Standard Issue Living in Leicester / Religion 7″
Under-documented UK femme-punk, rescued from the dustbin of history—the two tracks on this limited (50 copies!) lathe-cut single were recorded at a 1980 show in STANDARD ISSUE’s hometown of Leicester, and it’s the first time (as far as I can tell) that their music has actually been made available for public consumption outside of the fixed-time, had-to-be-there ephemerality of live gigs in the late ’70s and early ’80s. True to context, what’s on offer here is rickety DIY post-punk by way of some vaguely CRASS-style anarcho sensibilities, with clinging-to-tune guitar, stumbling drum beats, doubled-up vocals from two female singers, and lyrics that simultaneously balance being pointed, political, and poetic (“Who is right? / Fighting to see who’s seen the light,” as posed in “Religion”); I’m definitely reminded of early HONEY BANE, RUBELLA BALLET, or HAGAR THE WOMB, if less exuberantly danceable and much, much scrappier. Wish we could have gotten some studio recordings out of them, but I’m still glad that STANDARD ISSUE is getting their due now.