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19 track round up of demos from The Partisans who formed in Bridgend, South Wales in 1978 and ended up being one of the cream of the UK82 punk movement. The first side of the LP has 10 tracks recorded in April 1980 in one day and like bands in their early years – it features mainly covers. It includes songs from the Sex Pistols, Stiff Little Fingers, UK Subs, Buzzcocks, UK Subs, Cockney Rejects and yes even more UK Subs. It also has primitive and raw versions of future Partisans classics No Time and I Don’t Give a Fuck. This demo has never been heard or released in any form. Less than a year later, February 1981 with Savage leaving and Louise joining on bass, the band have their most well know line up and are in full flow with a 6 track demo that was sent to No Future Records. It’s not surprising the label snapped them up straight away as the recordings are high energy and full of anthemic gems. The label released Police Story and Killing Machine as the debut 7” direct from these recordings. The other four tracks from this demo have never been released on vinyl. The last three tracks on the LP are the demos from 1982 recorded for No Future for the 17 Years of Hell Single. Rawer and more punk than the actual well know versions. All members of the bands helped in this release and shared original masters from which everything was remastered plus archive from their own personal collections including photos galore, handouts, ticket stubs, interviews etc which are included in the 28 Page Booklet.
Our take: Punk reissue label Sealed Records’ latest release is this compilation of demo material from No Future Records legends the Partisans. I am a huge fan of the Partisans (my band Scarecrow even covers “Police Story”) and I’m coming at this release from that perspective. Everyone should have the two singles and LP the Partisans released on No Future Records, and I like the LP and single that followed as well. However, this LP offers a deeper dive. The big treasure here is a 1980 recording session—to my knowledge, never released in any format—that captures an early version of the band knocking out a set featuring mostly covers of punk bands like the UK Subs, the Buzzcocks, the Sex Pistols, and Stiff Little Fingers (who also started out as a punk cover band) plus two original compositions. I imagine there are some of you who won’t have any interest in hearing the Partisans cover a bunch of classic punk bands, but I think this session is killer. The recording quality is exceptional (gritty yet clear and powerful) and the session reveals the Partisans’ power as players. While I wouldn’t say they bring anything new to the songs, they sound fiery and passionate, and it’s clear that cutting their teeth on these covers helped them build the skills necessary to deliver their original material with conviction. You get to hear that on the b-side of this LP, which compiles two studio sessions that have appeared on previous Partisans CD reissues. The first 6-song session was so good that No Future Records released two tracks from it as the Partisans’ first single, while the second session finds them running through earlier versions of the 3 tracks from their second single. The music is great, and Sealed Records knows how to put together a compelling package with top-notch sound, a well-designed sleeve, and a thick booklet featuring a treasure trove of ephemera: photos, fanzine interviews, ads and flyers, and a new interview with the band about the tracks on this release. If you’re a fan of the Partisans (who isn’t?), this is a no-brainer.