Crass - A Pictoral History
Available now!
After working on this book, on and off for over 30 years, trying to gather and piece together the Crass jigsaw puzzle, it finally became time to say ‘it’s finished’. Of course in this particular case this ‘finished’ means ‘not finished’ and it will be left to the viewer to correct all the mistakes you will undoubtedly find.
Even so, we hope you will find this book of interest, if not an inspiration to fight on.
Like the book, finding peace is never finished and the injustices to each other rage on and on.
Published by EXITSTENCIL PRESS.
My take: Crass is a band that I absolutely loved as a teenager, and without doubt affected the political views I now hold. In an era where less was available to hear easily online, I was often drawn to the bold graphics of punk covers, and purchased many records solely on looks, or thank you lists of other bands who’s music I liked. Crass created a graphic monolith from which it was impossible to live as punk without exposure to. The logo was ubiquitous, the consistent imagery impossible not to connect, the design sensibility an influence on countless bands concurrent with my generation.
As the years go by I have a more complicated opinion of and relationship with Crass. Reading the prior books that came out about them were frustrating and often created even more distance between myself and my feelings about the band. When I heard another Crass book was coming out, I thought “well, I probably don’t need it” but my mind changed when I heard the book was a compendium of their visual output, news clipping, flyers, photos, etc. As the book is titled, “A Pictoral History”. The perfect way to document Crass, non-narrative, unopionated, and something I didn’t anticipate, un-authortitative. Crass admits in the book, they aren’t as 100% sure of their own history as some fans likely are, and includes a page in the back to write down corrections to mistakes made in the book. (I spotted at least 1 in my initial skim). Such a presentation lets the viewer form their own opinions, unswayed by passages of revisionist prose or biased opinions and reviews so common in music history books. The only real pages of text in the book are timelines of key political events across the globe in the time leading up and during the existence of Crass to provide context for younger generations, and those less studied in politics and history.
What remained unchanged for me in the last 20 something years since I first heard Crass is that monolith that was their imagery and aesthetic, and the efforts and consistency in which they expressed themselves visually I think remains and will remain their biggest strength. Something worth studying, dismantling, and stealing the best parts in terms of their process, philosophy, consistency, and aesthetic choices for future subversion and adapting to new creative efforts. Punk can be just music, but certainly one of punks potential strengths as Crass has shown, and as I felt drawn to as a youth purchasing records based purely on their cover art, is the power of imagery.
Frustratingly the actual layout and design of this book itself leaves some to be desired, but the volume of artifacts on display here which have great value as a source of enjoyment, inspiration, or research material, overshadows some of the less desirable design choices. If you’re a fan, this is essential. If not, you could probably still think it’s pretty cool.
Available now!
After working on this book, on and off for over 30 years, trying to gather and piece together the Crass jigsaw puzzle, it finally became time to say ‘it’s finished’. Of course in this particular case this ‘finished’ means ‘not finished’ and it will be left to the viewer to correct all the mistakes you will undoubtedly find.
Even so, we hope you will find this book of interest, if not an inspiration to fight on.
Like the book, finding peace is never finished and the injustices to each other rage on and on.
Published by EXITSTENCIL PRESS.
My take: Crass is a band that I absolutely loved as a teenager, and without doubt affected the political views I now hold. In an era where less was available to hear easily online, I was often drawn to the bold graphics of punk covers, and purchased many records solely on looks, or thank you lists of other bands who’s music I liked. Crass created a graphic monolith from which it was impossible to live as punk without exposure to. The logo was ubiquitous, the consistent imagery impossible not to connect, the design sensibility an influence on countless bands concurrent with my generation.
