By 1981 it really did seem that punk was dead; the Pistols had imploded, the Clash took a residency in New York, becoming rock stars in the process, while most other ‘77 bands had drifted into more arty forms like new wave and post-punk. But then came rowdies The Exploited who gatecrashed the national charts with their debut album Punks Not Dead, then repeated that feat with their sophomore long player Troops Of Tomorrow. Rejuvenating punk for a new generation and opening the floodgates for countless bands, The Exploited never got the credit they deserved, but that seems destined to change with this set from Cherry Red Records which collects those two albums in one lovely set (and with a host of bonus tracks, to boot) which shows why The Exploited were one of the era’s most important (and most loved) bands.

Disc One: Punks Not Dead

Although punk claimed proletarian roots, in reality it was born in top London universities and in the leafy suburbs. Edinburgh’s The Exploited, however, offered a different narrative. Led by ex-squaddie Wattie Buchan, this Scottish bunch seemed to speak for a whole generation of disaffected youth who felt betrayed by bands who proved themselves hypocritical, and when the trendy music papers claimed that punk was deceased, these musical hoodlums responded in the best possible way; with a fifteen track album full of terrace-ready chants and oven-ready choruses that proved punk very much alive and kicking. Recorded in three-and-a-half days and at a cost of £600, Punks Not Dead reset the clock, stripping away all the extraneous frills that had attached themselves to the genre and presented punk as originally intended; visceral, red raw and blistered, and full of lyrical barbs. Best exemplifying this no-holds-barred is the opening (and title) track ‘Punks Not Dead’, a song that became a rallying cry and adorned many a leather jacket. It’s a cut that filtered out any impurities until all that was left was 111 seconds of pure sonic fury and it’s an ethic the band continued on the rest of the album; there’s no waffle on here; everything is boiled down and distilled into punk that’s 100% proof, and highly flammable. Even when the band flex their muscles, such as on the five minute ‘Sex & Violence’, there’s very little fluff. In a scene that revolved around the 7” single, The Exploited pulled of a rare feat; a classic punk album.

Featuring an albums worth of bonus tracks, Punks Not Dead is complimented by the band’s two appearances of the legendary Oi! The Album compilation and a host of singles and their b-sides. Many of these songs were recorded pre -album and have the bones sticking through the flesh (which is exactly how punk should sound) and are suitably snotty. Although post-album we get the ‘Dead Cities’ single which once again found the band invading the charts and landing an appearance on Top Of The Pops. Two live cuts from the unofficial split Don’t Let ‘Em Grind You Down round off things off and prove that, thanks to The Exploited, punk in 1981 was very much alive.

Disc Two: Troops Of Tomorrow

Released exactly a year after their debut, Troops Of Tomorrow found The Exploited toughening up their sound and delivering an album that defined an era. The muscular ‘Jimmy Boyle’ came racing out the gate and displayed a metallic punch the band would develop later in their career, but make no mistake this is definitely a punk album, only with Tony Spath’s production they become far more punchy. If you want to know just how powerful The Exploited sound then take a listen to the version of ‘Daily News’ included on Disc One (a bonus track from Oi! The Album), then lend your ears to the rendition included here and it blows the doors off the original. Subsequently, each cut lands like a well aimed blow to the solar plexus and the band sound like a pair of boxers slugging it out in a broom cupboard. It’s the title cut (a cover of The Vibrators song) that’s the album’s focal point and evidences the band in mean and moody mode, it finds the band rising from manhole covers and roaming deserted, post-apocalyptic streets to a soundtrack of Stooges’ style guitars, a marching rhythm section and topped off with Wattie’s menacing Scottish brogue. The following ‘UK82’ was a caustic slab of punk and it was a title given to the movement of young and fresh punk bands including Discharge, GBH and The Exploited who all coalesced in a scene that would also become known as “street punk” and provided a link between punk and thrash metal. (The song was also used in the 1982 film Made In Britain).

Preceding the Troops Of Tomorrow album was the ‘Attack’/’Alternative’ double a-side single which is added here as bonus track and when released made a neat stepping stone between the two albums. Also included is ‘Y.O.P.’ (from the Britannia Waives The Rules split 12”) along with their final single for Secret Records ‘Computers Don’t Blunder’ (c/w ‘Addiction’) and a radio edit of ‘Troops Of Tomorrow’ which makes this the most comprehensive reissue of this album, and with Punks Not Dead you not only have two of the best punk albums, but two of the best albums, period.

The Exploited would continue to incorporate metallic elements into their sound and would go all out crossover on the excellent 1990 The Massacre album. Yet that was in the future, but if you want to experience the real sound of 1981/2, the sense of urban desolation, the snaking unemployment lines and the feeling of utter desperation, look no further than Punks Not Dead and Troops Of Tomorrow.

• Punks Not Dead / Troops Of Tomorrow (2xCD Set) is released via Cherry Red Records/Captain Oi! on 23rd August 2024.

Track List:

Disc One: Punks Not Dead

1. Punks Not Dead
2. Mucky Pup
3. Cop Cars
4. Free Flight
5. Army Life (Part 2)
6. Blown To Bits
7. Sex & Violence
8. SPG
9. Royalty
10. Dole Q
11. Exploited Barmy Army
12. Ripper
13. Out Of Control
14. Son Of A Copper
15. I Believe In Anarchy

Bonus Tracks:

16. Daily News (Oi! The Album version)
17. I Still Believe In Anarchy (Oi! The Album version)
18. Army Life
19. Fuck The Mods
20. Crashed Out
21. Exploited Barmy Army
22. I Believe In Anarchy
23. What You Gonna Do
24. Dogs Of War
25. Blown To Bits (Live)
26. Dead Cities
27. Hitler’s In The Charts Again
28. Class War
29. SPG (Live)
30. Cop Cars (Live)

Disc Two: Troops Of Tomorrow

1. Jimmy Boyle
2. Daily News
3. Disorder
4. Alternative (Remix)
5. USA
6. Rapist
7. Troops Of Tomorrow
8. UK82
9. Sid Vicious Was Innocent
10. War
11. They Won’t Stop
12. So Tragic
13. Germs

Bonus Tracks:

14. Attack
15. Alternative
16. Y.O.P.
17. Computers Don’t Blunder
18. Addiction
19. Troops Of Tomorrow (Radio Edit)