Album Review: Menace – London Stories (Re-Issue)

Violated Records have reissued London Stories, the 2014 album from Menace, the London punk band who formed back in 1976 in the legendary Hope And Anchor pub, the band underwent a lengthy hiatus after the original line up split up in 1979 and they didn’t re-emerge until 1999. Since then they have undergone numerous line up changes, at the moment only drummer Noel Martin remains from the original line up, but the band carry the spirit of their original incarnation that is best remembered for the anthemic call to arms that was GLC, a song that was recently covered by Street Dogs under the title GOP.

London Stories opens with the metaphorical raised middle finger of So Fuck You, this lays down a marker that what you’re in for is a no nonsense album of old school punk rock, but that isn’t the end of the story. There are elements of dub and ska incorporated into the laid back track Get Along, hardcore also makes a brief appearance on the short and furious number, One Minute Song. The rest of the album is pure Menace, in you face blue collar punk rock that is the foundation of the modern street punk movement, London Stories remains true to it’s roots and it demonstrates this is by no means a band just going through the motions.

If you’re at all familiar with Menace then the contents of London Stories won’t come as any great surprise, but crucially you won’t be disappointed either, this is a band doing what they do and doing it well, the only disappointment on the album is the cover of Dirty Old Town that I don’t think translates to the punk treatment it’s been given on London Stories, but the other ten tracks are pure old school punk rock, and the opening track So Fuck You is a near perfect mission statement and as good as anything you’re likely to hear opening an album of this type. Against all the odds Menace are still with us four decades after their formation, and London Stories shows that they still carry the authentic spirit of ’76.

The reissue of London Stories can be ordered from the Violated Records site here