Jsntgm 016 SICK56 / Higgins ++ – Out of a Black Pool 7”

1. Violence 02:28
2. Crash & Burn 02:30
3. Cool Britannia Uber Alles 03:08

7″ pink vinyl E.P.
released April 23, 2004

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REVIEWS

Editor Blackpool Rox II (2005)
A 7″ ep on heavy pink vinyl limited to a run of 500. A while in the releasing this ep was originally going to feature the UK SUBS on one side but technical problems put pay to that, then we were going to get Jello Biafra to put down vocals when he came over to Blackpool in October 2003, but his schedule wouldn’t permit it ,so finally we plumbed for a HIGGINS++ track (backed by SICK56) to be the flipside to Violence and Crash and Burn which we had recorded almost a year ago. I hope people feel it was worth the wait, and initial feedback suggests that it is being well received. Heavens above you can’t rate your own material “can you ?

No Front Teeth
SICK 56 are fast hardcore punk that remind me of the RESTARTS. They have that English political aggressive punk rock sound with that driving bass. They deliver 2 tracks ‘Violence’ and ‘Crash and Burn’ both very solid. HIGGINS++ do a version of ‘California Uber Alles’ but about the Iraq War entitled ‘Cool Britannia Uber Alles’ which is also a good track. The vinyl is nice and heavy and coloured too. A very nice split in pure English style. J.S.N.T.G.M. Records www.jsntgm.com

PEE Fanzine
A mighty pink slab of super-heavy 7″ vinyl. I love to see a band want to present the best quality vinyl (and in this case super-fat) for a limited edition release (500). You could kill someone with this! This is great old-school English punk with heavy political leanings. I was immediately swept back to my teens when the Exploited meant so much to me. Sick 56 do “Violence” and “Crash & Burn” on the A side. Great rockin’ energy. The B side is Sick 56 with a bloke called Higgins (Higgins++) doing an updated version of the Dead Kennedy’s “California Uber Alles”. It is now “Cool Britannia Uber Alles” with lyrics about Bush / Blair / Iraq and the whole America buying the world’s freedom vibe. It works well and the message is very tongue in cheek. This is a great 7″ both package wise and message wise! Secret messages on the vinyl say,Real history is made by those who say no,the best slaves always believe they are free… RATING: 77 REVIEW BY: GLENNO

Riot on Your Own Fanzine
This chunk of heavy pink vinyl is without doubt the first classic punk single of the 21st century. The Higgins track is an excellent modern day reworking of “California Uber Alles” renamed “Cool Brittannia Uber Alles” and works very well. SICK56 contribute two tracks “Violence” and “Crash and Burn”, the first of which is rousing and infectious. The chorus chant of “we are the writing on the wall” is spine tingling and inspiring. This song isn’t violent, its about raging anger against violence. At this time SICK56 should be the writing on the wall on every street corner, every back alley and every toilet wall. Do yerself and punk a big favour and buy this now! Oh and check out the cracking video on the www.jsntgm website. £3.00 from website address [10]

Trakmarx Fanzine
Blackpool is alive & kicking “as this superb split 45 ably illustrates. Sick56 could strip the foundation cream from a Goth’s face at 50 yards. Hardcore. You know the score. “Violence” & “Crash & Burn” mix Discharge shaped anger with Leatherface power in an exercise that renders 75% of the music reviewed on this page utterly pointless. Punk Rock has every right to sound this righteous in 2004 – & you have no choice but to comply. Higgins ++ join the party with “Cool Britannia Uber Alles” “a stinging critique of US foreign policy & UK complicity “set to the music of the Dead Kennedy’s classic, “California Uber Alles”. Every bit as convincing as Jello & the boys “but with slightly less chance of being ethically exposed 25 years after the fact. Buy this record. Marquee Smith “tMx 16 “08/04

