Discharge: Why? (clear vinyl) [RADIATION]

Why you'll love it

This clear vinyl 12" spins at 45 RPM, which gives these short, ferocious songs every bit of punch on the groove. Why went to No. 1 on the UK Indie Chart in 1981.

This edition

• Clear vinyl
• 45 RPM
• 12" mini-album

About the album

Some bands warm up. Discharge came out of Stoke-on-Trent already at full speed, and Why is where their sound locked into place: a pounding, relentless drum pattern so distinctive that a whole branch of hardcore, d-beat, is named after them, with guitars like a wall of static and Cal Morris barking every line like a newspaper headline.

The record runs through its ten songs in the time some prog bands take to tune up. "Visions of War" and "Does This System Work" kick the door in, "A Look at Tomorrow" and "Maimed and Slaughtered" keep the pressure on, and "Mania for Conquest" and "Massacre of Innocents (Air Attack)" carry the anti-war message that runs through every track. The title track turns up twice, once on each side, just in case anyone missed the point the first time. Every song is a band composition, and not one of them overstays its welcome.

It first came out on Clay Records in 1981, and its blueprint still turns up in punk, crust and metal records all over the world. Ten songs, each one shorter than the queue at our till on a Saturday.

Also at Kops: more Discharge on vinyl · browse Punk

Tracklist

Listen

On Radiation Reissues (cat# RRS94-PHD), a reissue of the 1981 EP.