british punk Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Buzzcocks “Singles Going Steady”

sfilzen — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 14:04:44 +0000

Buzzcocks “Singles Going Steady” released 40 years ago today, September 25th, 1979. One of the best comp LP’s ever, Buzzcocks released Singles Going Steady in the US (and then in the UK in ‘81) to highlight the band’s 8 UK singles (plus their B-sides) from ‘77-’79. It includes the punk/power pop classics like “Orgasm Addict” (1977, banned by the BBC for obvious reasons, I’m pretty sure it did not chart), “What Do I Get?” (1977, #37 UK), “Promises,” and one of my favorite songs ever “Ever Fallen In Love?” (1978, #12 UK, also on Love Bites). The B-sides are just as fantastic as the A-sides: “Autonomy” (the B-side to “I Don’t Mind,” 1978, #55 UK), “Just Lust” (the B-side to “Ever Fallen In Love?”), “Something’s Gone Wrong Again” (B-side to “Harmony In My Head,” 1979, #32 UK) and another one of my favorite tracks ever, “Why Can’t I Touch It?” (B-side to “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” (1979). Compilation albums often have a couple of really strong songs and a bunch of filler but Singles Going Steady is perfection from start to finish.

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The Slits “In the Beginning There Was Rhythm” and Delta 5 “Anticipation” and The Pop Group “Where There’s a Will There’s a Way”

sfilzen — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 20:54:53 +0000

The Slits “In the Beginning There Was Rhythm” 1980. Artletty Records, Finland. Split 12″ single with The Slits on Side A. Side B is Delta 5 “Anticipation” and The Pop Group “Where There’s a Will There’s a Way.” All punk/post-punk with a lot of experimental funky dub rhythm. The Slits originally released “In the Beginning There Was Rhythm” as a 7″ single on Rough Trade/Y Records with just The Pop Group’s track on the flip. The Slits were initially an all-women band, though around 1980 two men joined the kinda-revolving door band lineup: Budgie (soon to be part of Siouxsie and the Banshees) and Bruce Smith of The Pop Group; Smith and Budge are both credited with drums on “In the Beginning There Was Rhythm.” The Pop Group’s “Where There’s a Will There’s a Way” is super-infectious punk-funk. The Delta 5′s “Anticipation,” while not part of the original release, is a good complement to the other tracks: heavy and funky bassline (the Delta 5 had two bass players: Ros Allen and Bethan Peters) but with a post-punk detached delivery (and vocals somewhat reminiscent of Siouxsie Sioux). Their original single of “Anticipation” came out in 1980 on Rough Trade Records with “You” as its b-side.

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Chelsea “No Escape”

sfilzen — Mon, 20 May 2019 17:10:02 +0000

Chelsea “No Escape” 1980. Released as Alternative Hits in the UK, No Escape is a comp of early punk singles dating from ‘77 through ‘80 (plus the track “Come On”). Chelsea may be best known for initial line-up’s sowing the seeds of Generation X and providing William Broad aka Billy Idol his first band (he played guitar for the first iteration of Chelsea, leaving in ‘76 along with Tony James and John Towe who were also in London SS with The Clash’s Mick Jones). They don’t play on this album – in fact keeping track of the various members in the late 70′s and 80′s is pretty much impossible (even Sting was in Chelsea at one point!); singer/frontman Gene October has been the only member to remain throughout the 40+ years of the band’s career. That said, the songs on No Escape are consistently punked-up pub rock: proudly loud and working class with oi attitude. Tracks like “Urban Kids” and “Right to Work” give a unflinchingly stark view of the struggles of British youth during the age of British conservatism and Margaret Thatcher. It’s not sophisticated or particularly innovative – think more Ramones simplicity than Clash creativity. No Escape is a good snapshot into early populist punk.

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The Lurkers “Fulham Fallout”

sfilzen — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 19:25:43 +0000

The Lurkers “Fulham Fallout” 1978. Beggars Banquet Records. Fulham Fallout is classic 70′s punk, the debut album from English rockers The Lurkers (who have been dubbed, mostly accurately, “The British Ramones”) and it hit #57 on the UK album charts. It’s such great British punk! Snotty, upbeat, punchy, catchy, full of 3-chord hooks, and, like The Ramones, simple, straightforward rock-n-roll: no pretension, no politics. Also like The Ramones, the songs do start to kind of sound alike after awhile, though The Lurkers mix things up occasionally with the inclusion of the harmonica and glockenspiel (not instruments known for their prevalence in the punk canon) and a cover of Phil Spector’s and The Crystals’ 1963 “Then He Kissed Me,” though The Lurkers cheekily rename it “Then I Kicked Her” and speed it up, a lot. My favorite tracks on Fulham Fallout are “I Don’t Need to Tell Her,” “Shadow” (that single released in 1977 was Beggars Banquet first ever release and influential John Peel named it his #11 song of ‘77) the hyper-beat and aptly titled “Go, Go, Go,” “Self Destruct” (“self-destruct! gonna get fucked!”) and the album closer “Be My Prisoner” that’s intro’d with a great drum solo. They only slow down a little, once, on “Gerald” (this one has the aforementioned harmonica) and it’s probably the most complex song on the album but also my least favorite.

