{"title":"Vice Squad","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVice Squad is a punk band formed in 1978 in Bristol, England. With their raw and energetic sound, they quickly gained a reputation as one of the pioneering bands of the UK punk scene. Led by vocalist Beki Bondage, Vice Squad's powerful lyrics and catchy melodies have captivated audiences for over four decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKnown for their rebellious spirit and unapologetic attitude, Vice Squad has released numerous albums that have become classics in the punk genre. Their music addresses social issues and challenges societal norms with an authentic and honest approach.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhether you're a long-time fan or new to their music, Vice Squad's electrifying live performances are not to be missed. They continue to tour internationally, bringing their high-energy shows to fans around the world. Experience the passion and intensity of Vice Squad's music for yourself - it's an unforgettable journey into the heart of punk rock.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-riot-city-years","title":"The Riot City Years","description":"\u003cp\u003eBristol's own Vice Squad were one of the earliest UK punk groups with a female lead vocalist. Beki Bondage was a heartthrob to any British lad of a certain age and her dynamic stage presence and vocal prowess made Vice Squad one of the most popular acts of the second wave of British punk. This killer collection features all the Riot City singles plus BBC sessions and demos as well as the classic Sex Aids single (member of Vice Squad and Chaotic Dischord without Beki Bondage). Another essential UK punk compilation from one of the greatest singles bands of the early 80s scene.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Radiation","offers":[{"title":"Yellow LP","offer_id":50416997794123,"sku":"1150518","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50416997269835,"sku":"1020616","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/c8f8ee52-0260-4deb-9384-39bc4b162dd8_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726713860"},{"product_id":"battle-of-britain","title":"Battle of Britain","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe first rule of Punk is there are no rules and Vice Squad ably illustrate this with \u003ci\u003eBattle of Britain\u003c\/i\u003e. Written, Recorded and Mixed by Beki Bond and Paul Rooney in their home studio.The 13 track album opens with the blistering \u003ci\u003eRuination\u003c\/i\u003e which cuts through the bullshit of small time promoters and blaggers with consummate swagger and melody while\u003ci\u003e I Dare To Breathe\u003c\/i\u003e is an amphetamine driven anthem to paranoia. \u003ci\u003eWhen You Were 17\u003c\/i\u003e is almost-tender and tells of first tattoos and under age booze whilst the more chilling \u003ci\u003eIgnored To Death\u003c\/i\u003e rails against isolation and homelessness. The explosive \u003ci\u003eBorn In A War\u003c\/i\u003e rages along like a missile ravaging a third world country and warns See how they treat refugees? That’s how they’ll treat you and me’. \u003ci\u003eElgar’s‘Nimrod\u003c\/i\u003e reworked with a pulsating industrial bass segues into title track, \u003ci\u003eBattle Of Britain\u003c\/i\u003e where Beki's vocals soar like a Spitfire over the crunching de-tuned riff and spit fury over the hypocrisy of putting war memorials before people.The dystopian \u003ci\u003ePoverty Face \u003c\/i\u003ehits you with the opening line ‘Disinheriting the meek, slyly killing off the weak’ and is counter balanced bythe more upbeat \u003ci\u003eHow The Other Half Lives. No Evil\u003c\/i\u003e is a relentless attack on the normalisation of the suffering and death of billions of animals for the meat industry. \u003ci\u003eBattle of Britain's\u003c\/i\u003e hard hitting collection of anger and riffage pulls no punches in covering topics from austerity and factory farming to the pernicious influence of the Mainstream Media -‘Led by lies lambs to the slaughter, tax exiles say who you vote for’. Brexit, fake patriotism and cognitive dissonance all get a good kicking too.The penultimate track, \u003ci\u003eYou Can’t Fool All Of The People\u003c\/i\u003e mixes baritone guitar with violin and Celtic rhythms climaxing in an epic James Bondesque heavy guitar \/ orchestral blend and breaks every rule in the Punk Police hand book whilst pleading for unity against a rigged political system. \u003ci\u003ePulling Teeth\u003c\/i\u003e with its ominous riff and hilariously frustrated lyrics ‘Dithering jibbering solid as jam, is it fair I’m both the woman and the man’ closes the album in manic style. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Last Rockers Records","offers":[{"title":"Blue | LP","offer_id":50424747819339,"sku":"1138700","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Red | LP","offer_id":50424748409163,"sku":"1138699","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50424746836299,"sku":"1101832","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/9c911908-e0eb-4386-a969-066f1f25d4cc_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726782183"},{"product_id":"last-rockers-2","title":"Last Rockers","description":"\u003cp\u003eFemale-fronted UK punk icons Vice Squad return to 7\" vinyl for the first time since 1984 on this highly collectible reissue of the band's 1980 single! Packaged in a gatefold sleeve with a bonus fold-out poster featuring lots of vintage photos!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"White 7\"","offer_id":50477689897291,"sku":"2012074","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Blue 7\"","offer_id":50477690552651,"sku":"2012076","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Red 7\"","offer_id":50477690224971,"sku":"2012075","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Screenshot_2023-02-16_at_11.30.31_9c252659_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727476641"},{"product_id":"last-rockers-resurrection","title":"Last Rockers \/ Resurrection","description":"\u003cp\u003eFormed in Bristol in 1979, Vice Squad became one of the biggest names in the second wave of punk rock. Intrinsically linked to the formation of Riot City Records, the bands first single, Last Rockers spent forty weeks in the independent charts and peaked at #7. Its follow up, the Resurrection EP, was released only a few months later and peaked at #4. Later in 1982 a tour edition 12” featuring both singles hit the charts at #24. This 12”, remastered mini album, is the first time in 40 years that both singles are available again. Released with the approval of Beki Bondage, \u003ci\u003eLast Rockers \/ Resurrection\u003c\/i\u003e is pressed on a limited edition of 200 Pink and White Marble Effect Vinyl.