The Stabilisers

The Stabilisers’ music is a 21st century update on the two classic punk rock eras. They take the fuzzy clatter and harmony of the original garage bands of 64-67 and fuse it unceremoniously with the insolence and energy of the 76-78 vintage. They have managed a rare feat of musical alchemy in cracking the molecular code of the infectious punk-pop classic. Their songs are crammed full of instantly memorable hooks delivered with remorseless nervous energy and a commendable lack of seriousness. The current line-up gelled when Allan Crockford watched the original trio of Jon Bott, Simon Corbey and Francis Braithwaite reluctantly providing the soundtrack to a tasty brawl in a seedy south-east London pub. As bassist with The Prisoners, The Solarflares, JTQ and Billy Childishs Headcoats (amongst others), he had himself played in front of some mixed audiences over the years. The ability of this early line- up of the Stabilisers to hold their nerve and tuning while the audience destruction-tested pool cues on each others heads was impressive, but it was the catchy, powerful and often funny set of punk pop that convinced him to risk a beating by staying in the venue…

As the band took cover after the gig, Allan offered his services as an extra guitarist. They decided to take him up on his offer. With more than 30 albums to his name, he could bring to the band a wealth of musical experience - and some working amplifiers they could borrow. In turn, they offered him the opportunity to fill a glaring gap in his musical portfolio - a chance to play very loud 6 string guitar in a band that sounded like an unholy crossbreed of early Clash, XTC, Buzzcocks and The Undertones, with the added genetic fingerprints of some of the more angular garage bands of the late 60s.

The new four piece Stabilisers immediately recorded their first album and EP and released them on wilfully obscure Italian labels in 2004. Both ‘Last Chance Saloon’ (Skipping Musez) and ‘Evil Picnic’ (Nicotine) received rave reviews but very little distribution, and deserved a far wider audience. Look out for the now inevitable re-issues on Wicked Cool some day soon…