V/A - 10000 Years Punk - A Beijing Punk Compilation

Label: Xiandai Gongren Changpian (TAM Records); Year: 1998; Format: 33RPM 7" EP

If you have been interested in worldwide punk rock then I am absolutely positive that you have come across the name Luk Haas. Luk travelled to approximately one hundred and twenty countries and started Tian An Men 89 Records in 1993 in order to document and to release punk rock from countries around the globe where many of us wouldn't even think punk rock existed. Luk got turned on to punk in the early '80s and travelled to Poland for the first time in 1983 where he made connections with local punks and bands. Later on he would travel to the former Czechoslovakia (where I was born) and the former GDR and make connections there as well. He also introduced punk rock from the former Eastern Bloc to a worldwide readership via his scene reports in MaximumRockNRoll. I tried to find out more about the story as to how this EP with four Beijing based bands came about but couldn't find anything online. I would imagine that Luk had visited Beijing in the '90s and met the bands leading up to this release, unfortunately the only release I have on TAM. I must admit that musically this isn't a record I am in awe of but let's put things into context and come to the realization that back in the '90s the bands presented on this EP were most likely the earliest when it comes to punk rock from mainland China. The two songs on side A by Wuzhengfu Zhuyi Nanhai, also known as the Anarchy Boys, are actually decent Oi Punk tracks whereas the three tracks by Nao Zhuo aka Brain Failure on the other side offer similar quality and style. The other two bands, one of which is Reflector are more in the '90s pop punk vein and not interesting, at least not for me. Reflector were apparently the first chinese band to play on US soil in 2001 and Brain Failure have releases several records in Germany since this EP. More than anything records like this one demonstrate that punk rock is and always has been a truly global phenomenon and that the quality of songs is not always what matters the most.