Crass have released a new video for their previously unreleased track, “Sheep Farming In The Farklands 3.” The song comes from Crass’ upcoming box-set, Best Before 1984 (Crassical Collection), which is set for release on October 30 via one Little Independent Records. The box-set will included Crass’ entire catalogue, with each track restored from the original analogue studio tapes.
“Sheep Farming 3″ had first appeared on the 1983 7”, Sheep Farming in the Farklands. The track begins with a sped-up news program before devolving into Crass’ iconic punk rock sound, the group yelling their nearly incomprehensible lyrics over quick guitar riffs and the early ’80s punk rock ideal.
“A previously unreleased version of ‘Sheep Farming in the Farklands’ written and produced sometime after hostilities had ceased,” Crass’ Penny Rimbaud said in a press statement. “The first listener to send us the lyrics in full will be handsomely rewarded. I’ve tried, but despite having written them, I still can’t get it word for word.”
The video includes colorful messages flashing across the screen. Much of the words flash by quickly, each word piling over the others. “Lost for words but ever active,” “But still we carry on” and “There is no authority” are just a few of the words that flash on the screen, the video encapsulating the chaos found in the lyrics.
Crass had first formed in England in 1977, promoting anarchism as a resistance movement. The band helped form and bring forth the punk subculture, with the band’s “advertisements” coming from spray-painted graffiti messages in the London Underground system and on billboards. Crass spent most of their career as a band advocating for direct action, animal rights, feminism, anti-fascism and environmentalism throughout their career, and they utilized a DIY ethic approach to their albums, all of which continuing to encapsulate the goals found in today’s current punk rock culture.