After years of speculation, groundbreaking English hardcore band GBH has announced plans to release their eleventh studio album, Perfume and Piss, via Hellcat Records on April 5.
There isn't a self-respecting gutter punk, hardcore kid or subcultural miscreant alive who hasn't seen the GBH logo emblazoned on the back of a leather jacket, a denim vest, or a torn-up t-shirt. And now the world will be slapped upside the head with another reminder as to exactly why GBH is so important, in the form of Perfume and Piss, the legendary and iconic punk band's first album for Hellcat Records.
Barn-burning, fist-pumping, palace-gates-storming tracks like “Kids Get Down,” “Cadillac One” and “This is Not the Real World” carry the torch forward with the band's trademark fury that is alternately nihilistic, optimistic, pessimistic, anarchist, violent, humorous and deadly serious all at once.
Charged GBH have been a band for over 30 years and their longevity is a testament to their purity of sound and vision. Although, as vocalist and founding member Colin Abrahall tells it, there was never anything close to a “plan.”
“We didn't think it'd last a week when we first got together,” he says, with a laugh. “None of us could really play our instruments or do our specific job within the band. We just kind of winged it for a while. If you were born the day we formed in 1979, you'd be a mature adult now!”
Perfume and Piss is, in the band's own words, the “best album we've done in a long, long time.” The album was created in fits and starts (two weeks on, two weeks off) which allowed them to fine-tune the material and compose a more complete feeling album. “We're really pleased with it,” says Colin.
“We've been on various dodgy labels in the past and ever since Hellcat first started, we've wanted to be associated with it,” he remarks. “To actually sign with Hellcat is a dream come true for us.”