Crass band biography

English punk rock band

This article is about the band. For the definition of "crass", see wikt:crass.

Crass band biography

For the people named Crass, see Crass (surname).

Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977^[1] who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle and a resistance movement.

Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, advocating direct action, animal rights, feminism, anti-fascism and environmentalism. The band employed and advocated a DIY ethic in its albums, sound collages, leaflets and films.

Crass spray-painted stencilled graffiti messages in the London Underground system and on advertising billboards, coordinated squats and organised political action. The band expressed its ideals by dressing in black, military-surplus-style clothing and using a stage backdrop amalgamating icons of perceived authority such as the Christian cross, the swastika, the Union Jack and the ouroboros.