Zounds

Zounds are an anarcho-punk and post-punk group from Reading, England, active from 1977 to the present. They begin as a loose set of jamming sessions in the Reading area and become part of the cassette culture movement, releasing early material on the Fuck Off Records tape label. The band also takes part in the squatting and free festival scene.

Early history and political connections

Zounds meet Crass after their van breaks down on the road. They make their way to Dial House, where Crass are based, and receive help with repairs. The two bands become friends and share political ideas, even though their music is very different. Zounds then release their first EP, Can't Cheat Karma, on Crass Records.

Recordings and releases

The band release their first album, The Curse of Zounds, on Rough Trade Records in 1981. The cover art, by Clifford Harper, shows firefighters apparently trying to put out a fire at the Houses of Parliament, with the back cover revealing that they are actually feeding the blaze with petrol. In 2001, a remixed version of the song This Land appears as a CD single in support of the McLibel campaign.

Touring and activity

In November 1980, Zounds tour mainland Europe, opening in Rotterdam with Bunker OESO and then playing dates in the Netherlands, Belgium and West Berlin with Dutch group Cheap'n'Nasty, who have also played with Crass and Poison Girls. They return to the Netherlands in 1981 for shows in Leiden and elsewhere. The band split up in late 1982, but later reform occasionally for benefit concerts.

Later line-up and related acts

Later benefit performances include Protag, formerly of Instant Automatons, Alternative TV and Blyth Power, and drummer Stick, who has previously played in DIRT, Doom and Extreme Noise Terror. After the split, Steve Lake and Laurence Wood continue together for a while as The World Service. Drummer Josef Porta, also known as Joseph Porter, later joins The Mob and then forms Blyth Power. Steve Lake also continues as a solo artist.

Name

The name Zounds comes from an old English exclamation, short for “God’s wounds”, a reference to Christ’s crucifixion wounds.