Scraps Noise Not Music: 1986–1989 LP
France has never exactly been known for its hardcore bands. In fact, I’m sure most of you would struggle a little to name five French ’80s hardcore bands. Sure, we never had any shortage of terrible Oi! bands (a sorry tradition), but few inspiring fast bands in the ’80s. SCRAPS were an exception. They played that kind of really fast and raw hardcore thrash with extreme vocals that grew in Europe in the mid-’80ss with bands like LÄRM, NEGAZIONE, HHH, or ASOCIAL. Imagine DISORDER covering GANG GREEN in a Bristol squat in 1984. SCRAPS embraced the super punky “noise not music” philosophy, although they were not as radical as their fellow countrymen, the mighty RAPT, but more direct and vicious than the equally mighty HEIMAT-LOS. The lyrics are mostly in French and tackled the topics of the day (apartheid, animal liberation, the arms race), but also some that focused on French politics, like the rise of Le Pen (famous leader of the far-right whose daughter currently heads the most popular far-right party in France) or torture during the war in Algeria. Angry political words that fit the music perfectly. The LP includes the early records of a band that celebrated its 40th birthday in 2023. That’s what you call dedication and true passion for hardcore punk. This is a pretty essential record if you are into abrasive and fast political hardcore punk, and an essential piece of history. Guaranteed completely Oi!-free.