Clockwork Criminals
CLOCKWORK CRIMINALS "YOUNG AND BOLD" 7"EP (U.K.- ACE RECORDS)
(RECORDED 1980 / RELEASED 1982)
[MARCH 21, 2009 UPDATE
I took down the mp3's of this EP after a request from former member Bill- he told me it's going to be reissued on CD very soon which is great to hear. I still don't have specific details on the reissue, but pick one up when it comes out and continue to check the band's MySpace site for specs.]
Damn, what a barnstormer of a record! "Young and Bold" calmly starts with the singer making his declaration in the first few seconds of the song and then- wham!- total charging noise smacks you right in the head. A nice, unexpected surprise- the guitars are loud, tense and waily, kinda DIY-ish in sound (unlike "traditionally" loud guitars that tend to be chunky and thick a la Black Flag or P.F. Commando). The drummer and bass player pound away trying to keep up with the two-chord geetar player and then the singer wails away in a desperate manner- in other words, wonderful! Also impressive that this unique racket was recorded in 1980 at a time when not a lot of bands were soundin’ out there like this.
(RECORDED 1980 / RELEASED 1982)
[MARCH 21, 2009 UPDATE
I took down the mp3's of this EP after a request from former member Bill- he told me it's going to be reissued on CD very soon which is great to hear. I still don't have specific details on the reissue, but pick one up when it comes out and continue to check the band's MySpace site for specs.]
Damn, what a barnstormer of a record! "Young and Bold" calmly starts with the singer making his declaration in the first few seconds of the song and then- wham!- total charging noise smacks you right in the head. A nice, unexpected surprise- the guitars are loud, tense and waily, kinda DIY-ish in sound (unlike "traditionally" loud guitars that tend to be chunky and thick a la Black Flag or P.F. Commando). The drummer and bass player pound away trying to keep up with the two-chord geetar player and then the singer wails away in a desperate manner- in other words, wonderful! Also impressive that this unique racket was recorded in 1980 at a time when not a lot of bands were soundin’ out there like this.
Back in '99, "No Future U.K." was comped on KBD#20 (whose cover also used this EP's artwork) but I was so leary of most comps at that time (see sidenote that follows) so I passed on that LP. Two years later, I heard "Stand Together" on the Messthetics #7 comp CD, which was part of Chuck Warner’s Hyped To Death series.
[As a sidenote- sigh, I miss all those different Hyped To Death-related comps that Mr. Warner churned out in 2000 and 2001. In the late 90's- pretty much after KBD#12 came out in late '96/early '97- KBD-type comps had really started scraping the barrel and most were big letdowns that had maybe one or two good songs and then a dozen mediocre tracks- in other words, a waste of yer hard earned money. Sure, a lot of bands on those bad comps were total obscurities but that does not justify inclusion on a comp. C’mon gimme something that SOUNDS good or I could pretty much care less than it was a sleeveless "private pressing" of 10 copies or whatever (the U.K. is the capital of these types o' rarities). But oh yeah- back to Hyped To Deaths- here came uber-collector Chuck digging up total obscurities like Screamin’ Sneakers that were rare as hell, previously uncomped AND which sounded ABSOLUTELY wonderful too. Now don’t get me wrong- not every CD was full of 100% Grade A prime chug- there were some clunkers to my ears but overall Chuck did a good job before the fun was forced to come to an end]
Young and Bold.mp3
No Future UK.mp3
Stand Together.mp3
3 Million and 1.mp3
ENDNOTES
Clockwork Criminals have a page on MySpace on which they posted 3 unreleased songs, two of which are available for download (the fouth track is their track from the "Bullshit Detector" comp). Unfortunately, they are too drawn out and dreamy and lack the total smack-in-the-face quality of their EP. Oh well, still interesting that they have a page and posted em to begin with...
The great Detour Records site has a nice history of the band- read on:
"Hailing from the South Coast of England from a fairly large town called Hastings, the band started off life called 'Charlie and the Criminals'. They notched up a few gigs under this name before opting for the 'Clockwork Criminals'. Despite the 'Young and Bold' EP coming out in 82 it was recorded in 1980. They played along side most of the other local bands that were around on the same gig circuit like 'Smeggy and the Cheesybits', 'The Teenbeats', 'The Pirahnas' and just about all the other top South Coast bands.
