RED ALERT – We’ve Got The Power

Released 40 years ago yet still retaining much of its Oi! impact intact, the debut album and last before a split that would last a number of years by No Future luminaries, Sunderland’s Red Alert is a lesser-known classic in punk history. The locomotive chug and chant of unification in We’ve Got The Power, the metallic burn of Crisis, the acoustic-driven, kitchen-sink bristle of Industrial Slide or the caustic, hypnotic stomp of Rebels in Society exploding with fierce, powder keg intensity. With that in mind, and now pressed on color vinyl, as a prescient feature of not just English culture, but a culture that cuts deep, that stretches far, the art of brutality still lingers loud and clear.