The Drones “Further Temptations” 1977. Valer Records. The debut LP from Manchester UK punks, with a very 70’s UK punk/pub rock sound. I’m not familiar with The Drones but for sure with many of the bands they performed with in the late 70’s including Generation X, The Vibrators, X-Ray Spex and The Stranglers. They started as a pub rock band in ’75 before switching gears and some of that pub sound definitely comes through on the more rock/pop orientated tracks like “Lift Off the Bans” and “Corgi Crap” (though a lot of punk elements that one). Or big guitar posturing: “Sad So Sad” and “No More Time” are both great, with punk anthem flavoring. Some are more sharp, snotty and snappy like the excellent “Bone Idol” or “Lookalikes.” But those, and a lot of the other tracks sound like other bands in their 70’s UK punk circle: the aforementioned Vibrators and Stranglers, plus Buzzcocks, The Ruts, Subhumans, 999, etc. (The Drones’ tracks “Persecution Complex” and “The Change” kinda sounds like all of them). It looks like The Drones are still at it and rocking hard, almost 50 years on, as the below video of their live performance of “Bone Idol” from this past January indicates.