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rotator","offers":[{"title":"Pink LP.","offer_id":50526294081867,"sku":"2179024","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Pink LP","offer_id":50526292803915,"sku":"2166580","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a3924206184_16_2c7363dc_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728041361"},{"product_id":"punk-rockers-the-best-of-vice-squad-volume-1","title":"Punk Rockers : The Best of Vice Squad Volume 1","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"page\" title=\"Page 31\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"layoutArea\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"column\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"page\" title=\"Page 31\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"layoutArea\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"column\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'Best of' albums are invariably repackaged collections of old recordings, so Vice Squad’s ‘Punk Rockers’ is a breath of fresh air. The songs have been lovingly recorded and remastered, keeping all the original fire and adding decades of experience gained from punishing tours and continuous songwriting. Beki is the original architect of the songs and the Vice Squad name, and she is the sole surviving member of the original lineup to have continued as a full-time musician\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eVice Squad are 100% DIY and record everything in their home studio with guitarist\/riffmaster Paul Rooney engineering and mixing. There is nothing sloppy here; the whole album is concise and intelligent with lightning-speed diction, passion, and intent. The glorious ‘If I Knew What I Know Now’ and ‘The World Is Wrong’ are examples of Vice Squad’s ability to write instantly catchy, witty songs, and the more gut-wrenching material from their last album, ‘Battle of Britain’, showcases some enormous riffs and a voice that is a million decibels from Beki's untried teen vocals. The album opens with the deliciously effervescent ‘If I Knew What I Know Now’, followed by the sparkling old-school tongue-twister ‘Out of Reach’. Next up is the visceral ‘Get A Life’, an angry anti-suicide note to the desperate, originally the title track from their 1998 comeback album. This is followed by a shimmering version of Vice Squad's old-school classic ‘Resurrection’. While the treatment of the old songs remains true to the original teenage renditions, the upgraded versions pack more of a punch with detuned guitars and growling bass. The tribal tom-toms of ‘Allergy’ underpin just over two minutes of punk protest about the delights of pollution and asthma. Then comes the sublime ‘Sniffing Glue’, a near-perfect punk love song that would be a huge hit if not for its subject matter. ‘Ordinary Girl’ is punk-pop perfection brimming with hook lines and harmonies, warmly mocking the life that could have been chosen instead of the grindstone at the sharp end of the music industry. ‘The World Is Wrong’ is anthemic, joyous, and wonderfully contrary, and one would expect nothing less from a band that has soldiered on and grown through the decades. It’s always great when bands lead by example. In these increasingly tough times where our survival is threatened by the gargantuan greed of a few individuals, it's important to continuously stick two fingers up to the grabbers and spoilers. 'The World Is Wrong' does just that in an impassioned, melodic, and optimistic style. 'Hold your head up, stand your ground, and don't let the bastards grind you down.' Then we roar into the final single Beki wrote with original and now sadly deceased guitarist Dave Bateman, ‘Citizen’, and continue with another teenage opus, the quite brutal ‘Scarred For Life’. ‘Voice of the People’ is a bulldozer of a song, all swagger and ballsy riffs, and the chorus, ‘Freedom of speech is against the law; now we’re all criminals,’ snarls its derision at red-handed red tape. ‘Punk Police’ sneers over a catchy-as-COVID guitar riff, and the lyrics, ‘Regulation cut, you must measure up, down on the street, PR companies, monied families, running the scene,’ call out the hierarchies that now permeate Punk. Baritone guitars add extra darkness to one of the first-ever animal rights songs, ‘Humane’, and I’m struck by how relevant the older songs are. Chocks away, and the awesome ’Spitfire’ takes flight like Motörhead on extra amphetamines. Merlin engines fade into ‘Born In A War’, the second in the triumvirate of conflict-themed songs, an absolute stonker with huge muscular riffs and lyrics that roar pure outrage. Then comes the ominous Last Rockers, with all the angst of the original plus added depth and resonance. Beki: ' \"Last Rockers\" is a typically depressive adolescent song about nuclear war and being too young to die but too late to live. I believed Punks were the ‘Last Rockers’, the final youth cult before the Apocalypse. I was obsessed with punk, and all I wanted to do was sing in a band and be part of the movement, so I would often romanticise the idea of punk in my lyrics.' \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCD - The four bonus CD tracks kick off with ‘Coward’, another teen Bateman\/Bond composition. ‘No You Don’t’ is just over two minutes of vocal acrobatics over a Dexedrine-driven Devo-esque chord sequence, and the frantically brilliant ‘I Dare To Breathe’ from ‘Battle of Britain’ continues the aural assault. Then the final sombre entreaty of ‘You Can’t Buy Back The Dead’ warns us that ‘Enough’s never enough; absolute power will corrupt; the war machine still rumbles on’ before fading into the future.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Last Rockers Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Purple","offer_id":52028766388555,"sku":"R3620-8540","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":52028766421323,"sku":"R3620-7743","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Black \/ Red","offer_id":52028766454091,"sku":"R3620-4469","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":52028766486859,"sku":"R3620-6271","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/ViceSquad-PunkRockers.jpg?v=1749500357"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_83c3f8c9_thumbnail_4096_548ee798-0c37-4592-850d-7583e006a90b.jpg?v=1726713832","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/vice-squad.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}