Is The War Over? a ‘Cardiff compilation’ released by DIY record label Z Block Records in 1979.Z Block Records was created and run by a group of young people who moved from Cross Keys to Cardiff in the late 1970s.The album was recorded at Grass Roots Coffee Bar, 58 Charles Street, which was ‘kindly lent by Cardiff Community Concern".In November 1979 the album got to Number three in the NME Indie Charts.
Spike and Philip, two members of Z Block Records and Reptile Ranch, who feature on the album, tell us how the title 'Is the War Over?' came about: “We lived opposite the Fleurs which was a social club in Splott. There was one guy he was always there with some relative, you know, to keep him company. And I think Howell had been over there, having a beer. He’s doing an impression of the guy, ‘Is the War over?’ Anyway we heard that and it was just hilarious.It just seemed to fit. It was, somehow, what we felt was the state of Cardiff was in terms of energy and excitement. You know, it just felt like a brick wall. We were just so disgusted by the apathy in Cardiff. Just could not understand how we’d walked into this city which seemed quite vibrant, but apparently nothing was going on.Cardiff [was] so brain dead musically. You’d have lots of people playing cover music in biker pubs.”
