Thee Faction - class resurgence with Jeremy Corbyn
News “a war is going to be waged against austerity.”
Thee Faction - “..taking down the Tories one song at a time” (The Guardian) are spearheading the New Wave Of Musical Activism, and appear live at the Jeremy Corbyn rally and fund raiser on 21st August in London.
With outspoken, wonderful friends that include Bruno Wizard and deux furieuses, The Zine UK team are in the midst of the under radar fun powder plot lighting a fuse on the music underground. Thee Faction are drenched in the people's Class War against austerity and an important part of the positivity that has woken Broken Britain from it's coma and returned zombies back to being youths. The word HOPE has even been spoken aloud.
Some say music and politics don't mix. Music is life. Politics is 21st century life. They mix alright. Our January event – 'The (r)Evolution Will Not Be Trivialised' – set our situationist tone for 2015. Surreal reality is mush-rooming. Labour proved that they are, after all, able to summon up a spirit of opposition. Sadly not against the SelfServatives. As I write this, there is a smear a day against somebody who is only human, yet its not stopping the tide of humanity becoming a tsunami that over fills venues at every rally stop. 2015 really is a game of two halves with Jeremy Corbyn's last few months akin to a heroic movie.
In a galaxy far far away from a Hollywood fairy tale, the baddies have destroyed to the point of us living in a third rate scripted , second world nightmare that requires first rate escapism. No point having tepid, flacid, insipid "songs" for times like these. We need all the musical activists that we can get. They deserve all the attention we can give.
Thee Faction were personally invited by Billy Bragg to play his Leftfield Stage at this year's Glastonbury Festival. Now they have been invited to head up the musical entertainment at a special rally and fundraiser for the Labour Party leadership front-runner Jeremy Corbyn on 21 August in London. Comrade Babyface of Thee Faction told TheZineUK more about the rally at Islington's historic (and, for this occasion, aptly named) Union Chapel.
“It’s going to be a celebration of a class resurgent. And an affirmation that a war is going to be waged against austerity. It’s going to be a night of adrenalin and analysis. And it’s going to raise lots of much-needed funds for the Corbyn campaign.
Corbyn’s leadership bid is a part of the fightback. It is a symbol of a wider resistance. But it could, if he wins, become the leadership of a wider resistance. That’s what this is about.”
Also on the bill are troubadour Robb Johnson and speakers Owen Jones and Phyll Opoku. Plus Jeremy Corbyn himself, of course. Please note that as per, this is sold out. There will be no tickets available on the door.
TheZineUK are soaked in soaked in the three Rs which are the title of the new Thee Faction album; 'Reading, Writing, Revolution: The Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall' . Out now on out now via DL/CD on Soviet Beret Records, its a soundtrack brimming with a manifesto of spat out lyrics and marching anthem choruses. This grimy, bluesy, sparky rock sounds as much at home in a giant field as a grand venue or a boozy pub. It's their fifth album since re-appearing, as a result of the discovery of the 'At Ebbw Vale' tapes, in 2010. (They would be celebrating their 30th anniversary this year if that wasn’t so spectacularly bourgeois).
Know Your Enemy. 'Choose Your Enemy' (from the new album)
From thee horses mouth:
"Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development encourages the formation of larger units of production at the expense of small ones. The result: an oligarchy of private capital - the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. Members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature.
So, representatives of the people have no need to protect the interests of the any other sections of the population but their paymasters. Private capitalists control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, TV, internet, schools). It’s very difficult for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of politics.
The artist, therefore must dissent, to provide a bulwark of criticism. Rock music has long been seen as a portal to intellectual freedom, but is, in fact, co-opted by capitalists and sold as a plastic rebellion. Large media organisations control music output, and therefore remove any art from it. This is why pop music is standardised. But you can take these traditional forms and add ANALYSIS. It’s pointless complaining. We must show the joy of freedom. The power of the class. Squares out! All wars traditionally have had marching bands and comradely singing, so why not the Class War?"
Thee Faction UK tour dates - 21 Aug – Jeremy Corbyn Rally, Union Chapel, Islington, London2 Oct – Nambucca, Holloway, London4 Oct – Le Pub, Newport (Both part of the We Shall Overcome weekend of nationwide gigs) 6 Oct – The Blues Kitchen, Camden7 Nov – Wharf Chambers, Leeds14 Nov –The Miners Working Men’s Club, Manchester29 Nov –New Cross Inn (people's republic of Rocklands, London (with Attila The Stockbroker and more)19 Dec – Rich Mix, London – Down With Scrooge: A Seasonal Night Out Against Austerity
additional words: Caffy St Luce