Radiation Reissues Rock & Indie 168 Items

Formed in the northern English market town of Stoke on Trent in 1981, likeable street punk/Oi! trio Section 5 built a reputation through their solid live gigs, bagging a contract with Roddy Moreno’s Oi! Records for debut album We Won’t Change in 1985. This expanded edition of that top-notch LP includes five bonus demos recorded when the group was a four-piece, with Dave ‘Mask’ Maskery on lead vocals, before his departure led founding member/guitarist Tosh to tackle the front-man duties. A prime Oi! listening experience!

Released in 1983 on London's Legendary Mortarhate label, Conflict's debut broke all rules in punk rock, setting new standards and storming independent charts, reaching and retaining position number 1 for several weeks. Formed in 1981 and led by vocalist Colin Jerwood, who would remain one of the group's few constants throughout its 30 years of existence, and fueled by hatred for the media, the military and the general status quo of late century Thatcher's England, Conflict has been a stainless model for three generation of peace punkers, activists and anarchists from all over the world.

Moody Oxford post-punk quintet Exit 13 became Aerial FX at the dawning of the 1980s, the promise of their minimal sound, with its prominent synthesizers, yielding a publishing deal with Island Records and an early single released by the label. Debut album Watching The Dance has shades of dark synth pop and Goth, with future Radiohead manager/producer Chris Hufford firmly in the spotlight throughout. The influence of acts like Van Der Graaf Generator, Modern Eon and others lurk beneath this hidden Cold Wave gem.

Following the differences that saw the original group implode on the road in 1989, Cryptic Slaughter’s guitarist Les Evans moved to Portland, Oregon, where he formed a new band with former Wehrmarkt and Sweaty Nipples drummer Brian Lehfeldt, plus bassist Bret Davis and vocalist Dave Hollingsworth, both formerly in local hardcore band Crud. Now metal was much more prominent and hardcore on the wane, but there are still signature tempo changes, here within longer, more complex song structures, prefacing the industrial and post-thrash crossover acts to follow. An enduring swansong for all lovers of these metalcore innovators.

Often claimed as the most important Punk album of all time, this was the first full length by UK Hardcore prime movers Discharge and rightly considered the manifesto for what would be later defined as ‘d-beat’. Originally released on the Clay record label in 1982, this masterpiece gave inspiration to literally hundreds in the extreme metal and hardcore punk areas for the subsequent four decades and its legacy remains invaluable to this day.

Bristol punk quintet the Cortinas began as an R&B covers band, but soon sped up their repertoire when punk arrived, making them local pioneers. A slot supporting the Stranglers at the Roxy brought them onto Miles Copeland and Mark Perry’s Step Forward label and they later signed to CBS before imploding, guitarist Nick Sheppard then joining the Clash and drummer Daniel Swann San Francisco’s the Sneeches. This ace compilation gathers the best of their early work, including the immortal debut ‘Fascist Dictator’/‘Defiant Pose,’ as well as ‘TV Personalities,’ both in the studio and live. Another crucial piece of the Bristol puzzle!

Formed in Lewisham, southeast London, punk band the Business joined the Oi! scene after supporting the Four Skins in 198l. Debut single ‘Harry May’ hit the Indie charts before the group disintegrated, leading frontman Micky Fitz to recruit new members. Then, in 1987, original guitarist Nick Kent joined Fitz for heavy metal side project UK, with former Tank drummer Mark Brabbs, channelling their love of Ac/dc, Motorhead and Rose Tattoo. As Kent goes all-out with the hard rock solos and Fitz aims for the melodic, this is a great slice of the new wave of British heavy metal, and a startling surprise for all Business fans!

During the late 1970s, after No Wave pioneer Lydia Lunch met saxophonist James Chance, she began setting her angry and disjointed poetry to anti-music, founding her ground-breaking band Teenage Jesus and The Jerks with Lunch’s shouted lyrics matched by her non-conventional use of electric guitar. The group’s self-titled debut EP is a fast and furious affair, produced by Robert Quine of the Voidoids/Lou Reed, with future Nick Cave drummer Jim Sclavunos on bass and Bradley Field on minimalist percussion; steeped in aggression and audacity, it’s an awesome disc that rebuffs punk’s easy cliches and refuses to be categorized. This reissue also includes the ‘Pre’ EP and the tracks from the legendary No New York compilation. Essential!

"Why?" is the debut album by hardcore punk legends Discharge, originally released in 1981. Upon it's initial release it peaked at Number 1 in the UK indie album chart. When it comes to classic hardcore punk, Discharge are truly one of the all-time greats.

