Virus You Can’t Ignore It Forever LP
Much like the time passed before this 1984 cassette was released on record, I’m glad I didn’t wait to sit down with this any longer. VIRUS brings a bygone production value and mood I haven’t heard as earnestly since the likes of KULTURKAMPF, The E.P.s of R.P., KARMA SUTRA, or LEGION OF PARASITES, with the somewhat gothic post-punk swaying of SKELETAL FAMILY and TOXIC WASTE, though much more sensitively delivered like contemporaries the MOB, LIBERTY, and OMEGA TRIBE. The writing here is authentic and classic 1984 UK anarcho-punk. Simply poetic and rhythmic, with themes of anti-war, animal liberation, class struggle, and nuclear power and its threats. Floor toms, militant snares, jangling, echoing bass, spoken word moments…from “Oven Overture”: “Handin’ out presents, it’s Christmas day / Well it’s ‘bout fuckin’ time that a turkey had its say!” The earliest forms of anarcho-punk always had that blunt lyrical content, and VIRUS is no exception. This is an excellently remastering of their cassette debut from 40 years ago, and a must-have if anything from SUBDUED or AOA to FLUX OF PINK INDIANS and MOET THE POET is your voice of reason in this cyclically unreasonable world. I’ve rattled off several bands of the era and region but not randomly, as this early VIRUS material sincerely fits right in.