Ox-Fanzine (German)

“Previously known as Barse 77, if these snotty British punks dropped the 77 from their name to take a break from aping the sounds and styles of our royal first generation of punk, no-one told them! In short “They said it couldnt happen here” is punkrock through and through. While some bands are motivated to move music forward and stamp their own style into musical history, Barse are content to carry on resurrecting the attitudes and noise of 1977, sounding remarkably similar to the bands, like the Art Attacks, and Snivelling Shits ,that formed weeks after seeing the Pistols and Buzzcocks for the first time. What’s more, in spite of fashion and trends, barse sound like their having an absolute blast and that, my friends is punk fucking rock!! Enjoy!”
James Sherry/Kerrang March 8th 2003

English Barse carry a really unique -77 sound. It actually sounds to be in the same area and in the same gigs in Buzzcocks, The Undertons and the alikes. It´s pretty snotty pop-punk, with lyrics dealing with everything from masturbation to why you should hate amerikkka even more and why everthing sucks. As i said, 1977 style! But just as much of the old stuff it´s the classic three chords, and to call it anything like “hard” would be blasthemy. But overall this is really good stuff to pick up atleast one band that you can tell love what they are doing and don´t follow the hypes, and keeps the cocky poppier punk alive and not modernized to being just plain silly and stupid. Tracks that fell directly to my liking are “Why Am i XXY?”, “I Hate AmeriKKKa” (fuckin awesome lyrics) and “We´re So Bored!!”. Good stuff.
Committed To Oi! February 2004

“White vinyl version of this as it’s also out on cd. These are mega limited as there are only 500 of these fuckers in existence so try Jim Broon on Ebay in a few years timeClassic singalong 77 non-pc punk rock here. I Hate Amerikkka- Sisters Making Pornosare fuckin brill- the lyrics have to be heard to be believed. Marriage Wrecker is for well marriage wreckers i suppose. Horror Garage- Sewer Love- Were So Bored-absolutely hilarious stuff. If yer easily offended or just don’t own a sense of humour ya shoo buy one and listen to this. You wont be disappointed I can tell ya. Interview soon in Anarchoi. Should be fun. Cant wait.”
James/Anarchoi #7

“Newcastlen liepeiltä ponnnistava Barse tekee ehtaa 76-brittipunkkia yhtä teeskentelemättömästi, innokkasti ja nöyristelemättömän nöyrästi kuinsitä tehtiin ennen punkin nousemista in-ilmiöksi. They Said It Couldn’t Happen Here… And It Didn’t!-levyn (Hell’s Tone) soundia voisi parhaiten kuvata sanalla halpa, mikä ei tee siitä huonoa. Ei, se tekee siitä loistavan. Paitsi soundi, myös biisit ja asenne ovat kohdallaan. (4/5)
Halme/Rumba 8/03

“Englantilainen Barse soittaa ihan mukiinmenevän kuuloista 77-punkkia. Tämä ei ole loukkaus, mutta ensimmäinen mielikuva mikä allekirjoittaneelle tuli mieleen, oli Eppu Normaalin Aknepop-levy. Jotenkin laulaja vaan vetää biisit läpi samantyyppisellä eleettömyydellä kuin Martti Syrjä aikoinaan. Kaiken kaikkiaan tästä levystä puuttuu se räkäisyys mihin tämän päivän punkissa on totuttu.
Barsen koukku ei ole kuitenkaan soitannan tai vokaalien puolella, vaan sanoituksissa. Harvoin on sanoituslehtistä lukiessaan saanut nauraa yhtä paljon kuin Barsen kohdalla. Älkää ymmärtäkö väärin, kyseinen yhtye ei ole mikään Englannin Sleepy Sleepers. Hommat hoidetaan kotiin aina yhtä loistavalla brittiläisellä hienovaraisen ironisella huumorilla. Hieman tuli mieleen Jello Biafran Dead Kennedys-aikoinaan laatimat lyriikat. Asennetta, sanomaa ja ironiaa löytyy juuri sopivassa suhteessa.
“Well, I’m a chauvenist pig, do what the fuck I like / I blew the last one out, cause she was a bike / I spent their money, and I fuck their mates / Now I’m getting real good, at climbing garden gates”. Ote biisistä Marriage Wrecker. Hyvä meininki.”
Valtteri Väkevä/Numero

