1979, Bristol band Vice Squad were one of the biggest of the 2nd wave of punk bands in the UK, largely due to their frontwoman Beki Bondage (Rebecca Bond) who was both photogenic and vocally talented enough to ensure that she was a regular feature on the front cover of the era's music press. Like many young punk enthusiasts, I was the proud owner of their Last Rockers and Resurrection 7"'s as well as the debut album, No Cause For Concern. These were records that were as good as anything that was getting released back in the early 80's and proved that they were much more than a one woman band.

  Not sure why, maybe it was the band's sound changing, maybe it was my musical tastes changing a touch but I kind of lost interest after this and can't remember listening to them much after that initial enthusiasm. I do vaguely remember that Beki left and was replaced by a new singer called Jools but I wasn't really paying much attention.

  I next noticed them one drunken day in Morecambe when they appeared at the Holidays In The Sun Festival. I remember enjoying their set but I didn't really listen to any of the material that they put out during this second coming period. That is until a couple of weeks ago when guitarist Paul Rooney hooked me up with a copy of their 2014 album, Cardboard Country. A few listens and I'm impressed. This incarnation of the band (Bondage - vocals, Rooney - lead guitar/vocals, Wayne Cotton - bass/vocals, Django - drums, aren't a poor xerox version of a once great band, they are a very decent outfit in their own right.

  Cardboard Country has a lot to say about the state of Britain today, it's opinionated and relevant and makes me wish I'd paid a bit more attention to what the band have been up to these last few years. If, like me, you only remember them from their early "hits" then maybe you too should check out their latest release : http://vicesquad.co.uk/punkrock/discography/cardboard-country/

  This is a song that critiques the current state of the music industry and the influence over it of Simon Cowell and the seemingly endless stream of identikit wannabes that are hyped up, chewed up and spat out. Everybody's In A Band Today.....