i-94 Bar : Australian Webzine – Clark Paul
Heavyweight vinyl indeed, this spit EP comes on pink wax and looks like a slice of ham steak, it’s so thick. I advise you to play it, rather than eat it, especially if you’re into ultra-tough, sloganeering punk. Sick56 are uncompromising riffmesiters with one pace: flat-out. Both tunes are good but drawn-out slices of what used to be called hardcore (at least around here). Higgins ++ is the name for one of the label mover-and-shakers and his band, who put their minds to the Dead Kennedys song, updated for Tony Blair’s listening pleasure. The label name stands for “Just Say No To Government Music”. Uh, OK, guys. Most politicians can’t sing for shit anyway, let alone play sax. The music comes from Blackpool and shows the place has a thriving punk/underground scene.

Real Art Magazine (Russia) – Pavel
Sick 56/Higgins++ 7” split ((JSNTGM Records, p.o. box 1025, Blackpool, FY3 OFA, UK; www.jsntgm.com) To tell the truth, more and more I am declined to opinion, that to sing about how, for example, is healthy to go for a drive on a skateboard, or about any so important things HERE and NOW is a little short-sightedly… Suddenly when your son then will grow, and there will come time when he ask questions about todays. I never ask my father about something like that; it’s a pity that all his life was with fear and lie inside himself. All his life he was afraid to tell or do something wrong and not so!!! He was one of those who did everything in a proper way, went on all demonstrations, meetings and working-saturdays, participated in the peoples team, chorus, the wall newspaper – eventually he was appointed to be a Communist Party organizator on a factory. I was very little but have well remembered, how he left and betraid the friends only because they departed too far from a line of the Communist Party or simply ceased to be entered in system – as I understand it now, and that days I willingly trusted all explanations of parents.

I remember what he told me about Poland in 83-rd and how they laughed with his friends above Sakharov… Fuck, more I think about it – more details arises in my memory! And he was a cool guy – the public man, the provisional family man, he wrote verses in the factory newspaper. We have a heap of old photos, on which he is a tourist, with a backpack and guitar (yes, he sang all his life under a guitar. No Galich, Okudjava or even Vysotsky. All about our favourite Native land and something of this type: “The hippopotamus has no waist The hippopotamus has no waist The hippopotamus has no waist It is not able to dance We beat him on a muzzle with a teapot We beat him on a muzzle with a teapot We beat him on a muzzle with a teapot And we’ll teach him how to dance!” For him it was the top of hooliganism and freethinking.). Now he is old, understanding nothing and disappointed in everything person, malicious for the whole world – he doesn’t want to know that almost all his life he was not RIGHT! So.

It will not be a shame to musicians with this plate before their children. Monsters (-at me this word has positive painting) of the rock-n-roll polit-punk Sick 56 “have taken” with the common power of the songs (if fairly, I want more concrete texts.): two malicious, very fast punk-hits. As well as in a case with their high-grade album of the last year “Recipe For Disaster” (which I was lucky enough to listen and review), I was pleased with quite perceptible UK-Subs melodic intonations. The third song – Higgins ++ “Cool Britania Uber Alles”. If you remember, it is a project by Andy Higgins, the chief of JSNTGM Records.

Though his last year’s album sounded rather ascetically – he simply sang the songs impregnated with a politics under an electroguitar, on this plate he is accompanied by a high-grade band (Sick 56), that, probably, has a little lowered originality, but there is more drive and power! Look on the name of the song – how it can be played without drive?!!! The text is changed according to realities of the modern Great Britain and the common situation in the world. Yes, there it is possible to argue on much, but Andy lifts these questions, speaks about them, instead of fucking my brains with senseless freaks. The circulation is limited to five hundreds copies (till now I do not understand the necessity of this thing!). I dare to hope that in the world there are more reasonable people.
Mail.ru http://r.mail.ru/cln2625/www.Puteshestvie.ru Review by Pavel

Next Big Thing Zine
Punk Rock and ultra-leaded noise petroleum to keep your gas guzzlin’ eye on the dial. JSNTGM stands for Just Say No To Government Music and feels like one of those labels that operates in Eastern Europe. The split SICK 56/HIGGINS++ 45 is etched on plate thick vinyl which could be classed as a weapon in the wrong hands. The music is 77 style and the H++ fellas update Jello’s CA paen to be Cool Brittania.

