ANWL - Going Nowhere (But Going Strong)
CD and Vinyl LP release on Secret Records SECLP279
The original lineup of the ANWL came to an end when Winston threw in the towel at the begining of 1997, soon to be followed by original guitarist Magoo, leaving Nick as the only original member. Along with Beef (guitar), Danny (drums) and JJ (bass) Nick continued to play sporadically up and down the country, but it just wasnt quite the same anymore, and by early 00s Nick called it a day.
Sometime in around 2003 Nick happened to bump into original League drummer PJ and, together with guitarist Jamie Jezzard and bassist Shady, decided to put together a new Anti Nowhere League. This lineup recorded and
released the albums Kings and Queens (2005) and Road To Rampton (2007).
This new release on Secret Recordings features 12 previously unreleased studio recordings dating from 2006, with the Nick, PJ, Jez and Shady lineup. What we get here are alternate re-recordings of 6 tracks from the Kings & Queens album (Degeneration, Kings and Queens, Just Another Day, There is no god, Pump Action and Dead Heroes).
These versions are sound rawer & punchier than the official album versions - not necessarily better, just different.
We also get 4 tracks (Get Ready, Fucked up and Wasted, Long Live Punk and Great Unwashed) originally recorded for the 1997 SCUM album, but which again have been re-recorded with Jez/Shady/PJ. These songs are more interesting and fun to listen to than the originals on Scum - they have a much punkier feel to them, as opposed to the overly heavy metal feel of the originals. There is a version of the classic League anthem 'Let the Country Feed you', which while fun to listen to, is missing the spark of the original 2 guitar attack of Magoo & Gilly. Finally we get Landlord Is a Wanker which interestingly is the same version that was previously released on the Pig Iron album in 2006.
The collectors vinyl edition comes with extensive sleeve notes written by Dick Porter and mini poster, and the CD version also comes with inner sleeve notes.
Recommended purchase for League fans - LP £17.99 or CD £9.99
