Zounds
Can't Cheat Karma


4.5
superb

Review

by butcherboy USER (123 Reviews)
February 21st, 2018 | 30 replies


Release Date: 1980 | Tracklist

Review Summary: throw a spanner in the works..

Though never as blatantly abrasive or dissonant as either their label-makers or their anarcho peers, Reading punkers Zounds nevertheless occupy a vital spot in the British pre-hardcore subculture. Their assumed belonging to that niche was always a matter of their debut EP Can’t Cheat Karma being released on Crass Records, a label set up by the namesake band in order to advance and expose the budding community of anarcho-punk outfits, then springing to life from England’s every corner. Poison Girls, Omega Tribe, The Mob, Honey Bane, Flux of Pink Indians and any number of those early progenies put out their first 7”s, EP’s and splits on the imprint, forging a new entity into the British scene.

By the band’s own accounts, their relationship with Crass was a rocky one, with the established band holding veto power over all recorded material, affecting the vocal tonalities (turning them more ‘punk’), and going so far as supplying a session drummer, ousting the band’s own percussionist from the studio. Still the raw charm of Karma seeps from its every crease. Less f*cked-off at surface value, from an aesthetic angle, Zounds paid more tribute to proto-punkers like Modern Lovers and the Real Kids, locking into tight guitar patterns and laying their blue-collar politico lyrics over the top. Unlike the general MO of anarchist acts, they were prone to injecting short melodic breakdowns and letting the lines take prettier turns at times. That divergence from the presupposed set is felt most obviously in “Subvert,” as close as Zounds got to a staple number. Spikey and sporting a cheeky grin, the tune cruises more that it pummels, vocalist Steve Lake shouting off a snotty list of small acts of revolt one can infuse into daily life to keep the cops on edge. The song’s solo ditches the noisy anarcho squeal for a charge that’s much more tuneful, a strange little mutant of flamenco and surf rock. The slight murkiness of their tone also lent subtle post-punk touches to their fold, distancing them further from their roster.

That innate division from the scene ensured Zounds’ shelf-life to be a short one, the band splitting up in 1982, only 5 years after formation, and 2 years after this EP was first pressed. Its members would go the usual routes privy to their community, Lake taking a few members along to continue his modest vision without having to deal with the punk lifestyle that by then was already reaching caricature levels, with the rest of the band funneling out to nearby acts as touring members. They’ve reformed a few times through the 2000’s and 2010’s, and even put out a new LP in 2011. That first burst of boyish barbs, a precursor to the canonical The Curse of Zounds, still feels as grimily endearing and integral as it did then.



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user ratings (9)
3.8
excellent

Comments:Add a Comment 
butcherboy
February 21st 2018


9464 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

back on zee punk tract..

Papa Universe
February 21st 2018


22502 Comments


oi

Papa Universe
February 21st 2018


22502 Comments


Curse is an ace record, will check this out.

butcherboy
February 21st 2018


9464 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

oh there's nothing on here that isn't on Curse.. I just wanted to review the EP itself..

Papa Universe
February 21st 2018


22502 Comments


oh...

Papa Universe
February 21st 2018


22502 Comments


well, War is still a top-class track

butcherboy
February 21st 2018


9464 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

it is.. so are Karma and Subvert.. should I bump this to a 4.5 or what?

Papa Universe
February 21st 2018


22502 Comments


you go, girl

SandwichBubble
February 21st 2018


13812 Comments


Just got done listening to another crass records band today (dirt) and here you are reviewing zounds, crass records in the air i think

Papa Universe
February 21st 2018


22502 Comments


colour me punked

SandwichBubble
February 21st 2018


13812 Comments


bad case of punk eye

Papa Universe
February 21st 2018


22502 Comments


on the contrary, very good one. now i can fight the blue with a blue eye

SandwichBubble
February 21st 2018


13812 Comments


conpunktivitis if you will

Papa Universe
February 21st 2018


22502 Comments


i feel like Kevin Hard. i'm tiny, but mighty, and the name fits as well

butcherboy
February 21st 2018


9464 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

settle down, the both of you.. I'll pull this site over, I swear..

SandwichBubble
February 21st 2018


13812 Comments


we're long overdue for a site shutdown anyway. pull the lever at sputHQ

Chortles
February 21st 2018


21494 Comments


love me those short lived punk bands!! nice writeup as per usual butch

butcherboy
February 21st 2018


9464 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

hey, Chorts!

Chortles
February 21st 2018


21494 Comments


hey!! how goes?

butcherboy
February 21st 2018


9464 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

busy good times.. how's you?



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