This is part Steve’s autobiography, part band history and part insiders story of the 1980’s UK anarcho punk scene. Lyrics and notes concerning the songs of Zounds, the places they went and the people they met. This is part Steve’s autobiography, part band history and part insiders story of the 1980’s UK anarcho punk scene. The band were formed around the nucleus of Steve Lake from Reading, Berkshire and evolved from a number of jamming sessions with other musicians and friends in Oxford, taking in influences from the Velvet Underground to the Sex Pistols. he band slowly became more politicized owing to troubles with police and unfolding events of the cold war, and became more and more involved with free festivals, alongside The Mob, with whom they developed a close association. The band met up with fellow anarchists Crass when, legend has it, their van broke down on the road. They made their way to nearby Dial House, where Crass were based, who helped them with repairs. The two bands became friends, and although musically very divergent, they shared many common political views. The band released their first album The Curse of Zounds on Rough Trade Records in 1981, recording and mixing the LP within five days. The cover art, by anarchist artist Clifford Harper, featured a painting of fire fighters apparently trying to put out a blaze at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. However, the picture continued onto the back cover, which showed that in fact they are spraying the fire with petrol, thus feeding it. The band split up in late 1982, Steve Lake disaffected with the Anarchist music scene in general and the band worn out from touring. In 2007 Zounds reformed. In 2010 the band began playing more extensively across the UK and Europe, completing two short European tours. In this book Steve Lake, principle writer of the band Zounds, collects all the band’s lyrics and illuminates each with a relevant commentary. It contains personal reminisces about how the band and their peers lived, it delves into the background of the lyrics and looks at the wider social context in which the band operated.