Innovative East LA Chicano punk rockers THE Brat formed in l978 when lead guitarist Rudy Medina and his guitarist nephew Sidney met singer-songwriter Teresa Covarrubias. Together they began penning songs that addressed social inequalities while fusing hardcore sounds with reggae undercurrents and a hint of girl group pop. A gig at the Vex in l98O put them in the orbit of Los Illegals and The Plugz, whose frontman Tito Larriva produced their debut EP Attitudes, making it the first release on his own Fatima Recordz label. A killer set from start to finish, this fully authorized limited edition remastered reissue comes with rare bonus tracks and a printed inner sleeve. Essential!

Visionary No Wave legend Teenage Jesus and The Jerks created a confrontational sound, with a shifting line-up as a platform for Lydia Lunch’s shouted vocal shocks, accompanied by her jagged guitar noise, non-melodic bass, and minimalist drums. This must-have live anthology is culled from six performances undertaken during their heyday, these atonal, in-your-face blasts somehow even more caustic than their studio work, rendering an aural assault not for the fainthearted. Benefitting from the presence of James Chance on select numbers, this uncompromising collection of staccato eruptions will get right up your nose – a must for all Jerks fans.

77-Early Years-79 is a compilation of the band's first four singles, all originally issued on Step Forward Records, and was first released as an LP in 1981. One album track ("Dice Man" from Dragnet) is also included, and a CD reissue in 2000 adds two tracks from the various artists compilation Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Ballroom, from the same time. 2002's Early Singles drops "Dice Man" and adds three singles recorded for Kamera Records in 1981 and 1982, with their B-sides. In 2003, tracks from the Step Forward singles and two albums recorded for the label were selected for It's the New Thing! - The Step Forward Years. The first of multiple Fall compilation albums and certainly one of the most valuable.

Founded by its only constant member, Mark E. Smith, The Fall formed in Manchester in 1976 and were one of the most prominent post-punk groups in the world. Musically, there may have been several stylistic changes over the years, but it was often characterised by an abrasive guitar-driven sound and frequent use of repetition, always underpinned by Smith's distinctive vocals and often cryptic lyrics. “Dragnet” is the second studio album – released 26th October 1979. Originally released through record label Step-Forward, it predicated 2 major factors in the group’s career – high productivity and high group turnover. The album has historically garnered excellent reviews, including 4/5 in Mojo, 8.7/10 on Pitchfork and 4/5 in Q Magazine. Featuring the one and only Mark E. Smith alongside Steve Hanley (bass), Marc Riley (guitar), Craig Scanlon (guitar), Mike Leigh (drums), Kay Carroll (backing vocals) and Yvonne Pawlett (keyboards).

Live at the Witch Trials was the debut studio album by The Fall. It was released in March 1979, through record label Step-Forward. Despite it's title, it is not a live album. The album was recorded at Camden Sound Suite on 15 December 1978 and mixed by producer Bob Sargeant the next day. The group had been booked into the studio for a week but Mark E. Smith had fallen ill, leading to the cancellation of the first three days. Some songs dated from earlier incarnations of the group with both Tony Friel and Una Baines featuring on the writing credits.

Legendary Belfast punk band The Outcasts formed in 1977, playing a mix of originals and covers. After signing with local punk label Good Vibrations for the “Just Another Teenage Rebel” single, their popularity was boosted by airplay via John Peel, paving the way for their debut LP, Self Conscious Over You. Full of teenage angst and romantic fixations, there’s a nod to social issues on The Cops Are Comin’, but the album mostly deals with the agonies and ecstasies of teenage life. Capturing the band at their rawest and most unfiltered, there are jagged edges galore and hints of greater glories—worth revisiting for all fans of Belfast punk.

Pioneering LA punk band Legal Weapon was formed in 1980 from the ashes of the Silencers, which Steve Reiner formed with guitarist Brian Hansen and vocalist Kat Arthur. By the time of this riveting 1982 debut LP, the band had Arthur, Hansen, future Adolescents/Agent Orange bassist Steve Soto, and drummer Charlie Vartanian. Just as Exene Cervenka was a primary draw in X and Penelope Houston in the Avengers, Kat Arthur is the major lure that kept this band outstanding, as Hansen and Soto vary the musical action, keeping their hardcore on the melodic side throughout. Essential listening for west coast punk fans!

