Vivisect- Anarko Not Peace Punk demo tape review

Vivisect- Anarko Not Peace Punk demo tape review

I actually thought these dudes were from Britain when I first heard ‘em, prior to seeing them at the CAID in Detroit in August 2011.  The singer sounds British, the layout is classic kickass anarcho punk, and it’s on a cassette… it’s all there, so my judgment was not an ill-informed one.  In the end, I discovered that they were from Houston, Texas, and not England.  I was elated at this discovery, because that meant they might (and did!) play in Detroit.  Regardless, they spoke discernible English, and had everything a good anarcho (not peace) punk band has that succeeded.

With no doubts evoked, the band put out a hell of a “demo” (more like a full-length!); the sound quality is very good, not too rough.  Imagine Conflict, if they got even more pissed, tightened up their instruments (tuning them down a step or so, too), and were instead a three piece.  Even though band-to-band comparisons get tiring, it’s fitting here; despite not being the most original group, they put out a hell of a record, which is more than most groups can say.  In short, who gives a shit how innovative your group is, if the music flat out sucks?  Conversely, who gives a shit how generic your group is, if it’s fucking good?  Also, these guys are much more realistic about the usual left-wing political spectrum, instead approaching topics with a pragmatic view and the self-preservative perspective that non-violence doesn’t always work.  This in and of itself is enough to make them different.  It’s a crusty contradiction (fuck you, Starburst).  Without getting in-depth, suffice it to say I agree far more with the Vivisects and the Malcolm X’s of the world than the Mob’s and Martin Luther King’s of the world, and that made this already tight demo even better.  The tape begins with their mission statement/ slogan song “This ain’t peace punk, we mean war”, and jumps into six more original, blunt songs that stand up and shout, so to speak (thanks, Dio!), and concludes with the Axegrinder cover “Grind the Enemy”, and they put a far better spin on it than Axegrinder ever did.

If you’re a fan of any anarcho punk, get this demo ASAP- this is one of the better tapes/ demos of 2011.  If you’re a crusty and you’re not repping this band, you’re fucking up.  I’m just a plain, un-subdivided punk rocker, and I happily rep this band.

-Aunty Social