All signs say that 2003 will see the takeover by the Lower Class Brats, well that is if things go these street punk heroes’ way. Already lined up for the rest of the year is a summer US tour – including dates on the “Sex, Brats, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Tour” with fellow labelmates Cheap Sex - and the release of two records later this year, both on punk powerhouse label Punk Core. So, grab your bowlers, an old glass of moloko-plus, and a copy of “A Clockwork Orange” (preferably the book version), and get ready for the snottiest, rabid malchicks around to take care of your punk fix, o’ my brothers…All right, I’ll quit it with the droog-speak and leave that to the almighty Brats.
Since LCB’s inception in early 1995 in Austin, Texas, when the band’s line-up consisted of vocalist Bones Delarge, guitarist Marty Volume, drummer Rob Brat, and bassist Rick Brat, which appeared on the first two LPs, there have been a few changes. But the band seems to be rather confident about the newest incarnation, proclaiming, “More bloodshed will surely flow with the [addition] of the latest greatest droogs, Mike Brat [drums] and EVO [bass], brought in by our humble founders Marty Volume and Bones Delarge, to fall in among the ranks of the LCB Army.”
So, with a solid roster in place, LCB is ready to run riot with two new records. The first, compiling all of their 7” tracks, will come out in August and is called “The Complete Clockwork Singles Collection” and sounds like a good bet for those diehards who want everything the band has ever released on a single or for the uninitiated who want to check out their back catalogue. “Then,” according to the band, “in late September, you’ll see ‘A Class of Our Own’ deliver the second punch to your starry gullivers.”
They don’t give too much detail about this upcoming record, their third full-length to date, but be sure it will be feral. “Album number three sounds like it did back in the days when you could get killed for listening to this punk puke. It’s got redeeming qualities that puts it next to late ‘70’s shit.” Right, then. Well, no matter, odds are that we can expect to see a couple of tracks in homage of “A Clockwork Orange,” as was evident on their debut 1997’s “Rather Be Hated Than Ignored” with songs like “Ultra-Violence” and the unparalleled “Clockwork Fuse” and the wonderful “Chaos, Riot and Ruin” off their sophomore effort, 2000’s “The Plot Sickens.” Well, in 2002 we did get a taste of what is to come with the “Deface the Music” three-song EP, which featured “Just Like Clockwork,” which will be on their new record “A Class of Our Own.” And by the sound of that track, the boys haven’t really changed their sound all that much: loud, fast, pummeling ‘77-style street punk highlighted by Volume’s buzzsaw guitar work, pounding drums, and blood-curdling bass, of course all seasoned with the usual snotty, abrasive vocals from frontman Delarge. Basically, the musical equivalent to repeated kicks in the head.
If you’re brave enough, you can get to hear LCB’s new material and all the classics on any one of their numerous stops during their summer tour with Cheap Sex, which features the old Virus vocalist Mike. In addition, at the NYC date, July 27th at CBGBs, UK legends The Skeptix will be playing as well, making for quite a night of debauchery and mayhem to be sure. Playing with UK greats is nothing new for the Lower Class Brats, who have played at Holidays In The Sun – the mother of all punk festivals – alongside such bands as The Exploited and Slaughter And The Dogs.
And I had to know what they thought about Warped Tour, a tour that gets mighty different bands from those at HITS or that LCB are used to playing with. And the answer did not disappoint: “We are not warped enough to know what the fuck is going on…I mean, who would want us on that?” Ah yes, aside from acts like the Casualties who have played there before and the Unseen who are on the roster for this year’s tour, the line-up is usually on the more pop-punk, radio-friendly side. On the same note, LCB are determined to change the current state of Rock ‘n’ Roll and have linked all the boring myriad clone-like “punk” bands that have been infiltrating the media to no end to the downfall of human civilization. “All the new ‘punk’ bands are proving that the human race was destined to fail. Look at all of them, they’re like loud roaches invading every Bog-forsaken city in the world. The world is shit so we have much to tell, it’s no wonder there are so many…It’s about fucking time!” Yes, a takeover by the LCB Army sounds pretty good right about now.