The Good, The Bad & The 4-Skins' is the debut LP - originally released on Secret Records in 1982 - from East End Oi! legends The 4-Skins. Recorded with the first stable line-up after numerous changes, fronted by legendary vocalist Panther (who stepped in after the original singer Gary Hodges' defection), this is violent, political, and as real as Oi! gets, this is one of the absolute classic LPs of the genre. Featuring studio recordings on Side A and amped up live versions of such OI! classics as 'A.C.A.B' or 'Chaos' on Side B.

Adventurous southern California punk trio Agent Orange was the first band to mix surf rock with punk. The group was formed in1l979 in Placentia, a small town close to Fullerton and Anaheim, by frontman Mike Palm on guitar and lead vocals, Steve Soto on bass and Scott Miller on drums. That early line up recorded the classic version of "Bloodstains" in 1979 as a demo produced by Daniel R. van Patten (of the group Berlin). A year later it was included on the seminal Rodney On The Roq compilation album released by Posh Boy Records. Meanwhile James Levesque had replaced Steve Soto (Adolescents) and the new line up released their own self produced and self released 7" ep in 1980. A year later, the group signed with Robbie Fields' Posh Boy Records for their debut LP Living In Darkness, co-produced by Fields and former Simpletones guitarist Jay Lansford. The album was recorded at Brian Elliott’s store front studio in North Hollywood (a few years before Elliott struck gold writing Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach”). A milestone in California Punk Rock history. Limited to 800 handnumbered copies RSD 2020 edition, on Purple Vinyl with 5 bonus tracks, with double sided lyric insert!

Plasmatics were founded in 1977 when Wendy O. Williams responded to manager, artist, provocateur, and punk rock scenester Rod Swenson’s casting call in the pages of Show Business Weekly for his theater show, Captain Kink's Sex Fantasy Theater. By 1978 they had recruited a full band and were performing regularly at CBGB’s, where they quickly rose from playing once a week to performing two sold out shows a night during regular four night a week runs. Their provocative and wild live show - which often involved nudity and chain-sawed guitars – bridged the gap between punk rock and performance art. They quickly became notorious up and down the east coast and were signed to the legendary Stiff Records, who released their debut album in 1980. A perfect blend of punk, new wave, and metal sensibilities, with Wendy’s tough, guttural drawl taking center stage, New Hope for the Wretched is a classic piece of first wave New York City punk rock lovingly back in print on LP from Radiation Reissues.

Danish psychobilly trio Nekromantix formed in Copenhagen in 1989, melding heavy metal and some Goth underpinnings in their style. After a well-received debut via Tombstone, the band reached greater heights with Curse Of The Coffin for Nervous Records, perceptively produced by Micky Mutant of Meteors fame. With frontman Kim Gaarde playing a coffin-shaped bass, Pete Sandorff shredding speed-metal riffs on his guitar and drummer Peek never letting the pace drop below feverish, Curse Of The Coffin is a wild ride that redefined the psychobilly genre, making Nekromantix leading lights of the second wave. A true killer!

Formed in London in 1977 by Mark Perry and Alex Fergusson, then editors of the punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue, Alternative TV was a post-punk group known for incorporating reggae rhythms and pushing the boundaries of the definition of punk toward the experimental and avant-garde. Their first album, The Image Has Cracked, came out originally in 1978 and is a wholly unique piece of British post-punk. Beloved by John Peel, and close confidantes of Throbbing Gristle, Alternative TV is one of the most original and beguiling groups of the era.

Long-awaited reissue of the 1985 album of the most iconical of all the Uk82 bands, The Exploited. Originally out on the small belgian Konexion label in Europe and the legendary Combat Records for the overseas market, ‘Horror Epics’ reached no. 17 in the UK indie chart Top 20, and is still considered an absolute classic of the genre. This superb deluxe reissue, exclusively licensed by Wattie Buchan himself, also features 2 bonus tracks from the original cassette version.

Full ‘UK-82’-styled live action from The Exploited. Recorded at the peak of their power between 1981 and 1985 in Leeds, Glasgow, Hamburg, Liubliana, and New York City. New, revised artwork featuring an exclusive photo by Alison Braun. Original liner notes by Gary Fielding. Limited color vinyl edition.

After the chart-topping debut City Baby Attacked By Rats, Birmingham ‘uk82’ punk pioneers Charged G.B.H. cut City Baby’s Revenge, their second release for Clay Records, and even though a mere year had passed, City Baby’s Revenge showed significant progression, Jock’s guitar more obviously inspired by metal, the lyrics more explicit and the sound even rawer than before. With a cool take of the Stooges’ ‘I Feel Alright’ and the reggae/rockabilly-esque ‘Skanga,’ this acclaimed winner is the LP that broke the band in the USA and is arguably the best they ever recorded required listening for the band’s devotees and all fans of metal-edged hardcore.

