Review of Anarcho-Punk by David Insurrection
~ Phil ~
Having a place, a venue, a local or social centre, somewhere you and yours can feel at home and surrounded by kindred spirits is a powerful thing. Where you can work, inspire, create or kick back, chat or meditate, a place to host events and fundraisers … a solid base, foundation or safes pace can be vital to maintaining a community. It’s not something easy to achieve in a period of history where many people either exist online or are spread out geographically away from hubs of social activity.
So it’s incredibly useful to know what can be done and it’s nice to know how people have achieved, tried and even failed to create communities in the past. In the 1970s and 1980s in Britain there was a new form of activism that branched off from musical culture, i.e. from punk, that looked for an authenticity beyond the punk posture.
Along with it came an interest in anarchism and new, social ways of living with each other and our environment. It’s an important and often obscured part of our social history.
It’s without doubt that if we don’t record our own history we lose a lot. We lose our culture and we lose the ability to point out that it has been done, can be done and can continue to be done. Making such a record, from the experiences of people who have engaged in cultural creativity and resistance, is vital.
Having this knowledge can give us inspiration, energy, and resilience. It gives us the stability of experience and can allow us to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
And so we come to this magnificent work. In this 200+ page history, David sets his sights on and brings to life, with stories and photos, punk subculture. Looking back at significant locations and key events during the late 1970s and ’80s, this book records and documents, in his words: “the story of an oft overlooked scene” that “inspired a generation of activists, artists and musicians to take up the fight for a better world”. It talks about the people, bands, iconic venues and buildings – voicing the experiences of those who used and maintained them.
After a foreword by Tony Dayton of fanzine Ripped & Torn (and also Kill Your Puppy) proclaiming that Crass were what was missing in the squat punk scene (and then explaining how punks through to Adam Ant were transformed after seeing Crass play) certainly helps set the scene for the rest of the book.
I enjoyed how it starts, immediately establishing a connection between punk and the anarchism of the time. Anti-fascist activism is also a constant theme throughout the book.
“Bands, zines, labels and self managed autonomous spaces became the frequency of this new scene” he explains, saying his “hope is to give people a flavour of the times and people”, with his research serving both as historical document and guide.
There’s a lot of history that I hadn’t read before around such locations as the Wapping Autonomy Center and Centro Iberico, plus stories of Black Flag and Spanish anarchists in London. All fascinating information you won’t find very easily elsewhere.
There are a lot of interesting and anecdotal stories around different venues and different bands. There’s discussion of the Monday Group and an interview with Martin Wright, which makes for a great read.
It’s also a nice touch that the stories aren’t nostalgic rose-tinted memories. It wasn’t all perfect, not everyone got on, not everyone understood everyone else. That’s besides having to deal with real fascist violence at concerts. And the Hackney Hell Crew of course.
There’s stories of personal problems and one interesting anecdote about someone who had left a squat, only to return and find all the squat mates wearing their clothes.
I personally like a lot of the music of the period and the book paints an interesting picture of the lives and experiences of bands which made up the anarcho-punk scene. The first mention of a band is of course Crass, but we also get Poison Girls, Icons of Filth, Omega Tribe, Conflict, Chumbawamba and lots more. To their credit a number of the bands of that period can still be found playing the occasional gig today.
Many of the venues in the book no longer exist, many of the buildings are demolished.
The memories live on, however, and while places like the 121 in Brixton were taken forcibly by the state, others survive. There’s a nice section talking about the history of Freedom for example, which is still going strong. We all share this history and should own it.
We have a tradition of social spaces, music, collectives, publications and a culture that we continue to build and learn upon, that we continue to maintain. And should learn to celebrate this, because it is the culture and history we ourselves create. And because we remember our people and our power, our culture is not empty.
David Insurrection. 2024. Anarcho-Punk: Music and Resistance in London 1977-1988. Earth Island Books. ISBN 9781916864443.
This article first appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of Freedom Journal
