's. A score of three is given to something that is a typical example of its style with nothing too outstanding or bad about it.
It’s great to see DIY is still being kept alive by bands like The Autonomads. This release comes in a hand-folded A3 poster inside a hand-sewn hessian bag with a hand-numbered tag showing which one of the thousand pressed you’ve got. Impressive enough before you even get to the content. When you put this much care into the packaging, it’s a pretty good bet you’ll put some serious effort into what’s inside too. Having seen the band live before picking this up I know they do exactly that when they plug in and turn on, and the CD doesn’t deviate from the script.
This is tight and energetic punked-up ska with a decent splash of dubby sauce. It’s set off perfectly with some nice upfront sax and crowd-pleasing singalong choruses. The lyrics are a mix of the personal and political, not too dissimilar to the creative wordplay favoured by Dick Lucas, which is exactly how it should be. Packed into the backroom of a pub with this lot on the stage gets the dancefloor hot n’ sweaty very quickly. Grab this release and chances are you won’t be able to resist a quick skank when you put it in the CD player too (although that’s not so advisable if the CD player is in the car and you’re driving).
For people who also like: Inner Terrestrials, The Blaggers, Sonic Boom Six
OP’s opinion: 
Download sample track – GMP (Greater Manchester Police)
The Autonomads’ Myspace
Buy from Pumpkin Records or the band
I’d also like to point out how nice Pumpkin Records were when I bought this and a Warcoma EP (review coming) from them for a grand £8 including postage. There was a slight delay in getting the package sent as The Autonomads were still in the process of making the next batch of bags. As well as sending me very friendly email updates about the order, they also threw in a complimentary copy of ‘Is It Fucking Worth It?‘ by Paradox (review also coming) when they were eventually able to post the discs out. There was even a lovely little hand-written note thanking me for my patience. Now that’s punk as fuck!
Nice review – this CD is now available as a vinyl LP release from RUIN NATION RECORDS. Includes one bonus track (Cloud Song – Rudimentary Peni).
Thanks.
You can also pick up the vinyl from Pumpkin Records for £9 inc. p&p if you’re in the UK.
The cover design for this is superb, especially if you’re a fan of the old CRASS-style albums 🙂
Pumpkin Records are classy as fuck. Last time I ordered through them, they were all away on tour so they emailed me apologising for the delay. When my CD did come there was also a little hand written note and a couple of extra bits (badges, stickers etc) thrown in. Can’t say enough about how much these guys give a fuck…top drawer.