Savage Amusement Fanzine
A bit pricey this one (£3 & post from PO Box 1025, Blackpool, FY3 0FA), but it comes in a full colour sleeve in insanely thick pink vinyl. Inside is a great article on Iraq and it’s probably the only one I’ve read that tells you the whole picture. Now the music… HIGGINS++ for once has a band (SICK 56?) backing him, but it’s a bad time to be doing a reworking of “California Uber Alles” as JAYNE COUNTY has just done exactly that. But it is nether-the-less a valid attack on my good friend Blair, sarcastically titled “Cool Britannia”. SICK 56 on the flip side offer little in the way of surprises, continuing with the same hard-as-nails street punk meets HC sound of their CD. Two new tracks in a THREATS meets early WERN’T vein, not quite as good or tuneful as “What’s Wrong With the Truth” but very powerful and with good sussed lyrics (can you believe some fanzines said the CD had “dodgy lyrics”, the middle class eh, never cease to amaze ya..)(6/10)

Deep Fry Bonanza Zine
Though most of you out there probably haven’t heard of JSNTGM Records, I was actually pretty excited to get a promo package from them. Back in the day they released Hooton 3 Car’s debut 12″ EP, Spot Daylight, which just happens to be one of my favorite records of all time. I remember mailording one of the last copies the label had five or six years ago and getting a nice note along with a bunch of stickers and other stuff. I got the same with the promo copy of this split EP, which always endears me to a label. But what about the music? Well, both Sick56 and Higgins++ play that sound that makes me wish that I lived in England. Take Everything Falls Apart-era Husker Du, add in some of the singalong melodies of Blitz or the Business, infuse it slightly with the post-punk attitude of Wire and make sure your Discharge records are never too far from the turntable and you have it. Of course Leatherface are the best and most famous purveyors of this style, but Great Britain has a way of turning out more and more brilliant bands of this ilk than any other place in the world. Sick56’s side of the split contains two tracks, “Violence” and “Crash & Burn.” “Violence” is both extremely heavy (the song has weight) and very poppy, reminding me a great deal of the last LP by Sick56’s brilliant countrymen No Choice. While a bit less heavy than bands like Hooton 3 Car and Broccoli, Sick56’s music is far more structured and pop-oriented than most any US hardcore group. “Crash & Burn,” on the other hand, is pretty much a straight-up hardcore song with a call-and-response chorus. I dare say that this track has a hint of NYHC in it, and I don’t doubt that it would appeal to fans of bands like Straight Ahead or early Agnostic Front. Higgins++, on the other hand, are a bit harder to pin down as they’ve kinda-sorta chosen a cover. Actually, they’ve reworked the Dead Kennedys’ “California Uber Alles” as “Cool Britannia Uber Alles” (methinks they could have done a little better than that and still fit the meter of the song). They’ve reworked the lyrics significantly to critique politics circa 2004 and they’re quite clever, but the music remains very true to the DKs’ original. My guess is that a band this in touch with their old school roots must be pretty good, but it’s just difficult to tell from a single cover song. This great-looking pink vinyl single is limited to 500 individually-numbered copies, so I guess it’s more of a teaser or a vanity item than an important release by either band. However, after listening to the disc I’m anxious to hear more from both bands, so I guess that JSNTGM has done their job in that respect.
And if you happen to be looking for more of the UK’s unique style of hardcore bands, pick up this single because it’ll give you a quick and dirty intro to two really great ones.
Posted by Daniel on September 24th, 2004 02:19 PM