“They come from Co. Durham and play 77 style punk similar to the Pits but with lyrics which may upset some of the PC brigade and maybe a few of our friends accross the water with “I hate Amerikka” but who cares, this album is really good. My favourite track of the 16 is “We’re so bored” with the brilliant chorus “I put a safety pin through my mother’s head cos she told me to get a job, my father threw me out last Thursday cos I told him to suck my knob”. A band I’d like to see live.”
Ian

“There is some ’77 worship going on here. BARSE have some lo fi production happening, which really assists the early BUZZCOCKS sound, but they do this without the bouncy pop. There is some good fuzz on the guitar and it is played at a mid-tempo oi pace. BARSE play a little more simpler and they are still able to pull off the fun-loving feel to that power pop sound.”
SP/Equalizing-X-Distort radio zine April 2003, Issue 3

“The 7” on Rapid Pulse was the first thing I heard by this UK band. It is great – you should buy it. Very Stiff Little Fingers/Newtown Neurotics without sounding like a carbon-copy band, quite difficult to pull off with this type of sound. This LP continues in the same vein, suffering slightly of samey-sounding production, but that is just typical for the guitar-raunch-phobic island from which these lads hail. Always good to hear snarled English vox. In the garage ’77 punk world, this is probably the best band out of UK since the Armitage Shanks. The songs are good and I have no doubt at all they would be really fun in a small club in, I dunno, Leeds or somewhere. See ya in Leeds!
Ryan Wells/Maximum Rocknroll #239

“You’ve probably heard of them at least by now, and if not the name should give you a pretty good clue. Yeah, it’s 100% 1977 punk rock, in places it’s pure Buzzcocks. Lyrically it’s fairly light hearted with a bit of fixation with serial killers. But what’s this, changing the lyrics to “Why AM I XXY?” and removing the Peter Suttcliffe references, surely not an attempt to appeal to a family audience lads? In fact, as I’ve said before, Trev Hagl’s initial marketing of this on the “non-PC” lyrics was a bit of an error coz they aren’t really, just the sort of things you’d expect old ’77 bands to sing about really. They’re musically very good and have the late seventies sound and style down to a tee, and I have to admit while I wasn’t overly impressed with their first CD, their subsequent stuff has improved and they’ve grown on me a lot. They have a knack of writing good memorable songs that sort of get under your skin and while I’m sure some would argue there’s nothing original here, it jas to be said that there isn’t really many people doing this stuff well these days. So that’s quite a thumbs-up by my standars.”
Chip/Head Wound #14

“I think 2003 will be the year of PuNk. Believe me, cause if I hear this I know it will be the year of PuNk. Barse are another great English PuNk band with great influences of Exploited, UK Subs and a touch of Toy Dolls. Really, these guys are a trip. 1,2,3….four beer and the whole fun starts. Sixteen great sing along songs with funny lyrics, but also a big portion of social criticism, great stuff!!!! These guys keep the spirit alive. A good investment!!! (6/7)”
Ralf Burkart/Daredevil Online Magazine

