Zounds Demystified – Lyrics and Notes by Steve Lake

Active Distribution/Bev Records, UK

This was a surprise, I just expected another „bandbiobook“ but it is filled, apart from all those historic band info, also with some really intersting background information, like about how things worked back then at Crass Records.

Also dates back to the free festival scene in the early 70ies, including Stonehenge, great stories of not so great happenings, it is also Steves autobiography. And of course you learn something about the beginning of punk in the UK from the perspective of Lake.

Twenty pages of history of Zounds and punk. After that there is 39 songlyrics and to most of them Steve comments on what they mean, why it got written and such. Not only, also storys that go along of the time when Zounds played and performed them.

Tourstorys from the UK and Europe, memberchanges, ups and downs…. everybody thinks Zounds was/is this diehard political anarcho-Punk band. Reading what Steve Lake says about it, they never were… and you can tell by some of the storys he tells. He is very honest and outspoken, which makes a amusing read. In the end you get a bunch of photos, graphics, flyers and pics of all the releases. A must have for every fan of Zounds, and due to the well-paced read a can have for everybody else. 150 pages, paperback. 5.- £ (dolf)

[Trust # 164 February 2014]