Thee Faction Explained

Thee Faction
Origin:Surrey, England
Genre:Garage punk, punk, garage rock
Years Active:2010–present
Label:Soviet Beret[1]
Current Members:Billy Brentford Nylons
Babyface
Dai Nasty
Kassandra Krossing
Thee Citizen
Red Scare
Nineteen Nineteen
The Ol' One Hand
Past Members:The G.A.
Horace Hardman
Christine Campbell

Thee Faction are a British garage rock/garage punk band from Surrey, England, noted for their explicit socialist agenda.[2] They refer to their music, which incorporates elements of garage rock, pop and rhythm and blues[3] as "Socialist RnB".[4] [5] Their album Up The Workers! was rated one of the Daily Mirrors top twenty albums of 2011.[6]

Biography

Thee Faction's debut album At Ebbw Vale was released in 2010.[7] Dubbed 'rhythm and booze' and 'timely'[8] by Simon Price in The Independent it was rated 8/10 in Vive Le Rock.[9] Is This Music? praised the record, comparing the band to Dr. Feelgood.[10]

Second album Up The Workers! or, Capitalism is Good For Corporations That's Why You've Been Told Socialism is Bad All Your Life[11] was described by the Daily Mirror as "Power-packed garage rock 'n' soul underlined by a defiantly political edge." The title track featured Ivan Chandler (The Echoes) on piano. The album was rated 7/10 by Drowned in Sound who praised it as "a lot of fun, undeniably stirring.. Thee Faction write showstoppers" but also criticised the music as "entertaining in a very conventional way".[12]

The band's third album Singing Down The Government, or, The War of Position and How We're Winning It,[13] was released in 2012, and introduced all-female horn section Brass Kapital.[14] The album was promoted by headlining appearances at the Marxism Festival[15] and Tolpuddle Martyrs festival and included contributions by Richard Archer from Hard-Fi and rapper Clencha.[13] [16] Free download-only singles for tracks 'Soapbox'[17] and 'Sausage Machine'[18] were accompanied by promotional videos.[19] Q Magazine praised the album as "a critique of societal hegemony on the back of a grimy blues'n’b twang, rife with the contagious energy of people who know they're right",[20] and it was rated 7/10 by Mick Farren in Classic Rock Blues magazine.[21]

Thee Faction released fourth album Good Politics: Your Role As An Active Citizen Within Civil Society[22] in 2013, preceded by single 'Better Than Wages',[23] remixed from the album by Andy Lewis. The album featured (on one track each) guest vocals from writer Francis Wheen[24] and saxophone from Crayola Lectern, and was rated 8/10 in Classic Rock[25] and 4/5 in The Independent[26] and Mojo[27] who called it "wildly galvanising, blisteringly angry, insanely entertaining blue-collar rock'n'roll".

Thee Faction released fifth album Reading Writing Revolution: The Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall in June 2015,[28] preceded by a track on double-CD fundraising album Orgreave Justice[29] [30] and free download single "Choose Your Enemy", released on 29 March with accompanying video.[31] [32] A second free download single "(You've Got The) Numbers (Why Don't You Use It)" accompanied the release. The album received 5/5 in the Morning Star,[33] 9/10 at MaximumVolumeMusic,[34] and a positive review in Socialist Standard,[35] while R*E*P*E*A*T zine called it "highly enjoyable, dangerously tuneful, subversively catchy and dialectically danceable, as well as being (as the title implies) properly educational - thought provoking and agitational."[36] The band announced a number of summer festival dates, including Glastonbury,[37] and a return to Tolpuddle[38] and the Matchwomens Festival.[39]

Thee Faction guitarist Babyface, under cadre name "Chris Fox", won the Beard Liberation Front's 'St David's Day Beard of Wales' title in 2015, 2017 and 2018.[40] [41] He was runner-up in 2016.[42]

Thee Faction keyboard player and vocalist Kassandra Krossing, aka Cassie Fox, started the Loud Women organisation and festival in 2015. She also now plays bass in "mummycore" band I, Doris, along with Thee Faction trombonist Nineteen Nineteen. [43]

Thee Faction's most recent gig to date was a 2017 benefit show for the anti-Haringey Development Vehicle campaign. The band has not officially confirmed a hiatus, although a slogan on one of their web-pages, "R&B sui generis",[44] may indicate that, like other left-wing groups, they have gone into the Labour Party.

