Instant Agony are one of Merseyside's longest running punk bands who are celebrating 25 years together this year. This 3 track 7" single originally released in 2003 on Punk Core Records is full of the quality we have come to expect from 'Agony'.
The A side of the single is 'Not My Religion' and the B side has 2 songs 'Misfit' and 'Ripped Off'. In the days before CDs when vinyl was king I remember most bands put a pretty crap song on the B side, this is definitely not the case with this single. All 3 songs are excellent and all have that raw guitar sound that 'Agony' have made their own together with furious paced drumming and Hockey's instantly recogniseable vocals. For me the A side is definitely my favourite and it always goes down well at gigs with its singalong chorus.

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This is the first book i've reviewed for punk4life. I have read most of the publications about the punk scene in the '70s and to compile a book which contains every UK or Irish punk or new wave band that released a record in 1977 takes some doing.
'77 THE YEAR of PUNK & NEW WAVE' by Henrik Bech Poulsen is probably the most comprehensive of all the books out there on the subject. Although quite a lot of what is written in this book can be found in other similar publications, the good thing with this book is it has everything all here in one place instead of having to grab bits from all the other books out there. It also goes into a lot more detail. I have got to admit some of the bands that are listed in the book were never punk or new wave in my book, Ultravox being just one, but there are over 200 UK and Irish bands listed that are. Every band listed has a detailed biography and nearly all have band photos and other nostalgic related pictures. I wasn't too sure about this book at first but now that i've read it cover to cover I thought it was a pretty good read and excellent for reference purposes. The book is a very limited edition hardback edition. Whether punks will pay the £17.49 it costs is another matter.

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This is the first CD to be released on the Noize Anoize/Fungal Punk label and it has set a very good standard that will be hard to follow. There are plenty of Oi bands about but how many can you name that have appeared in the last few years? Oi is a very exclusive club that is very hard to join but Churchill have not only joined this club, they have got VIP membership.
'No One Likes Us' is a 5 track EP that is as good as anything that the established Oi bands have to offer. This is in yer face Oi at it's best with that traditional sound and quality lyrics and music. Of the 5 tracks on the CD it was hard to pick a favourite but I thought 'Streets Of Fear' and 'Boys In Blue' just edged it. The other tracks 'No One Likes Us', 'Bent Copper' and 'What Went wrong?' aren't far behind. This is one of the best CDs i've heard this year and i've heard a lot. There are only 3 words I can think of to describe this CD, quality, quality and quality.

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