Full Frontal Recordings (FFRUK)
SICK56´s two offerings ´Violence´ and ´Crash And Burn´ are well played punk rock songs in the vein of Blitz meets the UK Subs. ´Violence´ came about after one of SICK56´s mates was attacked by a gang of people and left with serious injuries. ´Crash And Burn´ is a great political song which in the early 80´s would have been at the top of the indie charts. Its often been said there´s never been a band that could touch Blitz in their hey day and I agree there hasn´t been any UNTIL now that is! SICK56´s brand of Street Punk Rock just leaves you desperate for more! On the flip side we have ´Cool Britannia Uber Alles´ an offering from Higgins++ which is Andy from JSNTGM. I´m not that familiar with Andy’s later stuff but this offering see´s punk legend ´Jello Biafra´ come into the equation with bits taken from the ´Dead Kennedy´s´ song ´California Uber Alles.´ Whether Jello wrote the whole song or just supplied bits and pieces to it is irrelevant because this is a great political song and how Andy has put this together is well clever and breaks away from the usual rants of political songs. This E.P. comes with a great cover, the music is well produced and you´d be a fool to miss out but hurry there´s only 500 copies and its on pink vinyl too! (JSNTGM) 9/10

Punk and Oi in the UK
Nice little taster of their forthcomming split single with the UK Subs. When I reviewed a promo of the bands debut album (Recipie for Disaster) last year I said it was my album of the month, well I’d like to change that to album of the year, by far the best new band I’ve heard for a long time. These 2 tracks are just as good if not better, “Violence” is maybe a touch faster than their other stuff. As a bonus this comes with 2 videos Sick 56 “In the Red” and the Subs “Limo Life” (with Boothy from Sick 56 on drums) and an extra track of the band playing “Gotta Revolution” with Andy Higgins (from Erase Today) which for all you punk rock anoraks out there was the first song by the first band at the first HITS in Blackpool 1996. I don’t know what the 2 new Subs songs are but this will be worth buying for Sick 56 alone, so whatever the Subs do can only be a bonus. For more details see their website www.sick56.org where you can download the “In the Red” and “Violence” videos. If you’ve never heard them I suggest you check them out, you will not be disappointed. Ian

Street Voice
Street Voice News Letter – Autumn/Winter 2003
Blackpool’s answer to the UK Subs sent me this 3 track demo and in all fairness they do deserve the tag of Britain’s best Street Punk Band and I’m not just saying this. For years I’ve said nearly all British Street Punk bands were happy to put out bland recordings and then come along Sick56 to show the rest how it’s done. Violence and Crash & Burn smack you in the face and then comes Gotta Revolution with a guest appearance from Andy Higgins of the now defunct band Erase Today. Brilliant – I aint stopped pogoing. – Steve DIY

No Brains Webzine – Sept 05
One side of this split belongs to Sick56 – very raw street punk from UK. Cool lyrics, straight to the point, lot of anger and good songs. Nothing radicaly new, but done in the right way. On the other side, not unknown to No Brains readers – one man punk band Higgins++. This time Higgins++ is backed by band. “Cool Britania Uber Alles” is Dead Kennedys cover. Cool anti Tony Blair, Bush, war in Iraq etc. lyrics. I’m glad somebody wrote a song like this. Musically it sounds great and angry. Big + for JSNTGM Records

Keepschtumm issue 10
Two acts, three songs. Side A belongs to top Blackpool punks SICK56 doing two numbers entitled ‘Violence’ and ‘Crash and Burn’ both of which are well polished efforts, and there’s also a video doing the rounds which features the band throwing lots of metal and various other objects around, plus some cracking guitar work. Side AA belongs to Andy ‘jsntgm’ Higgins – known as Higgins++ – with his own version of that Dead Kennedys hit renaming it Cool Britannia Uber Alles attacking our very own puppet on a string Tony B. Liar. Nice lyrics too. This is a limited edition on pink vinyl and its damn thick too. I wouldn’t like to get hit in the head by this. Altogether this is great punk rock and well worth digging into those pockets for . I can’t remember how much it costs ? Check out these folks at www.jsntgm.com for info.

