Poems by ShellSuit Massacre

Gangs (with audio recording)

get on the increase

Gangs (5:14): MP3

gouge yir een oot gang
black hand gang
the red brigade
hole in th’ wall gang
a t m gang
james younger gang
scotland yardies
the dead rabbits[1]
i c c
the catholic church
crescent moon gang
semper felix crew
nae luck yet posse
the brown shirts
the fire brigade
desolation angels
 
niddrie terror
fix it crew
the red hand gang
nhs lothian
angry brigade
black craws
the god squad
vespassassins
royston shamrock
the cake eaters[2]
the fundamentalists
ooti toon hoodies
nogzy eds gang
fear n’lothian
 
young baltic fleet
kill ’em aw squad
the bang gang
the scientologists
the silver cod squad[3]
the minority[4]
the fbi
men in gear[5]
the plymouth brethren
violence reduction unit
ointment mob[6]
the dark ages
 
 
lenny bruce gang
 
the nazis
 
 
street thunder
 
Arrival on the scene.
How to treat a stab wound?
come and have a go
if you think you’re hard enough
Arrival on the scene.
How to treat a stab wound?[7]
 
spotlight            falls            on
anti youth
on the boundary of parkland
 
barbered lawns
the street light edge
 
police exclusion zone
 
a trio of fearsome dogs
found
in the early hours
 
 
where there is a need
                          for new laws
we will pass them
 
where there is need
for tough force
                                     men
make that happen
 
 
It will rip the estate to pieces
        rip the estate to pieces[8]

 
Glossary
 
yir: your
een: eyes
oot: out
nae: no
Niddrie: poor area of Edinburgh
NHS Lothian: Scotland’s public health service in the Lothian area
craws: crows
ooti toon: out of town
hoodie: any youth that wears a hooded top, hoodlum or not
aw: all
estate: housing estate, government housing projects

1. Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York.
2. Ibid.
3. Shaun Tordoff, City Psychos.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. BBC News, August 2008.
8. Sunday Herald, August 26, 2007, and The Guardian, spring 2008.

get on the increase
 
police should harass
young thugs
anti youths
to be filmed
and hounded at home
 
lots of sirens
off in the night
 
police
and cctv cameras
             help crime
get on the increase
get on the increase
 
bad boys
hijack buildings
 
we ran from them
crashing waves
against the pier
 
we ran from them
laughing with
our hoods up
 
police
and cctv cameras
             help crime
get on the increase
get on the increase
 
what is the state?
coldest of the cold
monsters            everyman
             will go with you
             and be your guide
             in your most need
             to go by your side
create an environment
where there is nowhere to hide
 
police
and cctv cameras
             help crime
get on the increase
get on the increase