Sixteen new Conflict songs, including one with poet Benjamin Zephaniah!
In 1981, Conflict formed in Eltham, Southeast London. They got to know Crass. The first Conflict record, the ‘The House That Man Built’ EP, came out in June 1982 on Crass Records.
Like Crass, they are often called anarcho-punk (a label which did not exist yet when the bands were founded). Compared to Crass, Conflict became less focused on non-violence and more on animal rights.
In 1983, they founded their own label, Mortarhate Records, for their own records, and other bands, like Hagar the Womb, Icons of Filth, Lost Cherrees, and The Apostles.
Now, singer Colin Jerwood is the only one left of the original line-up. The rest of the band members changed repeatedly. Colin was/is often not their only vocalist. Singing along with him have been at various times Steve Ignorant of Crass, Pauline, Mandy Spokes, Kerry B, Jackie Hanna, Sarah Taylor, Eve Scragg and Jeannie Ford.
In 1984, Crass disbanded. Conflict became more prominent in the anarcho-punk scene.
In 1986, they recorded the album ‘The Ungovernable Force’; according to Louder Than
War in 2021: “still one of the best punk rock albums of all time”.
On 18th April 1987, Conflict were at the Brixton Academy in London, at a benefit event. “The Gathering of the 5000”. A live recording of that concert, where they also played Crass songs, became their double LP ‘Turning Rebellion into Money’, a title from a line in the Clash song ‘(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais’. The poet Benjamin Zephaniah (1958-2023) performed with them there.
Police attacked fans leaving the concert. 52 people were arrested. Many venues in the UK banned Conflict for years. From 2004 till 2024, they released no new records, until ‘This Much Remains‘ – the title track from their 2025 album; a duet by Colin and Fiona Jayne Friel; with Fiona in the role of the government, Colin in an anarchist role – last December:
Another single, ‘Outside The Box‘, dropped in March 2025:
The present line-up, since 2021, is Colin Jerwood and Fiona Jayne Friel (vocals, formerly of Coventry punk band Dragster), Stuart Meadows (drums), Gav King (guitar, melodica & Hammond), and Fran Fearon (bass).
This is the video of their new single, ‘Cut The Crap’ (title from a line by Benjamin Zephaniah), released at the launch of their first new album in 22 years,‘This Much Remains’. The music is reggae-influenced punk. Benjamin voicing his lyrics is on the track and in the video. Conflict vocalist Fiona Friel wrote and sings the other lyrics. Fiona has a Specials T-shirt on in the video.
Fiona says about the song ‘The Collusion Exclusion’: “It is about how we are divided and set against each other in order to maintain control, unwittingly colluding in our own oppression. The more we fight amongst ourselves, the more they can exploit the situation to their advantage. Colin wrote the first verse and chorus, and I just finished it off, with my version of the chorus and a second verse. … I mean, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump look like caricatures of human beings, it’s absurd that anyone would vote for them, but they did and have done again in the case of Trump. They are using the devices of turning people against each other. “Look over there! That other poor person is your enemy, not me, the billionaire”.”
Colin sings in ‘The Collusion Exclusion’: “It’s the same old system and the same old song, 40 years later and they’ve still got it wrong.” A system in which the powerful divide the lower classes and so they can maintain control.
Cruelty to animals is the subject of ‘A Mother’s Milk’ and ‘Shut The Fuck Up’. While ‘Masters Of The Race’ opposes governments and ‘profit over people’ billionaires, like Trump, Musk and Bezos. ‘When the Lights Go Out’ is about the threat of environmental disaster. The subject of the reggae-inflected ‘Statement Of Intent’ is weaponization of water supply.
In ‘Inferno’, the penultimate song, another Colin and Fi duet calls out the ruling classes and their failure to act now to save our planet from climate change. Fittingly, the last track is ‘Concluded’.
‘This Much Remains’ is the sound of a band that continues to surprise and progress, decades after it first begun. “Musically we wanted it to evolve from the last records but still have elements of that classic Conflict angry sound that thousands of people fell in love with,” summarises guitarist Gav King. “This album will not disappoint the diehard supporters and should garner a new wave of activists.”
“Conflict are stronger than ever,” adds Colin Jerwood. “and more relevant than ever.”
An album sounding like it is worthwhile to see Conflict live! They have the following dates in 2025:
16/05 LOST LANE, DUBLIN IE
17/05 THE DEER’S HEAD, BELFAST NI
05/06 BUMS, BARROW-IN-FURNESS UK
06/06 AUDIO, GLASGOW UK
07/06 LA BELLE ANGELE, EDINBURGH UK
08/06 STAR & GARTER, MANCHESTER UK
17-19/07 POD PAROU FESTIVAL CZ
25/07 DLB FESTIVAL, FERRARA IT
26/07 REFUSE FESTIVAL, PEINE DE
09/08 REBELLION, BLACKPOOL UK
29/08 ENCORE, SUNDBYBERG SE
30/08 DALFESTIVALEN, DALSJÖFORS, SE
31/08 LOPPEN, COPENHAGEN DK
09/10 THE ANVIL, BOURNEMOUTH UK
10/10 THE CASTLE & FALCON, BIRMINGHAM UK
11/10 THE FACEBAR, READING UK
Out April 25th 2025 through Mortarhate/Cadiz Music, order ‘This Much Remains’ HERE
Main Photo Credit: SIMON BALAAM
- The Impossible Soul
- This Much Remains
- The Collusion Exclusion
- Outside The Box
- Masters Of The Race?
- That Other Song
- Echoes
- Cut The Crap – with Benjamin Zephaniah
- Shut The Fuck Up
- Rebellion’s In Session (Again)
- A Mother’s Milk
- When The Lights Go Out
- Statement Of Intent
- A Message To Them
- Inferno
- Concluded
Follow Conflict on Their Socials:
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