Fast ‘n’ Loud Issue 3
The latest release from JSNTGM. Split single by Higgins++ (Erase Today singers solo project) is an uptodate cool version of the Dead Kennedys Cool Britannia Uber Alles. SICK56 come up tops with two new tracks Violence and Crash n Burn. It comes on thick pink vinyl with colour sleeve. But hurry there’s only 500 made, so get it quick.

Riot 77 Issue 8
Limited 500 pressing for this split here. Up first is Higgins++ with his summary of the Iraq war and the tryth behind it, laid over the DK’s California Uber Alles music, renamed Cool Britannia Uber Alles here for the occasion. I’m sure Jello would be proud ! The flipside is fellow Blackpool punkers SICK56 with two of their well-honed ditties, staying true to what we’d expect from them. It’s the format and the information that really send this one home and coupled with the quality of the music on board makes it difficult to fault.

Direct Hit Issue 4
Andy Higgins basically does a cover of California Uber Alles (if you don’t know who did that you’re not punk) and re-names it Cool Britannia Uber Alles where he incorporates an attack on Tony Blair and his fucked up government. Well done and cool. On the flipside are SICK56, if you haven’t got their cd, then they are a blend of LEATHERFACE and those old RIOT CITY bands, with a bit of noise. Their lyrics complement Andy Higgins’ where they highlight where we’ve been let down by Tony Blair and his so called Labour Government. A limited edition of 500 copies on pink vinyl

Everlong Issue 6
A fine release from Just Say No To Government Music, limited to 500 copies and served up on a heavy piece of pink vinyl. SICK56 play straight up punk rock, really pacey, with decent guitars and a vocalist that spits out the lyrics with a venom that convinces you that he believes in what he is singing about. The two tracks from SICK56 are ‘Violence’ and ‘Crash and Burn’ neither of which can be faulted. The Higgins++ track is a cover of the Dead Kennedy’s ‘California Uber Alles’, retitled ‘Cool Britannia Uber Alles’ with alternative lyrics attacking the US and UK governments for invading Iraq and highlighting the corruption and hypocrisy that is rife in the current US administration. This is a really welcome record and should be an essential part of any UK punk’s collection.

Keepschtumm issue 10
Higgins++ do a lyrically updated version of the DK’s ‘California Uber Alles’ – but theirs is called ‘ Cool Britannia Uber Alles’ and takes a hearty stab at the current disaster going on in Iraq. SICK56 give two original songs, that musically reminded me of early GBH, but with a street-punk style vocally. Thick as hell pink swirly vinyl limited to 500. (Dave)

Zonked – Issue 8
This concrete think slab of pink vinyl, limited to 500 copies, pairs Blackpool’s Punk slashers SICK65 (who turn in two stomping no frills numbers) with JSNTGM records honcho Andy Higgins, in prime solo fashion, tearing into an unflinching version of ‘California Uber Alles’ ,re-titled, re-worded and re-branded ‘Cool Britannia’ and expressing the thoughts many of us have on the hoodwinking coercion that lead to the invasion of Iraq by the American forces, who were backed (right up the arse) by our own troops. Bush and Blair = bonded by bullshit. www.jsntgm.com

Blitzkrieg Bop – Issue 9
Ooh a big pink one ! Coloured vinyl just like me old Subs records ! SICK56 – hardcore punk band – think DOA with a gutsier vocal and there you have it, a couple of tracks here and although not as immediate as anything on their album it’s still very intense yet listenable, dull song titles though? Higgins++ does an anti Bush/Blair rant to the tune of ‘California Uber Alles’ it’s good but not half as biting as Jello on the mic, a nice little collectors item as it’s only a limited release of 500

