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Rating: What can be said about this album? The debut of one of the most important bands in the history of punk music as well as one of the bands from the first English wave of this fantastic music?
Among the pioneers of pop-punk (don’t be scared by this term; they are qualitatively miles ahead of useless bands like Green Day or Blink – bluaaarggghhhhh!) as well as being capable of sonic refinements above the punk average of the time, they were the first to tackle taboo topics like sex (“Sixteen” “I Need”) or drugs (“I Need” again), thus distancing themselves from bands like the Clash or the Sex Pistols.
The style of this superb album is melodic punk but no less abrasive or fast and endowed with remarkable compositional creativity for the standards of punk productions of that period. Songs like “Tear Me Up”, “I Don’t Mind”, “Love Battery” are highly enjoyable punk tunes marked by a frenzied hedonism and characterized by the very distinctive voice of singer Pete Shelley.
In my opinion, the Buzzcocks should be counted among the essential artists of this genre and among the first true innovators of our favorite music that have influenced generations of musicians, English and otherwise.
Far from nihilism and “no future” and the political activism of The Clash, the four from Manchester coined an original punk style influenced by melodies and lyrics that exalted being young, screwing as much as possible, and taking various drugs, while still maintaining an utterly “punkish” performance attitude.
What are you waiting for to dive into this essential album? Once you’ve listened to it, you won’t be able to do without it, and this comes from someone who, with few exceptions, detests pop-punk (which for better or worse, I repeat, was invented by them). Enjoy!
“And I don’t like french kissing, cause you swallow my tongue” “Sixteen”
P.S. I wrote this review under the influence of numerous “Bashmille” brand whiskeys (is it spelled like that?) I hope I didn’t make too many blunders and if so, well… your problem :)?
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