Buzzcocks “Live at the Roxy Club”

Published On: January 11, 2021Tags: , , , , ,

Buzzcocks “Live at the Roxy Club” 1990. Receiver Records. Recorded live on April 2nd, 1977 at the Roxy Club in London just a couple of months after the release of their first EP Spiral Scratch on January 29, 1977, making it one of the earliest UK punk releases. Original Buzzcocks member Howard Devoto sang on the EP but he had left the band by the time of this Roxy Club performance; Pete Shelley took over vocals and kept the job on subsequent recorded releases. The live LP features three of the four tracks that appeared on Spiral Scratch: “Time’s Up,” “Boredom” and “Friends of Mine,” plus several that would appear on the band’s first full-length Another Music in a Different Kitchen (1978) like “Fast Cars,” “No Reply, “Sixteen” and “Get on Your Own.” They also performed a couple of their singles: “Orgasm Addict” (1977) and “What Do I Get?” and its flip-side “Oh Shit” (1978). Because it’s a live punk show from the mid-70′s, the sound isn’t great but it’s surprisingly not as bad as you’d expect. Most of the crowd noise has been filtered out and while a lot of the instruments sound muddy and the bass is mixed way too high, the vocals are really clear (Shelley’s sharp snotty delivery does help a lot) and the playing is pretty tight.