With a five-date tour booked across the US in support of their debut LP The Crack Whores of Betws Garmon, the Welsh band hit the headlines in August 2019 when they were refused entry into the Land of Liberty and deported on the next available plane outta Dodge. Which unfortunately for them, was a direct flight to Iceland.
Back on home soil, raring for reprisal and with a new line-up, SPAM JAVELIN began recording sessions for their follow-up in March 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Sitting out the majority of the year to watch a rich, albeit idiotic pit of governmental ineptitude open up around them, the band had no problem mining inspiration for their new record, The Three Chords of The Apocalypse, which was eventually completed in October last year.
With a number of EPs and 7″ singles under their belts – including fan favourite ‘Nazi Line Dancers Fuck Off’ – the trio have pursued a busy live schedule that has seen them play with such luminaries as Stiff Little Fingers, Cockney Rejects, Dr & The Crippens and 999.
With a direct approach to punk rock reminiscent of Dead Kennedys and DOA, voiced with a peculiar sense of pithy absurdity set to anger of a beaten and bloodied tribe, The Three Chords of The Apocalypse is a much-needed collection of filth and fury for 2021.
The Three Chords of The Apocalypse will be issued on CD, digital and splattered black and orange vinyl, through Link2Wales Records on 5th March. Order your copy today, right here, and check out our brief interview with the band below.
For fans of: Dead Kennedys, DOA, The Clash
We’ve Made Plans for Nigel’ is the latest single of your new album. What can you tell us about the song? How did it come about? What is the story behind it?
It’s our hatred of populist politicians whose agenda is to line their pockets at whatever cost it has on humanity, the environment. These cunts would sell their children if there was profit in it. Digging a deep hole in the ground and putting them in there is the only solution. The Nigel is Nigel Farage of the right-wing UKIP fascist party who instigated Brexit with the help of the entire British press and media who gave him so much coverage. They are as much to blame for the debacle of a shit-shop country we currently live in.
In 2021, it feels like we need politically minded/outspoken bands more than ever. Do you think there are enough bands fulfilling that remit?
Good question. I wouldn’t say we’re a political band – more an anti-political band – the world is full of corrupt selfish bastards’ intent on exploiting the populace to achieve their aims. I would happily line them all up and pull the trigger myself. There are plenty of bands out there, but unfortunately a lot of punk bands just preach to the converted and stay within their own circles. We need more bands reaching out to the young and non-punks to change attitudes beyond the mosh pits and bedrooms. Bands need to be brave and play the places other people fear to tread if that remit is ever going to be fulfilled.
In what way has the pandemic affected you and the subsequent release of Three Chords…? I know that some people have focused on writing new material in place of playing live, but Spam Javelin strike me as a band that live to play live.
It’s been fucking tough! And yes, that’s why we’re in a band – to make a noise – my tinnitus is almost cured, it’s been so long since we played live! However, the pandemic has shaped the album; we had written and recorded less than half of it just before the whole of the world went under house arrest, so the bulk of it has been strongly influenced by the situation. Including the title.
When the world returns to normal, or at the very least regains some semblance of normalcy if we don’t topple headfirst into Armageddon, what will the future hold for Spam Javelin?
We’ve started on album number three already, with songs in our heads. Looking at an EP in the summer and waiting for the gig floodgates to open again, but as I mentioned earlier, we need to think outside the box if “our message” is going to reach beyond our congregation and we need think about gigs in front of unsuspecting audiences.
Link2Wales Records is home to some of the UK’s best underground hardcore punk, DIY and Indie artists such as Spam Javelin, Rabo De Toro, Read or Dead, Hamer, The Wobbly Hearts and many more…
