THE EXPLOITED

Beat The Bastards
Legendary! It's the only word for them, really. Legendary for all the right reasons, of course. Like smashing hotel rooms, beating up bouncers, inciting rabid Eastern European crowds to riot (or British ones, for that matter). Mention the name `The Exploited' to anyone even remotely involved with the band, and you'll be provided with a litany of stories about their worldwide trail of destruction. The one about when they made an appearance on Top of the Pops is a good one, when Wattie apparently took a fancy to one of the dance troupe and spent the entire afternoon chasing her. Or the one where they had a pillow and fire extinguisher fight in a hotel resulting in the entire building needing refurbishing. As you can imagine, these are not the sort of people one would want to get on the wrong side of, or, judging by the reaction of the poor Pops dancer, even the right side of.

In actual fact, main man Wattie is both considerate and coherent in his approach to life, with a very definite ethos. His outrageous instinct arises from a healthy disrespect for authority and the establishment, coupled with an uncontrollable urge to get up people's arses. Guardian journalists would say that each piece of equipment they smash or steal, each hotel room they deface is a statement. We say they're just having a laugh. Of course, they wouldn't think to do it unless that disrespect existed, so maybe the journalists are right.

Records like Punks Not Dead and Troops of Tomorrow established them as major players in the scene (and the Top of the Pops appearance didn't do them much harm either) whilst their healthy, regular output of records over the last fifteen years has proved that unlike some of their peers, they never really went away. In any case, they are certainly in a position to teach some of the new generation of `punk' bands how it's done. Image, yes, but in their case it's real. They aren't looking to be perceived as some kind of designer do-nothings in a world that embraces The Offspring as the spokesmen of the new generation, and they don't likd the possibility that some kids might listen and say "They sound just like Rancid!" No, no, NO!!! This isn't some kind of diluted establishment idea of youth rebellion, this is for real.

So, to their new album. Entitled Beat the Bastards, it continues the long trail of destruction...it's true punk at it's best. It's The Exploited --the original and the best!