DISORDER — Complete Disorder EP (review)

DISORDER — Complete Disorder EP album cover

EP · 1981 · Hardcore Punk

3/5 · 2020-11-23
siLLy puPPy

The evolution of punk rock was a quickened one with bands splintering into myriad directions as quickly as the genre had usurped the throne as the UK’s most dangerous musical form around the 1976-77 timeline. While the Sex Pistols would explode onto the scene like a super nova and fizzle out just as fast, John Lydon immediately crafted the post-punk movement with his Public Image Ltd but other bands were looking towards the world of hard rock and heavy metal for inspiration. Crass seems to be the anarcho-punk band along with the D-beat of Discharge that led to the hybridization of punk sensibilities with the more aggressive musical form that featured beefier bass, faster tempos and a filthy raw guitar sound that was inspired by early extreme metal bands like Venom, Hellhammer, Motorhead and Black Sabbath.

The direct descendent of Crass was a style referred to as UK82 which was basically the second generation of hardcore punk which bands like G.B.H. and The Exploited added busier drumming styles, more guitar distortion and faster tempos that the NWOBHM were employing. Hot on the fledgling style’s heels was what would later become known as crust punk which took it all even further into metal territory years before the development of crossover thrash. While Amebix generally is attributed for developing this style, the Bristol based DISORDER may actually deserve this honor. The band’s debut COMPLETE DISORDER EP came out in 1981 a year before Amebix’s first EP “Who’s The Enemy.” While the distinctions between the UK82 and crust punk styles are fuzzy, it could at least be assumed that DISORDER was the link between the anarcho-punk of Crass and what is deemed as crust punk.

This band formed in 1980 and technically is still active. The original members were Steve Curtis (vocals), Steve Allen (guitar), Nick Peters (bass guitar), and Virus (drums), although Steve Robertson soon replaced Peters, and this line-up recorded the first two EPs including this debut COMPLETE DISORDER which came out the year later and even though a full-length wouldn’t emerge until 1984, many cite this monstrous uproar of aural assault of a mere 7 minutes and 10 seconds to be the first example of the world of crust punk and given it’s cacophonous uproar of heavy distorted guitar rage and frenetic tempos, that is certainly a valid conclusion as the set of four tracks employs an upgrade of unbridled lo-fi aggression along with its pessimistic and rebellious lyrical tirade.

Personally i would probably classify this one as existing on the UK82 side of the equation. The compositions and the lyrical deliveries much more resemble late 70s punk bands like The Damned, The Clash and Buzzcocks albeit with exaggerated features. As is the nature of punk rock music, the controversy and infighting over such minutia will remain but whatever the case, DISORDER did deliver one of the earliest aggressive examples of hardcore punk that at the very least was a form of proto-crust. As a listening experience itself DISORDER wasn’t as inventive as bands like Discharge and Amebix and relied on a standard formula that doesn’t deviate much between tracks leaving the flow of things seem a bit monotonous and repetitive. The same beat, seemingly same simple chord progressions and lack of dynamics makes this one less interesting than the development in aggressive tendencies would imply. Overall it’s a good example as a rung in the ladder of punk rock progression but not really one that has aged tremendously well.