She - Citizensmith

"1977 was the year that punk came out of the concert halls and onto the streets; when independent labels sprang out of the woodwork to feed new tastes; when rock music once again became about energy and fun; when the majors' boardrooms lost control. Suddenly we could do anything."
Sleeve notes to the 'Streets' compilation. 1977 (Beggars Banquet)

The spirit of early the 70's punk rock movement was the DIY ethic; it was the tearing up of all of the ideas that mainstream culture had to offer. And it was the last truly art-based, rock-as-revolution movement. But punk is dead, like so many that went before, swallowed, sanitized and regurgitated by the industry it wanted to "destroy". Today punk rock is a fashion statement and it's on sale for £9.99. Citizen Smith aren't a punk rock band but they believe in the spirit of punk and its inherent ethics. Punk rock for the keybored generation maybe?

They have, since 2003 recorded and released their own material straight to the web as free, full length downloads.

Yes, that's what I thought, so I asked Paul [vox] and Ralph [gtrs] "why?"

"The dilemma facing any idealist is marketing reality... I need to get my idea across, I know sex will get your attention but only love will keep it. So the Internet and the instant gratification culture that surrounds it made it the obvious choice. It's a perfect medium for the distribution of music, particularly for new groups. Giving the product away free initially allows fans - in a jaded and over sold market - to get to know a new group without laying out fifteen quid on an unknown. What really surprised us was how few people had exploited the medium, considering the enthusiastic the response we've got. We literally get downloads from all over the world, some of the places I'd never even heard of!" says Paul.
Ralph explains, "it's a hang-up about "the deal" and "the product" - if you haven't got a deal you're not a proper band and if you haven't got a CD to sell you don't make real music". "But" continues Paul "our music is available almost instantly if we make a tune tonight it can be on the site within 24hrs and, for now at least, it's available for free... we're musicians and we want our music heard as soon as we've made it, what could be more real than that? We live in an age where even history is getting faster. I just wouldn't want to be shackled to a deal with any label where you have wait about a year between releases, it's about music, not marketing strategies and 90 day lead times to advertising campaigns."

But I can't help thinking that if they actually found a label bold enough to back them, they could bring a completely new way of thinking to a industry that has, so far, actively resisted the growth of internet music.

And what about the music? I've already said it's not punk and, even though their undoubtedly independent, they're no "indie" band... so a definitive description in our dissected and label-lazy hack world?

Try "post grunge, nu old-school, arena capable, alt. sensible, emo-conscious, pre post-rock, alternative rock band"

But believe me Citizen Smith is way shorter- KB 2003 Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.