At its purest, there is little that can match the visceral thrill and empowering spirit of hardcore. As front-man of New York City hardcore kings Cro-Mags, this is something John Joseph knows very well, and with Up In Arms, he and his Bloodclot compatriots deliver a furious collection that hits hard on every level. "In this band we're doing what each of us have always done: give it our all," he states plainly. "We work hard, and we have a lot to say. Look around the planet - people are fed up with the corrupt ruling class. They destroy the planet and kill millions for profit, and the formula for our response is simple: Anger + applied knowledge = results. Don't just bitch. Change it." The results reflect the roots and passions of the individual members. Danzig/Murphy's Law guitarist Todd Youth was the first piece of the puzzle. "We've always talked about doing this record together, Todd had songs written and I had notebooks full of lyrics. In late September 2015, I went out to LA to do a triathlon and injured my calf muscle, so I couldn't race, and Todd said he could get some studio time. So, we went in and cut the demo. While there are things we may perceive as a negative in our lives, in fact the universe has a bigger plan, and that experience ultimately resulted in the record." Having been friends with Queens Of The Stone Age and Danzig powerhouse drummer Joey Castillo for three decades, the two musicians had long admired each other's work, and their collaboration has been a long time coming. Following Castillo's suggestion of bringing in Nick Oliveri (Queens Of The Stone Age/The Dwarves) to handle bass duties, the lineup was complete. The songs that comprise Up In Arms manifested after the quartet plugged in and let the music speak for them. "We didn't decide to try to play anything, these are the songs that happened when we started jamming, and I love this band because there are no egos involved. Our goal is to make the best music possible, period. I love it when those guys contribute with melodies, etc., and I've even helped with some of the arrangements. Because we all think alike, our lyrics deal with the issues of the day, and that makes for better songs." Every track on Up In Arms lives up to the rallying cry of the album's title - the bursts of high energy hardcore act as the perfect accompaniment to Joseph setting his sights on injustice and the seemingly endless flaws of the contemporary world. The breakneck thrashing of "Slow Kill Genocide" is an anthem for everyone sickened by those responsible for "killing the planet and all its inhabitants through industry and war. They're fucking maniacs and must be stopped." The suitably titled "Manic" attacks with bared fangs, Joseph making it clear that you can only push someone so far before they will react with violence - a call to arms for the disenfranchised who want tomorrow's world to be better than today's. Tracked at NRG in Los Angeles, the raw, old-school production that leaps out from the speaker comes courtesy of producer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Revocation), and the record was mixed by Kyle McAulay at NRG. From the moment the opening title track explodes to life, it's clear that everyone involved is having a blast and playing from the heart, and that this is no frills / no bullshit music at its most passionate - every song evoking mental images of utter chaos in a heaving mosh pit. For anyone approaching the album for the first time, Joseph has only this to say: "Turn the volume way the fuck up!" And with plans to tour everywhere, Bloodclot will be getting in a lot of faces in 2017 and beyond. "We are already writing material and the next album is in the works. But, for now, all we want is to hit the stage to support 'Up in Arms', and every single night leave every ounce of ourselves up there."

"Back to Mystery City" by Hanoi Rocks channels the grit and glamour of the urban underground, intertwining sleazy rock riffs with poetic lyricism. It's a sonic journey through the shadows of city streets, showcasing the band's distinct fusion of punk attitude and rock 'n' roll swagger.

Hanoi Rocks' "Oriental Beat" pulsates with a unique blend of glam rock and punk energy, capturing the band's rebellious spirit against the backdrop of 1980s Helsinki. With catchy hooks and raw intensity, it solidifies their status as pioneers of the Finnish rock scene.

Legendary punk trio the Dils formed in San Diego in southern California and when they moved to San Francisco, bassist Tony Kinman found himself living with the Avengers, but once they hit Los Angeles in 1977 they began recording frantic singles for fledgling independents such as What? Records, Dangerhouse and Rogelleti for more melodic, country-influenced songs, pointing to their further reincarnation as Rank & File. Ace compilation Dils Dils Dils gathers early studio work and live recordings, this edition featuring two bonus tracks, recorded in LA in 1979. Crucial listening for all Dils fans!