Politics

The band have performed with, and for, various artists and organisations of the broad Left including Attila the Stockbroker, Robb Johnson, Chris T-T, Grace Petrie, Colour Me Wednesday, The Tuts, Billy Bragg, TV Smith, The Hurriers, Mark Steel, Josie Long, the SWP, the Welsh Communist Party and the Jeremy Corbyn Labour Party leadership campaign.[45] [46] [47]

The band appear to be unaligned with any particular organisation or tradition but are noted for promoting ideas associated with guild socialism, democratic socialism, classical Marxism and left communism, while supporting a range of left-wing and trade union causes.[48] [49] [50] Notwithstanding the band's use of Ostalgic tropes and apparent (possibly parodic) anti-revisionism, in a 2013 interview they declared themselves "libertarian socialists of one kind or another".[51] Thee Faction have however attracted criticism for their political views; notably, a 2012 gig review by Ruth Dudley Edwards for The Daily Telegraph angered the newspaper's Conservative readership.[52]

Discography

Albums

The Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall CD (Soviet Beret, 2015)

Singles/EPs

Compilation appearances

Members

Current members
Former members
Live members

External links

Reviews

Interviews

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Soviet Beret Records | Home of Socialist R&B and official record company for proletarian struggle . Sovietberet.wordpress.com . 8 July 2013 . 4 July 2014.
  2. Web site: Neil Scott: Not a Review. Reviews are Bourgeois . Huffingtonpost.co.uk . 30 August 2011 . 4 July 2014.
  3. Web site: Album Reviews – 2010 . Tastyfanzine.org.uk . 4 July 2014.
  4. Web site: Simon Andrew . Thee Faction – Singing Down the Government . Beat-surrender.com . 15 November 2012 . 4 July 2014.
  5. Web site: Keen . Ross . Thee Faction: An Interview. . Louderthanwar.com. 15 May 2012 . 4 July 2014.
  6. Web site: Thee Faction's Up The Workers: the Daily Mirror's 17th best album of 2011 | Thee Faction . Theefaction.wordpress.com . 23 December 2011. 4 July 2014.
  7. Web site: Thee Faction – At Ebbw Vale (Vinyl, LP) at Discogs . Discogs.com . October 2010. 4 July 2014.
  8. News: Simon Price . Album: Thee Faction, At Ebbw Vale (Soviet Beret) – Reviews – Music . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-thee-faction-at-ebbw-vale-soviet-beret-2140096.html . 7 May 2022 . subscription . live . . 21 November 2010 . 4 July 2014.
  9. Web site: Vive Le Rock! . Vive Le Rock! . 12 March 2014 . 4 July 2014.
  10. Web site: is this music?" long players Thee Faction " is this music? . Isthismusic.com . 2 December 2010 . 4 July 2014.
  11. Web site: Thee Faction – Up The Workers! (CD) at Discogs . Discogs.com . 15 August 2011. 4 July 2014.
  12. Web site: August . Els . Album Review: Thee Faction – Up The Workers! / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound . Drownedinsound.com . 11 August 2011 . 4 July 2014 . 17 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180817124828/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/16413/reviews/4143314 . dead .
  13. Web site: Thee Faction – Singing Down The Government (CD, Album) at Discogs . Discogs.com . October 2012. 4 July 2014.
  14. Web site: Vive Le Rock! . Vive Le Rock! . 12 March 2014 . 4 July 2014.
  15. Web site: Home | Marxism 2014 . Marxismfestival.org.uk . 4 July 2014.
  16. Web site: clencha | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos . Myspace.com . 6 April 2013 . 4 July 2014.
  17. Web site: Bill Cummings . Thee Faction get on their 'Soapbox' for FREE release . Godisinthetvzine.co.uk . 12 September 2012 . 4 July 2014.
  18. Web site: Comrades, Thee Faction Needs You! . Louderthanwar.com . 6 February 2013 . 4 July 2014.
  19. Web site: theefaction . . 4 July 2014.
  20. Web site: Thee Faction. – Projekta . Projekta.is . 4 July 2014.
  21. Web site: Thee Faction – Did we share this with you? Your actual... . Facebook.com . 6 March 2013 . 4 July 2014.
  22. Web site: Shepherd . Sam . Thee Faction – Good Politics: Your Role As An Active Citizen Within A Civil Society | Album Reviews . Musicomh.com. 8 July 2013 . 4 July 2014.
  23. Web site: Thatcher dies. Thee Faction launch new video. | Thee Faction . Theefaction.wordpress.com . 8 April 2013. 4 July 2014.
  24. Web site: Thee Faction – Good Politics (CD) at Discogs . Discogs.com . 8 July 2013. 4 July 2014.