“Fuck Lennon/McCartney – Brown/McGee are the boys, giving us delightful ballads such as “Horror Garage” with the lines “Not afraid of the noose, or rotting in a prison cell/ ‘cos when I get my hands around your neck you’re going straight to fucking hell”. Yes, back with a vengeance with 16 tracks (plus the unlisted “Rats at the Door”) of classic 77 punk rock. “Through the Eyes of Murder” will have any Cock Sparrer fan wetting their pants, and “Do You Get the Picture” is Buzzcocks at their very best. “I Hate Amerikkka”, “Sisters Making Pornos” and “No Style” are almost HC, but still great, while “Everything’s Pointless” is one the best pop-punk songs ever written. But let’s get this straight. Barse are not “pop-punk” in an Americanised out-of tune singing way that blatantly apes another band. They’re all about clever guitar leads, abrasive chords and brilliant harmonised choruses – none of that oohs and ahhs 60’s wannabe shit. When your worst song on an album is good, you know you’re onto a classic. They are such talented writers that they could even afford to drop the lines “Peter Sutcliffe he was some boy, a hammer and a hacksaw were his toys, 13 was his final count, it was 20 odd really, it was seven not out” (from “Why Am I XXY?”). And this time they even get the production right… you would never imagine it was done in a council house in Sleep Valley, with a singer half asleep after a hard day on the bins. I thought 2002 was a disastrous year for music, but this, The Pits and Class Assasins albums are without a doubt all time classics. (10/10)”
Trev/Savage Amusement #18

“Yeah! when I saw the envelope which brought that to me, I saw ‘ Finland ‘, I said myself ‘cool, some crust records came to me!’ fuck no! it’s punk, fucking punk rock, well execute, well oldschool… d’you know Voice of a Generation? give hem punk looking, 20 years old more in their ass, and in their guitars, and you’ll find ‘Barse’, more dirty, more rock’ roll and more good still! A truth English feeling and for cause… they are English! Really pure disc which should find its place in all the dirty punk ears, with dog or not…”
Olivier/Rudeboi

“Barse on vaikuttanut vuodesta 1997 saakka, tosin alunperin ilmeisesti Barse 77 -nimellä. Kuunneltavani on CD-r versio kohta ilmestyvästä uudesta täyspitkästä. Barse Kuulostaa vanhanaikaiselta brittipunkilta, jossa panostetaan biisien kirjoittamiseen ja hauskoihin sanoituksiin. Ja täytyy myöntää, että Barsen biisit ovat erittäin hyviä. Ne tarttuvat päähän kertakuulemalla. Hienoa brittiläistä, sopivan melodista punkrockia. Pistetään tehosekoittimeen vaikkapa Buzzcocks, Newtown Neurotics ja Splodge, niin saadaan jotain Barsen tapaista. Mukavaa kuulla vaihteeksi tällaistakin- välillä kun tympii liian pitkälle menevä suoraviivaisuuskin. Harmitti vaan, että promoversion mukana ei ollut sanoituslappua. Mukana seuranneessa lapussa nimittäin lukee “fuck off the p.c. brigade”, mikä pisti heti epäilemään, että sanoitukset sisältävät vähintäänkin jonkinlaista alapään juttua (Nailed Down on osoittanut huomattavasti suurempaa tyylikkyyttä julistamalla uudella LP:llään, että “anti-pc is just another trend”). Semmoista huumoripuoltahan noista Barsen sanoista sitten löytyykin, ja “keskenkasvuista” pikkutuhmaa paneskeluasennetta. Toisaalta sitten taas jonkinlaiseksi kantaaottavuudeksi tulkittavaakin pilkahtelee, tosin Barsen “poliittisuudessakin” huumori on etusijalla. I Hate Amerikkka -piisissä luetellaan, mitä kaikkea amerikkalaista Barse vihaa: Fred Flinstone, disco, baseball, Jerry Springer, Cadillacit, cowboyt, Pepsi, hampurilaiset, terapeutit, Dolly Parton, Kojak, Perry Mason, jne. Parista viimeeksi mainitusta voisi luulla, että Barse on elänyt 70-luvulla (Cannon, Columbo ja sheriffi McCloud jäivät mainitsematta, heh). Diskanttinen saundi hieman haittaa, olisiko tuo ongelma parantunut valmiilla levyllä? Musiikki kuulostaa hyvältä, mutta tuohon sanoituspuoleen suhtaudun varauksella… Niin, niin, tosikko mikä tosikko…” (AH)
Toinen Vaihtoehto #157