The punk spirit, however loosely defined, is very difficult to find these days. Most people in search of that elusive, anarchic spirit, haunting record collections since the mid 70's, have turned to the outer fringes of music, where electronic artists and post-rock warriors ignore musical conventions and in doing so inadvertantly embrace the lost spirit of 1976. Straight guitar rock, however, often remains as conservative as the Prog behemoths that punk blew away all those years ago, and guitar music labelled 'punk' (or 'ska-punk', 'skate-punk', whatever you want to call it) tends to be a pale, corporate imitation of that lost, righteous fire many of us crave. While no-one could claim Gag are politicised, the sheer willingness they display to be different on this 7" is about as close as you'll get to that original punk flame without mentioning Godspeed You Black Emperor!.

This single is, incidentally, free. A copy can be obtained by contacting Flitwick Records (there's a link to their website on the DiS label profile.) The song itself is an abrasive, Dada-like rant that combines fluttering, insurgent bass lines with gloriously surreal punk poetry intoned over the top. It doesn't really match the glory of Gag's wonderful album release, 'When People Start Slapping Meat on Marble', (a lightning-quick confection of math-rock angularity and controlled absurdity, with a splash of pop nous and Afro-Beat rhythm for good measure), but the abrasive creativity on show here is worthy of celebration anyway.