Hornsey At War & D.I.Y. Punk
The View From War Torn Hornsey.
D.I.Y. Punk at it's best and I didn't even know there had been a War in Hornsey!
The E.P. was released in 1979 on the War Record Label. I am just guessing that this might have been self-financed as it is the only release on this record label.
Track Listing:
- A1 - Hornsey At War
- A2 - U.C. 2 Much 4 Me
- A3 - Anti Ego
- AA1 - Dirt In My Eye
- AA2 - No Roots
The Band Were:
- Craig Harrington - Vocals
- Bass – Brian O'Flaherty
- Drums – Bill Vine
- Guitars – Colin Gibbs, Dave O'Flaherty
It is, after all D.I.Y. so you really can't expect too much out if it, it fits in with the punk and post punk ethos at the time which kind of meant anyone could have a go, you didn't have to sound polished, the production and sound could be crap, but hey! wasn't that what it was all about. I was researching and to be honest there isn't much I can find out about them, I guess they were formed in Hornsey in North London though?
Have a look the article in The Guardian Newspaper about D.I.Y. punk it even features a band from my hometown and also on this website called Grinder and their single Wickford's So Boring.
So, I did a little more looking around and I can see from the website sceneroller.com Hornsey At War did at least one gig as support for slightly more anarcho-punk style acts, Conflict and No Class at Sherard Hall (Eltham) in November 1981. The gig evidently attended by Steve Ignorant originally of the Essex/East London anarcho-punk band Crass who also helped out with the band Conflict who were actually from Eltham and by about 1984 he had joined the band.
Anyway have a listen to Anarcho-Punk band Conflict with their first E.P. 'The House That Man Built' released on the Crass Record Label. Bit of a difference in style I guess.
The Track Listing:
- Conflict
- I've Had Enough
- War Games
- Blind Attack
The third track sounds almost completely at odds with the other tacks with some good guitar picking that I wouldn't have expected to hear from this band, nonetheless a really good track.
Info Sources
Discogs.com
Some more info on them at:
nuzzprowlinwolf.blogspot.com
Video Thanks
Photo Thanks
Photo by Ahmed Adel on Unsplash