  25. Web site: This Machine Kills Capitalism – Buy Thee Faction's 'Good Politics' – the new album | Thee Faction . Theefaction.wordpress.com . 7 July 2013. 4 July 2014.
  26. News: Simon Price . Album review: Thee Faction, Good Politics (Soviet Beret) – Reviews – Music . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-review-thee-faction-good-politics-soviet-beret-8707567.html . 7 May 2022 . subscription . live . . 13 July 2013 . 4 July 2014.
  27. Web site: Thee Faction land four star review in Mojo | Thee Faction . Theefaction.wordpress.com . 4 July 2013. 4 July 2014.
  28. Web site: Default Parallels Plesk Page. Rhythm-and-booze.co.uk. 2020-06-11.
  29. Web site: Orgreave Truth and Justice CD Out Now feat. Paul Heaton, Sleaford Mods, TV Smith, Billy Bragg and more. 20 February 2015. Louderthanwar.com.
  30. Web site: OTJC CD out now! – Orgeave Truth and Justice Campaign. Otjc.org.uk. 20 February 2015 . 2020-06-11.
  31. Web site: Thee Faction - Choose Your Enemy (Official Video). Thee Faction. 29 March 2015. YouTube.
  32. Web site: DOWNLOAD 'CHOOSE YOUR ENEMY' | Thee Faction . 30 March 2015 . 2 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402090630/https://theefaction.wordpress.com/download-choose-your-enemy/ . dead .
  33. Web site: Factional activity a revolutionary gem. Morningstaronline.co.uk. 2020-06-11.
  34. Web site: REVIEW: THEE FACTION - Reading, Writing, Revolution. MaximumVolumeMusic.com. 28 April 2015. 2020-06-11.
  35. Web site: No. 1335 November 2015 - The Socialist Party of Great Britain. Worldsocialism.org. 2020-06-11.
  36. News: Reading Writing Revolution : Thee Faction. Repeatfanzine.co.uk. 2020-06-11.
  37. Web site: THEE FACTION GET THEIR RS IN GEAR! - Vive Le Rock Magazine. Vivelerock.net. 2020-06-11.
  38. Web site: Trades Union Congress - Billy Bragg returns to Tolpuddle Festival in 2015 . 10 June 2015 . 10 June 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150610174020/https://www.tuc.org.uk/about-tuc/regions/billy-bragg-returns-tolpuddle-festival-2015 . dead .
  39. Web site: Matchfest Line up. Matchfest.co.uk. 2020-06-11.
  40. Web site: St David's Day Beard of Wales poll sees triumphs for MP Paul Flynn & musician Chris Fox. Kmflett.wordpress.com. 1 March 2017. 2020-06-11.
  41. Web site: Musician Chris Fox shaves Times journalist & senior Labour AM to win St David's Day Beard of Wales. 28 February 2018.
  42. Web site: St David's Day 'Beard of Wales' winners announced. 1 March 2016. Telegraph.co.uk. 2020-06-11.
  43. Web site: I, Doris: 'The Girl From Clapham' – the Squeeze classic from her point of view. 8 March 2019. louderthanwar.com. 2021-10-20.
  44. Web site: Thee Faction. En-gb.facebook.com. 2020-06-11.
  45. Web site: Marxism and the left. Alex. Callinicos. Eli. Zaretsky. Amy. Mollett. Cheryl. Brumley. 19 July 2012. Blogs.lse.ac.uk. 2020-06-11.
  46. Web site: Grym Go Iawn i Bobl Cymru – Real Power for the People of Wales – Plaid Gomiwnyddol Cymru – Welsh Communist Party . 11 June 2020 . 11 June 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200611143902/http://welshcommunists.org/ . dead .
  47. Web site: 'A celebration of a class resurgent'. Morningstaronline.co.uk. 2020-06-11.
  48. Web site: Thee Faction | "Taking down the Tory government, one song at a time" (The Guardian) . Theefaction.wordpress.com . 4 July 2014.
  49. Web site: Bennett . Peter . Thee Faction 'Capitalism Is Good For Corporations' – album review . Louderthanwar.com . 11 November 2011 . 4 July 2014.
  50. Web site: MUSIC NEWS: ORGREAVE TRUTH AND JUSTICE GIG DATE SET – Orgeave Truth and Justice Campaign. Otjc.org.uk. 2020-06-11.
  51. Web site: IS Network – 'Love music, hate capitalism': an interview with Thee Faction . Internationalsocialistnetwork.org . 10 July 2013 . 4 July 2014.
  52. Web site: Dudley . Ruth . It's Christmas: join hands and dance with our socialist brethren – Telegraph Blogs . https://web.archive.org/web/20130101072622/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ruthdudleyedwards/100194107/its-christmas-join-hands-and-dance-with-our-socialist-brethren/#disqus_thread . dead . 1 January 2013 . Blogs.telegraph.co.uk . 13 December 2012 . 4 July 2014.
  53. Web site: Introducing: Thee Faction's New Line-up. 2012-01-13. 2017-02-11.
  54. Web site: You Want To See Thee Faction With Brass Kapital? Here They Are. Thee Faction. 2011-10-31. 2017-02-11.
  55. Web site: Tomorrow night Brass Kapital.... 2015-04-15. Thee Faction. . 2017-02-11.

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