Punk
it’s not death
Punks Not Dead is the debut studio album by the
punk band
The
Exploited, released in 1981 on Secret Records. Strongly
working
class and loyal to the first impulses of the 1976 punk movement, the album
was a reaction to critics who believed the genre was dead, and against popular
trends such as
New Wave,
hardcore
and
post-punk.
[2]
It contains the double A side singles "Army Life/Fuck the Mods" and
the later follow up "I Believe In Anarchy". "Army Life"
details the experiences of an embittered and alienated English 17 year old
squaddie on a
tour of duty in Belfast in the 1980s; "Fuck the Mods" reflects the
anger felt by many
Oi!
and skinhead punks at the time at what they saw as fashion movers who had
abandoned the original sentiments of the movement.
Supported by a tour with the
Anti-Nowhere League, the album was a commercial
success and is regarded as one of the definitive Oi! albums, and its popularity
gave rise to a variety of traditional punk bands including "
Angelic
Upstarts", "
Peter and the Test Tube Babies"
and "
The Business".
Punks Not Dead
peaked at no 20 on the UK charts in May of that year,
[3]
gave the band a national following (although it was centered in the north of
England, not the south) and it was the top selling 1981 Independent releas