I’ve been meaning to post this for quite some time now, but after Justin from Mustard Relics blog had such a hard time here today (check the comments section), I’m making this is a three-records-in-a-row-24hrs, just for him.
I can’t tell you much about S.A.S. (SPEAK AGAINST SOCIETY) other than the band came from the middle of nowhere (Scarborough in North Yorks UK) and I bought this 7″ in 1985 from a local distributer and was totally blown away right on from the first few spins! I can’t exactly say what it is, but this babe has a totally unique aura, with its totally distorted guitars, the speedy drums and the great vocals. All is a bit amateurish, passionate and totally urgent and demanding. Damn, I must speak candidly with you – this 7″ really touches me like few others of the genre do. The intro chords, now don’t laugh, put me in the same emotional state, the short instrumental tune called “Embryo” from Black Sabbath does(you know, medieval times and such) plus a little bit of the old teargas, petrol bombs and bricks feeling, haha. Sorry, but that describes pretty accordingly my feelings when I play this gem. And “Gunrunner” from the b-side is just an extremely beautiful and intense song. I’d say this is objectively super-duper great (hint hint nudge nudge Justin).
The band later morphed into SATANIC MALFUNCTIONS and ACTIVE MINDS and took the sloganeering to new heights (or depths). This is pretty hard to come by; if I remember correctly, only 300 were pressed. Enjoy, veganists!
Intro.mp3 / The Sport of Gentlemen?.mp3 / Meaningless Name.mp3
Scapegoats.mp3
Drunk again.mp3
Armageddon.mp3
We don’t need it.mp3
Gunrunner.mp3
Royalty.mp3
Your Future.mp3
Before somebody asks where the missing tracks are: They’re all there, but the first three songs couldn’t be separated.
18 Comments
Now this is right down my alley! I had no idea the UK thrash bands had started as early as 85 in playing uberfast HC! This has got to be one of the best HC bands from the old days I heard in a long time. Thank you Eric for another treasure!!
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Now this is great, fast-and-furious-we-storm-the-universe-hc. Great vo-kills.
Way better than, according to me, the mediocre Satanic Malfuntions.
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holy shit! yeah, this band is definitely my “cup of turd”
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Holy Moly! Now this is a TOTAL beauty! Of all the great music you introduced me to this is one of the very best moments on this blog. Has this been re-released?
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“Oh no, no, please God help me!” I honestly can’t be objective here, total subjectivity okay? With all your sarcastic honesty and philosophical meanderings, you have hit the nail on the fucking head with this one. You are truly a master of the music blog. The moment that this record captures in time is difficult to match. Thank you very much for this.
I had a blast yesterday here. It made having the internet worthwhile. Thanx again.
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I can’t thank you enough for adding another peice to the puzzle and for doing what you said you would do so quickly.
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like this very much
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I first thought about not commenting on this one cause people totally ignore great stuff like Desperate Bicycles and The Deadbeats. As soon as a HC record is posted the comment section will be flooded. Sure this is a great record but… I’m bitter now! Yeah that’s punx.
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Thanks a lot!
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You’re welcome, Mat.
Yeah, Peter, know what you mean. Just like with your VILLAGE PISTOLS post. Such a great (and rare!) record and nobody cares to say something, not even a simple “thank you, you’re a living God and I want to send you money”. Peter, we should think about quitting and live happily ever after with our collections. That’s what we should.
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Written by Bobs, who is still busy with Active Minds.
SAS existed from 1983 to 1985, and played only 6 gigs. They started rehearsing as a three piece at the beginning of 1983, before I joined them in Spring. Although we all went to the same school we didn’t actually meet properly until we went away for a weekend on an anti-nuclear demo in London.
We recorded a demo, and then a 7″ (which we weren’t totally happy with so it was never released). We re-recorded the 7″, with some new songs, and it was released in 1985. However, two of the band members (Tony & Vince) left after that before we ever got to play any gigs. We got a couple of other guys in to replace them, and played one gig with that new line-up, but it wasn’t the same and we broke up at the end of 1985 – the band basically splitting in half to form two other bands (Active Minds and Satanic Malfunctions).
Once I joined, I wrote most of the lyrics, but we still had quite a lot of songs which we written by Ade before I arrived. I guess the 7″ is probably about 50:50 in terms of which of us wrote the lyrics.
As well as the 7″ on vinyl, there’s also two tracks on an American compilation LP called “Compulsory Overtime”, which was recorded during the session when we recorded the original version of the 7″. The 7″ was recorded at a local studio in Scarborough (Gladiator Studios), and was recorded “live in the studio” – no overdubs. Line-up for all recordings we made was Ade, Tony, Vince & me.
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gentleman bob wrote:
I had no idea the UK thrash bands had started as early as 85 in playing uberfast HC!
Check out AOA from Scotland, they did a 12″ on COR around 1983/4.
I believe there were much more than 300 pressed of this record, If I’m correct, a figure of 1000 is right.
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AOA (not a thrash band in the sense of SAS at all) released its first EP in late 1985, Bob.
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Of course there were lots raw underground fast HC thrash bands around in the UK in 83/84/85 Death Sentence (Northants), Scum Dribblerz, Dirge, Plasmid, Sarcasm, No Brain Cells, Bloodlust, all of them never releasing records at the time. Those are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head. AOA were i think more influenced by Discharge/Antisect whereas the above got their influence from fast US, Japanese and European HC.
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hey, alright !
Nearly forgotton.
I sold my copy on e bay some time ago.
you folks are super C00L
thanks
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That “Compulsory Overtime” comp can be found here: http://nostalgie-de-la-boue.blogspot.com/2009/05/various-artists-compulsory-overtime.html
I still have the SAS demo in the large box of old tapes at the back of my wardrobe. Not ripped it yet.
Also have the Maim That Tune tape, which is Bobs, Ade and me doing noisy punk covers of various pop songs. I DO have that ripped and uploaded, if anyone is daft enough to want to hear it: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ke3irh
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Fantastic! Thanks a lot and keep it coming!!!
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I had this one too!!! It was one of my favorite!!!
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