Sadly the band only released one single but also had another track featured on a compilation album called 'Bullshit Detector' that was released on the 'Crass' label.
The vocalist and guitarist went on to form 'Flowers of the Past' who gigged a lot in 1982 doing the whole "State of the Nation" tour with 'Vice Squad' and releasing a single called 'The Fuhrer' / 'Medieval' on 'Memorial records'."
Here is the above writeup complete with TONS of pictures of the band, flyers, buttons, etc:
http://www.detour-records.co.uk/CLOCKWORK%20CRIMINALS.htm
[As a sidenote- sigh, I miss all those different Hyped To Death-related comps that Mr. Warner churned out in 2000 and 2001. In the late 90's- pretty much after KBD#12 came out in late '96/early '97- KBD-type comps had really started scraping the barrel and most were big letdowns that had maybe one or two good songs and then a dozen mediocre tracks- in other words, a waste of yer hard earned money. Sure, a lot of bands on those bad comps were total obscurities but that does not justify inclusion on a comp. C’mon gimme something that SOUNDS good or I could pretty much care less than it was a sleeveless "private pressing" of 10 copies or whatever (the U.K. is the capital of these types o' rarities). But oh yeah- back to Hyped To Deaths- here came uber-collector Chuck digging up total obscurities like Screamin’ Sneakers that were rare as hell, previously uncomped AND which sounded ABSOLUTELY wonderful too. Now don’t get me wrong- not every CD was full of 100% Grade A prime chug- there were some clunkers to my ears but overall Chuck did a good job before the fun was forced to come to an end]
ENDNOTES
Clockwork Criminals have a page on MySpace on which they posted 3 unreleased songs, two of which are available for download (the fouth track is their track from the "Bullshit Detector" comp). Unfortunately, they are too drawn out and dreamy and lack the total smack-in-the-face quality of their EP. Oh well, still interesting that they have a page and posted em to begin with...
The great Detour Records site has a nice history of the band- read on:
"Hailing from the South Coast of England from a fairly large town called Hastings, the band started off life called 'Charlie and the Criminals'. They notched up a few gigs under this name before opting for the 'Clockwork Criminals'. Despite the 'Young and Bold' EP coming out in 82 it was recorded in 1980. They played along side most of the other local bands that were around on the same gig circuit like 'Smeggy and the Cheesybits', 'The Teenbeats', 'The Pirahnas' and just about all the other top South Coast bands.
Sadly the band only released one single but also had another track featured on a compilation album called 'Bullshit Detector' that was released on the 'Crass' label.
The vocalist and guitarist went on to form 'Flowers of the Past' who gigged a lot in 1982 doing the whole "State of the Nation" tour with 'Vice Squad' and releasing a single called 'The Fuhrer' / 'Medieval' on 'Memorial records'."
Here is the above writeup complete with TONS of pictures of the band, flyers, buttons, etc:
http://www.detour-records.co.uk/CLOCKWORK%20CRIMINALS.htm
I added a link to your site on my page. Now all you have to do is sit back and wait for the internet monies to flood in.
Emerson
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fucking love this shit thanks for posting, some of the most "3 dimensional" guitar I've heard and quite possibly the most demented mix of ska (?) and street punk I ever heard
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Hey, glad you liked it. "3-Dimensional" is a great way to sum up the guitar noise on it. Hmm, I don't know about the ska comparison though...
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Hey thanks for having our songs on the your site
More on myspace
Bill O' neill
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Thanks for posting some comments- always nice to hear from a former band member who's been featured on the blog!
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Hey guys love the site.This is me ole band...and shit we use to wreck it. Thanks for having us
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Lee mind your language - remember we try and educate the colonials - Dear PBM he means;
Dear Sir i appreciate the internet experience. I collated this collective in the past. We use to play rather hard core. Many thanks for the mention.
Yours Sincerely Mr L Benton
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Hi PRM,
Lee is going to re release these tracks on CD - please could you remove them until at least June so that our tea and tiffings fund can be swelled in the credit crunch. Joking aside we would be grateful if you could temporarily remove the mp3s and give the CD a chance - cheers
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