The Low Culture Essay: Roy Wilkinson on Motörhead's Bomber sleeve, Sea Power, rock & war

In this month's Low Culture essay, Roy Wilkinson writes about the the sleeve for Motörhead's Bomber LP and how it became both an Airfix kit and a curious artefact that sat in the anti-militarism of his brothers' band, Sea Power

War? What is it good for? Well, where would the military-industrial complex and manufacturers of model kits be without it? In 2019, the kit maker Airfix released an unusual new line – a Motörhead Heinkel He 111 bomber, a scale model to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Motörhead’s Bomber album. On the album sleeve, Motörhead’s three Luftröckers look out from inside a literal manifestation of heavy metal. They form the crew in a Heinkel 111, the largest of the Nazi bombers that regularly blasted British cities during the Blitz. Your correspondent was 15 when Bomber was released. For me, this album’s sleeve and title track are fascinating artefacts that sit on the juncture between rock and war.