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The Jam “In the City”

sfilzen — Fri, 25 May 2018 19:14:58 +0000

The Jam “In the City” 1977. Today, May 25th, is Paul “The Modfather” (and two-time winner of Best British Male award) Weller’s 60th birthday (b. 1958). Now that the cat has finally vacated his perch on top of the turntable, I’m able to spin In the City, The Jam’s debut album.

The Jam released one single from their debut album, the title track “In the City” which hit #40 on the UK charts. The song (and the entire record) celebrates a resurgence of 60′s-inspired mod and youth culture (the song was influenced by The Who, even borrowing the title from their “In the City”) while blending in 70′s punchy punk attitude and politics (“In the city there’s a thousand men in uniform and I hear they now have the right to kill a man”). The early Who/mod sound appears on most of the album like “Art School” and “Sounds From the Street” There are also two cover songs on In the City that are less mod: “Slow Down,” a rockin’ rhythm-and-blues track originally by Larry Wiliams from 1958 (also covered by the Beatles) (that early rock-n-roll sound reappears on the b-side to the “In the City” single: “Takin’ My Love”) and a punked up “Batman Theme,” which is hilarious.

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The Vibrators “Pure Mania”

sfilzen — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 15:42:18 +0000

The Vibrators “Pure Mania” 1977. Promo copy. After seeing Stiff Little Fingers this past weekend, we got to talking about the Vibrators (SLF took their name from the track “Stiff Little Fingers” that appears on Pure Mania, “[Jake] Burns, [Henry] Cluney, and [Brian] Faloon had previously been in a cover band called Highway Star, but when Cluney became a convert to punk rock, Burns and Faloon followed suit, and after recruiting [Ali] McMordie, they took the name Stiff Little Fingers from a song by the Vibrators” – Allmusic). We think we saw the Vibrators play in Milwaukee sometime in the 90′s, maybe at the Globe (now gone) or at Quarters (still very much there) but it was around 20 years ago so recollections are hazy. Joe thinks maybe he just believed we saw them since he listened to his cassette so much that he somehow manifested it into reality.

Pure Mania was the Vibrators’ first release after forming in ‘76 during the first wave of British punk. Like the Buzzcocks and the Stranglers, the Vibrators straddle the line between power pop, hard pub rock and punk. Their songs are short, catchy as hell, full of snot and snarl while singing about girls (“Sweet Sweet Heart,” “Baby Baby,” “London Girls”), broken hearts (“No Heart,” “You Broke My Heart”) and having a good time (“Whips and Furs,” “Bad Time,” which starts out about having a bad time but by then end things have changed – now it’s a good time!). “Wrecked on You” has a bit of it all. “Stiff Little Fingers” is lyrically the most punk track on the record, filled with manic pessimism.

Hangs a naked light over your face
Shines electric ness upon your bed
Well, if it wasn’t for your stiff little fingers
Nobody would know you were dead

You never really did much living
You mainly sat and watched your TV
I think it had you on remote control
Tickin’ over nicely

But you screwed up this time
Now you gotta start from the bottom again
It’s a serious game
When you gotta start from the bottom again
I’m gonna start now

I want to be dead

The optician said “20 20”
But you stumbled ‘round like you were blind
You never saw beyond your own four walls
It’s a shame you never saw the light

But you screwed up this time
Now you gotta start from the bottom again
It’s a serious game
When you gotta start from the bottom again
When you gotta start from the bottom again
When you gotta start from the bottom again
When you gotta start from the bottom again
I’m gonna start now

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The Stranglers “The Stranglers”

sfilzen — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 16:56:48 +0000

The Stranglers “The Stranglers” 1977. 4-song 7″ EP on marbled pink vinyl. The writing on the back sleeve is delightful: “THIS is the Stranglers’ first EP. (The initials ‘EP’ stand for ‘extended play,’ which means you get four songs on a seven-inch platter, and you spin it at 331/3 revolutions-per-minute.) Two of the tracks contained herein – ‘Hanging Around’ and ‘(Get a) Grip (on Yourself)’ – originally appeared on Rattus Norvegicus, the Stranglers’ first album. ‘Something Better Change’ is a key tune on the second album, No More Heroes. Last but not least is ‘Straighten Out,’ which does not appear on either album. It goes without saying that this EP should be played as loudly as conditions permit. NOTE: This EP has a special label; viewing the lable while the record is revolving may result in slight dizziness (especially if record is rotated at speeds in excess of 78 rpm).” (I played it at normal speed and can confidently say I did not get dizzy.)

The Stranglers have been around for, like, ever, having formed in 1974 as a pub rock band and then were propelled to commercial success with the rise of punk rock in the mid-70′s, opening for the Ramones and Patti Smith while they toured the UK. “(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)” was their first single, hitting #44 on the UK charts and “Something Better Change” hit #9 (this single was a double A-side with “Straighten Out” in the UK and was also released with “No More Heroes” as its B-side.)

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