Single Review and Video Premiere
CRABS
Make Margate Sh*t Again
DL/Limited Vinyl
CRABS are the angry sound of middle-aged Margate. A hyper-local protest band who use piss-taking as a weapon and Garage Punk as a vehicle for their three-chord midlife crisis… Said Ged Babey reviewing their Down From London album. In typically punk-chaos fashion he forgets to review their new single until AFTER the vinyl has sold-out and the ‘secret/guerrilla’ launch gig (in a Margate car-park) is over. But you can still enjoy the video for free and buy the download….
Like the song I, Gentrify from their album, it’s another attack on the gentrification of the bands home-town. Whilst couched in typical blunderbuss humour and sure to upset local dignitaries and councillors there is a very valid point being made.
Trickle-down economics are a lie. ‘Creating jobs?’ – Minimum wage seasonal zero-hours jobs cleaning guest-houses… Artisan bakeries and art galleries just mean house-prices are unaffordable for locals on low income….
Reasoned arguments don’t get listened to, so they resort to punk rock pisstakery and crab-costumes…
That intro sounds familiar….
They say:
Margate has become a byword for cool over the last decade. A capital of cool, if you will. The once downtrodden seaside town is now a vibrant hub of hip art galleries, chic restaurants, and refurbished Victorian architecture.
Not everyone is so enamoured with this new boom in minimum wage jobs and eye-watering house price rises though. Enter CRABS, who in typical curmudgeonly fashion wonder what was wrong with Margate being a collapsing, boarded up wasteland?
The band aren’t just grumbling about it under their breath while trying to locate a loaf of bread that isn’t sourdough, they’ve penned new single Make Margate Shit Again as a rallying cry for a return to better (or at least different) times.
It’s not purely a resistance to change – they love an oat flat white as much as anyone. The song questions whether in all the excitement of treating Margate like a playground for any old creative pursuit, anyone has stopped to ask what the town actually needs. It remains one of the UK’s most deprived places, despite all the newspaper articles on its big turnaround, and that suggests that something still isn’t right.
The new single also marks CRABS’ first release on vinyl – featuring seaside postcard artwork from frequent collaborator Chris ‘Shake’ Taylor and additional vocals from the Bard of Broadstairs, Harmony Bo.
The b-side of the 7-inch also answers a question often levelled at the band: Why can’t you say anything positive? Ha, well, Positive Song proves that they can. A jaunty little pop song it features chirpy lyrics repeatedly informing you how very positive the song is. There’s no arguing with that. We’re positive that everyone will love this new direction for CRABS.
Simultaneously the best and worst band in Margate, CRABS are the Monied Middle Class Gentry’s worst nightmare. Human blots on their landscape who refuse to go away.
Arguably the best punk rock protest song with a distinct purpose that also entertains and makes you snarl-along, for some time.
CRABS Rule OK.
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Buy from Bandcamp
All words Ged Babey with press release content in italicsÂ
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exeter.one newsbite last confirmed 2 days ago by Ged Babey