Puke Fanzine – Nov 05
SICK56’s A side features two forceful tracks ‘Violence’ and ‘Crash and Burn’ which come hammering out of the speakers with a lot of muscly guitar, drilling drums and audible vocals. Higgins++ is Andy Higgins the label boss (backed up by SICK56) and they give us a vicious Blair-tailored version of ‘Cool Britannia Uber Alles’. ‘Mmmm is that French or English mustard gas?/Get a taste of Rumsfeld’s anthrax’. This is pitch black with humour and savagery! This whole 7″ is a cracking package, thought provoking sleeve, insert leaflet with horrific truths about Iraq, and the pressing is on super-thick pale pink wax. Get It ! (Becca)

Razorcake – issue 24
Sick56 : UK street punk in the vein of Sick on the Bus meets A Global Threat. Higgins++ : The ‘++’ means SICK56 and they team up with some dude or band named Higgins. An updated version and parody of Dead Kennedys California Uber Alles titled Cool Britannia Uber Alles. On the heaviest gram pink vinyl I have ever seen for a 7″ – Donofthehead (JSNTGM)

Beat Motel – Issue 1
This was one of those items sent for review where I thought : Uh oh, this’ll be pretty forgetful. But surprise, surprise, both sides are much better than expected. Higgins++ does a cover of ‘California Uber Alles’ called ‘Cool Britannia Uber Alles’, aabout the Iraq situation and Blair’s role in it. And bugger me ! If Andy hasn’t been listening to the advice in the reviews of his CD. It starts off like his regular acoustic stuff and just at the point where you’re thinking ‘Ooh could do with some drums to spice it up’, BANG ! They and the song thump into life, so you get a pretty good version of a classic song. And where SICK56 didn’t move me too much previously, these songs offer definite improvement. The first one ‘Violence’ is like the best Chaos UK stuff and the second (Crash and Burn) is like ACAB era Contempt. This is a fat piece of vinyl and comes with an Andy Higgins article on Iraq (The Truth Behind the War). Very interesting piece of music to make you think/mad, nice package and overall, some decent punk rock into the bargain ! (7/10)

Bald Cactus – Issue 23
This concrete think slab of pink vinyl, limited to 500 copies, pairs Blackpool’s Punk slashers SICK65 (who turn in two stomping no frills numbers) with JSNTGM records honcho Andy Higgins, in prime solo fashion, tearing into an unflinching version of ‘California Uber Alles’ ,re-titled, re-worded and re-branded ‘Cool Britannia’ and expressing the thoughts many of us have on the hoodwinking coercion that lead to the invasion of Iraq by the American forces, who were backed (right up the arse) by our own troops. Bush and Blair = bonded by bullshit. www.jsntgm.com

Headwound Issue 17
The heavy weight coloured vinyl is like a pink manhole cover. I swear if you drop this on your foot you will be in casualty.. The Andy Higgins track is a clever re-working of ‘California Uber Alles’ with the lyrics amended to reflect Blair’s Britain. His recent CD was a lot like Billy Bragg’s electric stuff and the absence of bass and drums left it feeling a bit incomplete, so I am pleased he has added a full backing track and this works well as a result. The two SICK56 songs continue where their last CD left off, classic UK82 punk rock with big production and socio-political lyrics. One of them was involved with One Way System back in the day, and as an easy comparison, I guess this sounds like their modern equivalent. I’m not that excited by their side, but it is certainly a good effort. There’s a ton of work put into the packaging with some timely comment on ‘New Britain plc’ and I’d highly recommend this. The reading list in the cover seems like David Icke hocus pocus territory though – what the hell’s going on there then ? £3.50 distro post paid (4/5 Higgins++, 3/5 Sick56)

In It On It Issue 18
This is on heavy pink vinyl too. Loadsa zines raved about the SICK56 album – but I never really got what all the fuss was about. I thought it was OK, but here they rock. This is more tuneful than before, true shoutalong punk rock. SICK56 all back up Higgins++, giving the man more crunch for Cool Britannia Uber Alles – his comment on the Iraq war, angry, relevant and to the tune of the old DK’s classic. Hope they don’t sue !