THE RE-ISSUE OF all three albums in the Bullshit Detector series on Crass Records – through the auspices of the One Little Independent label – is discussed in today’s daily feature (24 July) on the Bandcamp platform.

The article, by Louis Pattison, includes quotes and interview snippets from Penny Rimbaud, Steve Ignorant, Miles “Rat” Ratledge and Boff Whalley.

It’s hard to think of a compilation that better captures the idea that punk was a platform for amateur creators. “I’m pretty sure some of those tracks are the first time someone’s gone to a tape recorder, pressed record and play for the first time, picked up a little diddy microphone, put on a record, and talked over it,” says Ignorant.

Maybe that was a recording of the first time they ever expressed themselves in that way. It’s experimenting. And maybe it sounds quite good. Or: I did that, and no one’s laughing—maybe I’ll do it again. To put something out there and then for it to get on a record, for Christ’s sake—in those days that was a huge thing to happen. I spoke out—and now it’s there in the public domain.

Bandcamp Daily, 24 July 2023

Louis Pattison. 2023. In the early ’80s, a series of Crass-curated comps set the tone for DIY punk, Bandcamp Daily, 24 July. https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/bullsht-detector-compilation-crass-interview