Justice
1980 · Rough Trade ROUGH 9 · Bristol, UK: England
- Artist
- The Pop Group
- Title
- Justice
- Release
- For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?
- Year
- 1980
- Label
- Rough Trade # ROUGH 9
- Format
- LP · Album
- Country
- Bristol, UK: England
- Genre
- Punk · Post-Punk · Art Punk
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation — Punk Songs
Post-Punk & Art Punk album from The Pop Group, formed 1978 in Bristol, UK, featuring Mark Stewart (vocals), Gareth Sager (guitar, saxophone), Bruce Smith (drums, percussion), John Waddington (guitar, 1978-81), Simon Underwood (bass, 1978-80), and Dan Catsis (bass, 1980-present). This album contained a couple anti-war songs referencing the Vietnam War. The first song "How Much Longer" (Rough Trade Records # ROUGH 9), criticised apathy towards war: "what's pathetic is our apathy", wondering why "we tolerate mass murder". The lyrics looked at the economics of war, noting "hell of a lot of money to be made from wars". Direclty-related to Vietnam, the song called the US incursion into Cambodia in 1970 a war crime: "Nixon and Kissinger should be tried for war crimes for the secret bombing of Cambodia" - of course a reference to President Richard Nixon and his National Security Adviser / Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the time of the incursion. The song "Justice" was about civil disobedience, and police violence, referencing the death of Kevin Gately in the Red Lion Square disorders, the death of Clement Blair Peach at an anti-racism demonstration in Southall, UK, the death of Jim…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Post-Punk and Art Punk group, formed in 1978 in Bristol, England, UK, disbanded in 1981 and reformed in 2010; members included Mark Stewart (vocals), Gareth Sager (guitar, saxophone), John Waddington (guitar), Simon Underwood (bass), Dan Catsis (bass) and Bruce Smith (drums, percussion).
Themes
Draft · Ireland Troubles · Police Brutality · Vietnam Analogy