Crass

This article is about the band. For the definition of "crass", see wikt:crass. For the people named Crass, see Crass (surname).

Crass
Crass on stage in Cumbria in May 1984, with the slogan "there is no authority but yourself" in the background. From left to right: Pete Wright, Steve Ignorant, and N.A. Palmer.
Crass on stage in Cumbria in May 1984, with the slogan "there is no authority but yourself" in the background. From left to right: Pete Wright, Steve Ignorant, and N.A. Palmer.
Background information
Also known asStormtrooper (1977)
OriginEpping, Essex, England
Genres
Years active1977–1984
Labels
Past members

Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977[1] who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, advocating direct action, animal rights, feminism, anti-fascism and environmentalism. The band employed and advocated a DIY ethic in its albums, sound collages, leaflets and films.

Crass spray-painted stencilled graffiti messages in the London Underground system and on advertising billboards, coordinated squats and organised political action. The band expressed its ideals by dressing in black, military-surplus-style clothing and using a stage backdrop amalgamating icons of perceived authority such as the Christian cross, the swastika, the Union Jack and the ouroboros.

The band was critical of the punk subculture[2] and youth culture in general; nevertheless, the anarchist ideas that they promoted have maintained a presence in punk.[3] Because of their free experimentation and use of tape collages, graphics, spoken word releases, poetry and improvisation, Crass have been associated with avant-punk[4][5][6] and art punk.[7]

  1. ^ "In August 1977 Dave King went (...) As Dave exits stage left, Steve Ignorant returns to Dial House and (...) Crass was born." Berger, George (2006). The Story of Crass. Omnibus Press. p. 76.
  2. ^ Rimbaud, Penny (2004). Love Songs. Pomona Publishing. p. xxiv. ISBN 1-904590-03-9. We believed that you could no more be a socialist [band] and signed to CBS (The Clash) than you could be an anarchist and signed to EMI
  3. ^ Anarchist Punk genre at AllMusic
  4. ^ Graham, Josh (3 December 2010). "Crass, the Anarcho-Punk Fountainhead, Is Coming to S.F. in March -- Sort Of". Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Reading And Rioting: A Louder Than Words Walk Through". The Quietus. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  6. ^ Gonsales, Erica (25 May 2011). "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: Anthony McCall's Enchanting Film Installations". Creators.vice.com. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  7. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (28 September 2007). "Jeffrey Lewis, 12 Crass Songs". The Guardian. London.