There was such a great reaction to yesterday’s HUMAN LEAGUE post I thought I would share more of this seminal LP from BOB LAST on which I first heard that song.

Some of the impact these songs had on me was the newness of the music. As well, not only was the sound of the music unlike anything I had heard before, the songs often addressed geo- political issues in a way that was clever, thought- provoking and frightening.

[Ed. Note- The only difference today is we are made aware of this stuff instantaneously through social media instead of TV, newspapers or word of mouth back then.]

It is hard to convey today how the indie music world was still very pre-occupied with the effects of World War II on Europe.

GANG OF FOUR were 4 art school pals from Leeds. They were named after the Chinese dissident group that briefly led a counter – insurgency in China during the mid 1960’s. At the time, G of 4 were avowed supporters of Communism.

They released 3 tracks on the Mutant Pop LP.

One of them was “Armalite Rifle”.

Over classic GANG OF FOUR guitar discomfort, guitarist and ANDY GILL intermixes lyrics with spoken word readings from the instructions for this American made assault rifle made by ARMALITE in with vocalist JON KING’S vocals.

It is utterly haunting, and discombobulating – to say the least.

I have listened to this track frequently over these past 46 years.

There is a homemade video below. I give you fair warning. You might find the lyrics and/ or the images triggering or distressing. The reference to prams is both clever and frightening…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q3igHHQj4M&list=RD9Q3igHHQj4M&start_radio=1&pp=ygUbZ2FtZyBvZiBmb3VyIGFybWFsaXRlIHJpZmxloAcB&ra=m

SPOTIFY-

https://open.spotify.com/track/5fG2qsNKttmeS72dTo1rtg?si=5JU01mexQ8yRbkFIgDtBSg&utm_source=copy-link

(SONG 1701)

Shoot Loud Or Perish

July 16, 2026