Saturday, February 19, 2022

The 1981 Listening Post - Angelic Upstarts - 2,000,000 Voices

 Angelic Upstarts - 2,000,000 Voices




#244

June 1981 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Angelic Upstarts

2,000,000 Voices

Genre: Oi Punk

4.5 out of 5



Highlights:

Ghost Town

Mensi’s Marauders

Last Night Another Soldier



This is a fascinating album. It’s more like an OI manifesto. The songs are loud and scabrous and sometimes delicious. But I am more attracted to the spoken word “Heath’s Lament” and how it leads into “Guns for the Afghan Rebels”. I know that punk dies a swift death in the 80s, it wasn’t a movement designed to be long lasting because it’s reactionary. Which also means that, depending on what artists are reacting to, “punk” will change. It could be spoken word, it could be aggressive, it could be funky, it’s an attitude. 

Thing is, this album is more appealing to the ear than the punks of the day, it’s almost Clash-like. Even going so far as to dive into Reggae in “I Understand”. And…fiddle on “Mensi’s Marauders”!

Each track is a bit of a surprise and it really doesn’t have a down spot on it. I swear I’ve heard “Last Night Another Soldier” before. It’s excellent in a way that Jones and Strummer used to be. 


https://music.apple.com/us/album/2-000-000-voices/691543291


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