‘Punk Is Dead’: how Crass rallied against consumerism within punk rock
Depending on who you ask, you could get a hundred different answers regarding the true meaning of punk. From being a reaction to the complacency of chart music to espousing the importance of anti-capitalism and DIY music-making, punk means different things to different people. However, the early punk scene was firmly connected to a rejection of consumerism and the business of the music industry. Almost every aspect of the music scene was based on a DIY ethos, leading to the foundations of numerous independent record labels, fanzines and grassroots venues. No band encapsulated that DIY manifesto quite as well as Crass.
Rising from an anarchist commune in Essex, Crass was first formed as a DIY band and art collective in 1977 by Penny Rimbaud and Steve Ignorant. Unsurprisingly, for a group formed within the walls of a commune, Crass operated in quite a different fashion to virtually every other punk act. Imbued with anarchist politics and a strict moral compass, they operated as one of the most furious voices in all of punk music.
Although it was groups like Sex Pistols and The Damned that brought punk into the mainstream consciousness of the UK, ultimately they were little more than standard pop groups. The Sex Pistols were manufactured, brought together by a clothes salesman based entirely upon looks – and yet they became the poster boys of punk. In contrast, Crass encapsulated everything that punk should have been: radical, revolutionary and, above all else, anti-capitalist.
So, while their contemporaries were quickly signed up by major labels like CBS or EMI, giving in to the musical establishment which they sought to tear down, Crass remained on independent labels, operating by their own principles. In addition to releasing their own records and putting on their own gigs, Crass were also passionate about teaching their audience the importance of non-conformity, pacifism and anarchy. Virtually every Crass track contains a strong political message, denouncing authority and calling for class unity.
In their 1978 track ‘Punk is Dead’, Crass rallied against the consumerism that had, by that point, engulfed the punk revolution. What had started as an anti-capitalist revolution had become a meaningless fashion by 1978, hijacked, repackaged and sold by the corporate machine. Of course, many groups chose to ignore that fact so as not to damage their favour with record companies. However, Crass were not afraid to lament the corporate attitudes of punk, affirming, “It’s just another cheap product for the consumer’s head,” and taking aim at some of their contemporaries, “CBS promote The Clash, but it ain’t for revolution, it’s just for cash.”
Unsurprisingly, these outspoken attitudes did not endear Crass to their fellow musicians – leading to them being banned from the legendary Roxy Club – they were never deterred from their fight against consumerism. Even after the initial punk boom had died down, giving way to the excessive positivity of 1980s pop, Crass continued to preach the importance of anarchist politics. In 1984, the band members wrote a pamphlet to hand out at gigs titled You’re Already Dead, which essentially acted as a manifesto for the group. “Punk has become derivative, escapist and generally BORING,” they write, “We don’t want rock stars. We don’t want glossy photos of our favourite hero. WE WANT LIFE AND WON’T SETTLE FOR ANYTHING LESS.”
Whether or not punk is actually dead is up for interpretation. The likelihood is that Crass intended that title to be shocking and somewhat hyperbolic because the fact is that, as long as outfits like Crass continue to thrive and as long as people keep listening to records like The Feeding of the 5000, then the true anti-consumerist spirit of punk will never die. As the band wrote within their pamphlet, “There is life beyond consumerism, beyond product, and beyond the plastic.”
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