Religious War
Ah The Stupids, well it was probably about time that the Uk’s leading skate punk band of the 80s got the re-release treatment and they’ve got it in style with pretty much everything that could found in cupboards, basements and under beds being dusted off and added as bonus tracks.
‘Violent Nun’ was their debut single and is a pretty raw but attention grabbing slab of furious punk rawk that was over almost as soon as it began with all of the tracks being well under three minutes and some of them not even touching the minute mark. They really did capture the essence of the US hardcore sound but put a distinct UK stamp on it and few would argue that they laid most of the building blocks for the UKHC scene that followed.
This first offering, whilst pretty fast and furious for the most part was also refreshingly catchy (‘What Happens Next’ being a prime example). If you’re not quite paying attention it’s easy for the songs to fly past you when you get ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ and ‘Skid Row’ having a combined time of less than two minutes! The production is surprisingly good and has stood the test of time rather well, not suffering from under or over production and although it’s a little raw around the edges it still packs a decent punch.
The bonus tracks (15 in all!) are culled from their first demo tape in ‘84 and features several unreleased tracks alongside rougher versions of tracks that resurfaced on the single such as ‘Waste Away’ and ‘So Much Fun’. Let’s not let nostalgia get in the way too much though, not every track is a winner and there is some cringeworthy guitar but there are few flat moments and those are over so quickly that they are soon forgotten. ‘Violent Nun’ is a welcome re-release that documents The Stupids first step into what was to be a pretty amazing 5 years and whilst the bonus tracks are more for completists the original twelve tracks are as good as anything the US had to offer at the time.