As the years go by I have a more complicated opinion of and relationship with Crass. Reading the prior books that came out about them were frustrating and often created even more distance between myself and my feelings about the band. When I heard another Crass book was coming out, I thought “well, I probably don’t need it” but my mind changed when I heard the book was a compendium of their visual output, news clipping, flyers, photos, etc. As the book is titled, “A Pictoral History”. The perfect way to document Crass, non-narrative, unopionated, and something I didn’t anticipate, un-authortitative. Crass admits in the book, they aren’t as 100% sure of their own history as some fans likely are, and includes a page in the back to write down corrections to mistakes made in the book. (I spotted at least 1 in my initial skim). Such a presentation lets the viewer form their own opinions, unswayed by passages of revisionist prose or biased opinions and reviews so common in music history books. The only real pages of text in the book are timelines of key political events across the globe in the time leading up and during the existence of Crass to provide context for younger generations, and those less studied in politics and history.
What remained unchanged for me in the last 20 something years since I first heard Crass is that monolith that was their imagery and aesthetic, and the efforts and consistency in which they expressed themselves visually I think remains and will remain their biggest strength. Something worth studying, dismantling, and stealing the best parts in terms of their process, philosophy, consistency, and aesthetic choices for future subversion and adapting to new creative efforts. Punk can be just music, but certainly one of punks potential strengths as Crass has shown, and as I felt drawn to as a youth purchasing records based purely on their cover art, is the power of imagery.
Frustratingly the actual layout and design of this book itself leaves some to be desired, but the volume of artifacts on display here which have great value as a source of enjoyment, inspiration, or research material, overshadows some of the less desirable design choices. If you’re a fan, this is essential. If not, you could probably still think it’s pretty cool.
Available now!
After working on this book, on and off for over 30 years, trying to gather and piece together the Crass jigsaw puzzle, it finally became time to say ‘it’s finished’. Of course in this particular case this ‘finished’ means ‘not finished’ and it will be left to the viewer to correct all the mistakes you will undoubtedly find.
Even so, we hope you will find this book of interest, if not an inspiration to fight on.
Like the book, finding peace is never finished and the injustices to each other rage on and on.
Published by EXITSTENCIL PRESS.
My take: Crass is a band that I absolutely loved as a teenager, and without doubt affected the political views I now hold. In an era where less was available to hear easily online, I was often drawn to the bold graphics of punk covers, and purchased many records solely on looks, or thank you lists of other bands who’s music I liked. Crass created a graphic monolith from which it was impossible to live as punk without exposure to. The logo was ubiquitous, the consistent imagery impossible not to connect, the design sensibility an influence on countless bands concurrent with my generation.
As the years go by I have a more complicated opinion of and relationship with Crass. Reading the prior books that came out about them were frustrating and often created even more distance between myself and my feelings about the band. When I heard another Crass book was coming out, I thought “well, I probably don’t need it” but my mind changed when I heard the book was a compendium of their visual output, news clipping, flyers, photos, etc. As the book is titled, “A Pictoral History”. The perfect way to document Crass, non-narrative, unopionated, and something I didn’t anticipate, un-authortitative. Crass admits in the book, they aren’t as 100% sure of their own history as some fans likely are, and includes a page in the back to write down corrections to mistakes made in the book. (I spotted at least 1 in my initial skim). Such a presentation lets the viewer form their own opinions, unswayed by passages of revisionist prose or biased opinions and reviews so common in music history books. The only real pages of text in the book are timelines of key political events across the globe in the time leading up and during the existence of Crass to provide context for younger generations, and those less studied in politics and history.
What remained unchanged for me in the last 20 something years since I first heard Crass is that monolith that was their imagery and aesthetic, and the efforts and consistency in which they expressed themselves visually I think remains and will remain their biggest strength. Something worth studying, dismantling, and stealing the best parts in terms of their process, philosophy, consistency, and aesthetic choices for future subversion and adapting to new creative efforts. Punk can be just music, but certainly one of punks potential strengths as Crass has shown, and as I felt drawn to as a youth purchasing records based purely on their cover art, is the power of imagery.
Frustratingly the actual layout and design of this book itself leaves some to be desired, but the volume of artifacts on display here which have great value as a source of enjoyment, inspiration, or research material, overshadows some of the less desirable design choices. If you’re a fan, this is essential. If not, you could probably still think it’s pretty cool.
