Punk has always been at the very heart of my moral code. I was born and raised in Bristol, England and although I may be biased I believe that nowhere else in the UK has developed a punk culture as fundamental to its central nervous system. Bands like Chaos UK and Vice Squad helped to stomp the city of Bristol in the halls of Punk history. As I was born in the late ‘90s I had missed the boat on what could be considered the golden age for Punk, however that didn’t stop me from falling head over heels with the ideology and music that bands the Ramones, Sex Pistols and so many others helped to force feed the masses 20 to 30 years prior.
Another of the bands that helped fuel my teenage angst and mould the decisions I’ve made as an adult is Conflict. Since 1981 Conflict have been ‘Rejecting hippy anarchism for direct action, particularly on the topics of animal rights and corporate globalisation.’ – as written in a 2016 primer on anarcho punk for The Wire magazine. Anybody familiar with the band Conflict, or the anarcho punk scene, may be familiar with an event known as ‘The gathering of the 5000’. I could write a full article on this alone so to keep it short, this was an event held at the O2 Academy Brixton in 1987 that fell into a police provoked riot resulting in 52 arrests being made. Listen to Colin from Conflict and Steve Ignorant of Crass discuss the show here.
Despite my undying love for the culture of Punk, as I signed up for this review, there was a slight part of me that questioned, does the world really need anarcho punk right now? 2025 marks 44 years after their formation and two decades since their last full-length album Conflict have proven that punk never died. Rather it has been lying dormant, waiting for the right time to strike.
Intro and Title Track
The album starts with ‘The impossible Soul’ an incredible dreamspace accompanied by various samples including Maggie Ford’s character in Threads shouting “You cannot win a nuclear war!” The use of this sample is ingenious. Threads is a post-apocalyptic TV Movie released in 1984 that gives us a chilling account of how the world would fare in a nuclear fall-out. With its 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, it’s seen a recent surge in popularity, likely due to the striking similarities to today’s political climate and a social media app of the same name.
After the two and a half minute intro the band come crashing in on the Title track of the album, ‘This Much Remains’. This song, much like the rest of the album, has the lyrics at the forefront of the song. “Why do we drink from their cup of piss / With acceptance and reliance?”
Track 6 – That Other Song
‘That Other Song’ stands in as the sixth track on this album and acts as a pit stop to catch your breath and tighten your laces before heading back out on the with clenched fists. This interlude helped to show me how mature this sound has become. This shift in pace is accompanied by beautiful, clean guitar melodies with a likeness to Iron Maiden’s ‘Brave New World’. It highlights what the modern marvels of studio engineering, mixing and mastering can bring to the table for bands of this style. It makes me wonder how crisp so many other records would be if they were recorded in today’s day and age. We need more re-mastered Punk albums.
Track 8 – Cut the Crap
Two tracks thereafter on ‘Cut the Crap’ the late, great Benjamin Zephaniah enters the room. For anybody unfamiliar, Zephaniah was a renowned poet, writer and musician who sadly passed away in December of 2023. I strongly urge anybody to check out his work as he truly is nothing short of a revolutionary. The Birmingham born poet behind ‘Talking Turkeys’ also featured on the lineup for the aforementioned ‘Gathering of the 5000’.
Track 11 – A Mother’s Milk
‘A Mother’s Milk’. Would it really be an anarcho punk album without such a title? The lyrics and very sentiment of this song is stifling to say the least. Fiona Jayne Friel brings an unapologetic sense of locality to this band. This aura is best demonstrated in this animal rights triumph. I feel I’d likely be asked not to write for Joyzine again if I posted some of the lyrics here, so you’ll have to find out what I mean for yourself.
So then, what’s the verdict? Does the world really need anarcho punk right now? Simple answer…of course it does. If you wake up and look out the window you’ll see the sickness that Conflict has spent 40 years shining the light on, the album This Much Remains is no different. The world has never needed anarcho punk more than it does in 2025.
See Conflict live at the following dates in 2025:
30/03 SCARBOROUGH PUNK FESTIVAL UK
04/04 LES TANNERIES, DIJON FR
05/04 LE KILOWATT, VITRY-SUR-SEINE FR
06/04 CERCLE SAINT-CHARLES, MONTAIGNE-SUR-SAMBRE BE
03/05 THE UNDERGROUND, BRADFORD UK
16/05 LOST LANE, DUBLIN IE
17/05 THE DEER’S HEAD, BELFAST NI
05/06 BUMS, BARROW-IN-FURNESS UK
06/06 AUDIO, GLASGOW UK
07/06 LA BELLE ANGELE, EDINBURGH UK
08/06 STAR & GARTER, MANCHESTER UK
17-19/07 POD PAROU FESTIVAL CZ
25/07 DLB FESTIVAL, FERRARA IT
26/07 REFUSE FESTIVAL, PEINE DE
09/08 REBELLION, BLACKPOOL UK
29/08 ENCORE, SUNDBYBERG SE
30/08 DALFESTIVALEN, DALSJÖFORS, SE
31/08 TBA, COPENHAGEN DK
09/10 THE ANVIL, BOURNEMOUTH UK
10/10 THE CASTLE & FALCON, BIRMINGHAM UK
11/10 THE FACEBAR, READING UK
Conflict: Website | Instagram | Facebook
Review by Kane McEvoy
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