THEE FACTION

Thee Faction - blistering, visceral socialist R&B with an explicit political agenda. "Floor-packed fist-raising fun" Daily Mirror "Wildly galvanising, blisteringly angry, insanely entertaining blue-collar rock'n'roll" Mojo "We are fighting a government of millionaires. Thee Faction are providing the soundtrack” Mark Serwotka "I love Thee Faction as chimps love bananas, as bankers love bonuses, as Jeremy Hunt loves Rupert Murdoch" Francis Wheen "Raging old-school R&B tunes and humour. Rife with the contagious energy of people who know they're right' Q "Even their titles are complex yet unambiguous, which I appreciate" Jon Langford "A brilliant live band. Sharply dressed and ready for action" Morning Star "Their power, particularly live, is driven by their burning sense of injustice in the current political climate. This is the real thing, a call to arms to make a better future." A Model Of Control "Power-packed garage rock 'n' soul underlined by a defiantly political edge" Daily Mirror "100% fun. And they 100% mean it man" Classic Rock "A joyous celebration of socialism" Huffington Post "Actual full-on revolutionary socialist R'n'B. Imagine Dr Feelgood with a brainful of Gramsci or The Redskins with a sense of humour" The Word "Marxist lyrics, rhythm 'n' blues and punk-influenced tunes, a lively brass section, bouncy and energetic, great live!" Socialist Worker "Timely. I love these mad bastards" Simon Price "A brilliant (commie) soul review band" Chris T-T "A lot of fun, undeniably stirring.. Thee Faction write showstoppers" Drowned In Sound "If the blues was a blender it could pour out Thee Faction. Take equal parts Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, The Clash and anarcho-syndicalism" Mick Farren "Loud guitars and infectious horns.. a special band indeed. Socialism you can dance to" Eco-Socialist "In this present day when we’re constantly having mundane faecal matter flung at us by the mainstream music industry, when we’re angry about the shambles this government has herded us into, when we feel like we’re just about to lose faith, it’s a breath of fresh air when a band present themselves to save us. Meet Thee Faction" God Is In The TV "Bringing down the Tories one song at a time” The Guardian "Formed in Reigate in the late 70s by four schoolmates (Billy Brentford, The Hard Man, Nylons and Dai Nasty), and subsequently joined in the early 80s by Dai's cousin from Wales, teenage runaway Baby Face. Thee Faction eschewed the traditional routes to musical fame and fortune, refusing to play gigs in the usual venues or talk to the music press. Instead they built up a following by playing squat gigs and benefits. Devoting as much time to political activity and propaganda as to their music, they were open in their pursuit of global revolution through the medium of music. Thee Faction believed in the redemptive power of rock'n'roll, but understood that it could not, in itself, effect change. So they used their unique brand of Socialist R&B to re-engineer false consciousness, to challenge the prevailing orthodoxies, and to exhort the workers of the world to unite and throw off their chains. The songs spoke for themselves, as a manifesto for change and as a critique of capitalism. But in case anyone was in any doubt of the message, it was rammed home between songs by Baby Face, who would launch into vitriolic polemic that would often go on longer than the songs themselves. At their peak, during the miners' strike, Thee Faction were attracting thousands of people to gigs in reclaimed halls and other unorthodox venues. But they refused ever to release records through corporate labels or give interviews to any publications owned by private shareholders. Yet the word spread, and in any list of the most influential people on the left in Britain between 1981 and 1985, Thee Faction always appeared in the top five, often above union leaders, politicians and opinion formers. In 1985, at the height of their influence in Britain, the Left was in tatters, and Thee Faction were seen by many as the last hope in the vacuum of working class leadership. And just at the moment that everyone expected them to step up and lead from the vanguard, they announced that they were off to tour on the other side of the 'Iron Curtain'. That May they set off on a tour, starting in Poland and culminating in the USSR. And they were never seen again in the UK. No one knew why Thee Faction never returned. There were rumours of them acting as a conduit between the left opposition in the East and the Left in the UK. Others simply assumed they had defected. Those who kept track of them in the East realised that the band never stopped moving. They performed hundreds of shows throughout the Eastern Bloc, and by the time of the fall of Stalinism they just kept moving, to each state that still professed allegiance to 'actually existing socialism'. In Yugoslavia, at the turn of the 90s, Thee Faction suddenly became a 7-piece. The tight knit street-gang of revolutionaries, who had never let anyone come within yards of them since their inception, had recruited two new members. Billy Brentford and Baby Face were working on pirate radio in Belgrade when they found two singers who shared Thee Faction's unique commitment not just to Marxism but also to Socialist R&B. Krystina-Prystina Engels and Kassandra Krossing immediately became full members of the band, and added a soulful, but aggressive approach to backing vocals which added a new edge to Thee Faction's sound. Thee Faction continued to tour Moldova, Transnistria and beyond, but eventually returned to Britain, devoting themselves purely to political activity. But in early 2010 rumours began to circulate that they were going to perform again, for the first time since their legendary show in Ebbw Vale 25 years earlier. Thee Faction's story is not over. After the reunion gig in April 2010, and the British general election two weeks later, Thee Faction announced the end of the comeback and the start of the fightback. Three months later they announced the loss of backing singer Krystina-Prystina Engels to the Liberal Democrats." As of 2012, Thee Faction's fightback continues, now in nine-piece form with the addition of Brass Kapital (the socialist sisterhood of horns) and Thee Citizen on bass guitar. "The socialist new thing in the imperialist heartlands." a united front - with guitars. kicking out the counter-hegemonic jams www.theefaction.org