Punk and rock n' roll reviews from Lord Rutledge and friends
Saturday, June 06, 2020
Know Your '90s Punk: Apocalypse Babys
Continuing my series on the bands I championed in my early years as a music reviewer, we turn to a group that has been keeping the faith for 30 years now. It always struck me as odd back in the '90s that all of my favorite old punk bands were from the U.K., yet I wasn't really listening to any new bands from the U.K. That all changed the first time I mail-ordered an Apocalypse Babys 7" from Underground Medicine (the American distro that shaped the musical taste of an entire generation of punk/garage freaks). It was amazing to hear a current U.K. band that sounded very much like all of the classic English and Irish punk groups whose records I was playing on a daily basis. I soon began ordering new releases from Apocalypse Babys every time they turned up in an Underground Medicine catalog (Remember when we still ordered records from catalogs?). When Jim from Underground Medicine started his own label Rapid Pulse Records, Apocalypse Babys were his very first release! What I liked about this Derbyshire-based outfit was that in addition to its music being powerful and often political, it was also very melodic. It was a throwback to a time when punk groups weren't ashamed to write a song with a hook. Singer Dave "Asterix The Brat" Moran formed this band in 1990, and it's still going strong to this day (the group has released albums in each of the last three years!). The Apocalypse Babys to me are one of the most under-appreciated punk bands of our time. I'm particularly partial to later '90s singles like "Nuclear Rain", "I Don't Wanna Be A Nazi", Apocalypse Now, and Local Heroes. Most likely because it wasn't super easy for people to get a hold of its records on this side of the pond, this band has always been largely unknown in the U.S. Its newer stuff may be even more obscure since I don't believe it's available on any streaming platforms. So if you're going to get into Apocalypse Babys, you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way and track down the records. It'll be well worth the effort if you're into the classic Brit-punk sound!
No comments:
Post a Comment