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Very little information exists about Italian anarcho-punks A Culture Of Killing. Like many of their forebears, they evidently eschew communication via mainstream press or corporate-owned social media.
So I guess it’s on me to tell ya that their latest release is a long-overdue vinyl press of their 2017 self-titled cassette, and it absolutely slays.
OK, it’s not immediately obvious as anarcho - you won’t find the teeth-rattling rhythms of early Crass or Flux Of Pink Indians on any of the eight tracks here. Sonically the territory the occupy is somewhere between the gothed-out territory marked out by The Cure and Siouxsie, and the more mournful but recognisably punk tones of The Mob (in fact, they even cover that band’s Mirror Breaks and firmly put their own stamp on it).
This screams early 1980s - a time presided over by right-wing politicians, with the shadows of recession and poverty hanging ominously over proceedings… hey, that sounds familiar… Unsurprisingly for a bunch of anarchists, ACOK are about far more than the mere sound of the music. They rail against the state of the world - and sure, these songs are from 2017, but it can’t have escaped your notice that things ain’t improved too much. That’s why we need soundtracks like this, helping us make sense of the mess we’re inhabiting thanks to the shitbags in power. If that sounds simplistic, their worldview is most assuredly not. For now though, it’s clear what we have to do: ENGAGE, for fuck’s sake.
And that starts right here, with a record that’s dark, entrancing, exhilarating and… ah hey, I’m going there: IMPORTANT. Press play and thrill forever. Anyone who doesn’t is a fucking cop.