The Nearest Door (2024 Reissue)

D&V were a duo formed in Sheffield by Andy Leach on drums and Jef Antcliffe on vocals. The group released their first EP The Nearest Door on Crass Records. With Penny Rimbaud as producer, their musical simplicity was combined with uncompromising avant-gardism to achieve new heights. 

Penny Rimbaud tells us: “D&V are so named because they turned up to play at the now legendary squat gig of 1982 at the Zig Zag Club in North London. At that time, they didn’t have a moniker, so they were chalked up on the day’s order of play as D&V (drums and vocals) because that’s what they were and that’s how they remained. Simple and to the point, they were precursors to rap which later both rhythmically and vocally came to mirror their fierce rhetoric. A northern band with streetwise sentiments, they spoke loud and clear of disenfranchisement (call it slavery) and the vicious class system which created it. From street to stormy skies, D&V were on the up, and hard rains began to fall.”

Penny finally notes that, “Our (Crass’) interest was never in personalities, profits or power, and neither did we have time for reformist liberals. Our position was solidly revolutionary; we took no prisoners. Ours wasn’t a show, it was a battle, not a living, but a lifestyle, a lifestyle with a difference – rather than looking only to ourselves, we sought to share our gains. I feel that this willingness added great strength to the form of anarchism that we practiced both on stage and out on the street.”

In giving a platform to an impressive array of other bands, Crass Records broadened the front of what popularly became known as anarcho-punk. 

Released: June 2024
Cat: 1219842
Label: Crass Records

Listen

Tracklist

1. Jekyll and Hyde
2. Wake Up
3. High Above
4. Today’s Conclusion
5. Step Inside
6. Dignity
7. S21PN