It’s a very good, incisive, difficult


work of art. This is one teen idol that grew up into something really worthy of idolatry. Jeanette Leech


BUZZCOCKS Another Music In ADifferent Kitchen Love Bites ADifferent Kind Of Tension All EMI CDs


From punk’s early days of nihilism and anger sprang many musical forms, inspired by its anger, energy and DIY ethos. Among the first to give notice that


there was more to punk than ripped clothes and a hail of phlegm was Pete Shelley’s Buzzcocks. Eschewing anarchy as a theme, Shelley wrote of the true concern of any teenager; love, or lack of, and did so through punk-fuelled pop songs as poppy as The Monkees, The Move or Motown ever got. Three decades on and many of


those lovelorn teenagers will now be parents, or grandparents even; yet the music sounds as fresh and exhilarating as ever. This deluxe three double-disc


cornucopia of albums, singles, B-sides, demos, Peel sessions and live tracks – 124 in all – stands the test of time. Naturally there are duffers here and there, but the overall standard is remarkably high and when they were at their best, well, they could take on all-comers. Excellently remastered and lovingly


packaged around Malcolm Garrett’s beautiful and innovative original artwork, with sleeve notes by Jon Savage, who (apart from my mate Richard “I’m fucked if I’m buying them for a fifth time!”) wouldn’t want the lot? Vic Templar


LOU CHRISTIE SACCO Paint America Love Rev-Ola CD www.revola.co.uk


Lou Christie is remembered largely for his teen-scream hits of the early ’60s and his incredible falsetto. But when he reclaimed his original surname Sacco he also found


a new depth to both his voice and his talent. Paint America Love, from 1971, was his second album for the Buddah label and a meditation of simmering disquiet on the American Dream. The opener, ‘Wood Child’ is a


microscopically detailed piece of orchestral folk, musing on both the rough-hewn unease of the American backwoods and the emptiness of consumerist escape. Elsewhere, there’s the understated yet anthemic pop of ‘Paper Song’ and ‘Waco’ and, best of all, the despondent, emotive anti-war masterpiece ‘Look Out The Window’. Stateside culture is unpicked throughout the album, in all its complexity and contradictions, but it never becomes a simplistic protest album.


70


FIGURES OF LIGHT Smash Hits Norton CD


It must be difficult living up to expectations of a 1972 single. Newly discovered, then re-released by Norton last year, ‘It’s Lame’ came as such a surprising


slice of proto-punk greatness. Wheeler Dixon and accomplice


Michael Downey try to keep the momentum real. So here are basic observations set to a churning punk‘n’roll backbeat, ably assisted at times by The A-Bones, in an effort to get you to switch off your boring TV. They succeed too, even if compared to that landmark 45 the production is less bright; so less dynamic too, but still... Personal highlights are the original


‘It’s Lame’ and the no-nonsense genius flipside ‘I Jes Wanna Go To Bed’. Of the fresh offerings, ‘Seething Psychosexual Conflict Blues’ is cool trash, but it’s ‘Black Cadillac’ and the desperate- sounding edge of ‘Angeline’ that do it best. ‘Ritual TV Smashing Finale’, cut live in ’70, is mayhem, and has to be heard to be believed. Lenny Helsing


THE FIXATIONS The Sound Of Young London Detour CD www.detour-records.co.uk


Here’s another one that seems to have slipped off the late ’70s mod revival radar when it comes to trans- global recognition. Gigging around the usual venues of the


time such as The Marquee, The Music Machine, Dingwalls, The Hope And Anchor ... as with most from the scene, they too “came from the punk but their souls belonged to The Who”, with familiar sounding riffs being thrown around (‘No Way Out’, ‘Survive’...). Along with an occasional moody Kinks-like feel (‘Unnatural Merger’, ‘Daniel Brodie’...) there’s some conventional mid-60s, almost Merseybeat vibes as well (‘So Madly’) proving that it wasn’t all about mod targets, parkas and scooters after all. Most of the content sounds pretty much Lo-Fi-ish, but sure IS the sound of then-young London. Goran Obradovic


FLAMIN’ GROOVIES This Band is Red Hot: 1969-1979 Raven Records CD www.ravenrecords.com.au Flamin’ Groovies are a defiant lot. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, when many of their contemporaries were doing hippie jams or going prog and/or glam, they stuck to what they do best: greasy, barroom rock‘n’roll with a boogie kick. Then in the late ’70s, when the


edgy attitudes and sounds of punk and new wave carried the day, The Groovies broke out the 12-strings and did Byrdsian/ Beatlesque melodies. Whatever


they touch, they always manage to pull it off with a rockin’ sense of easy mastery. ‘Teenage Head’ is simply one of the greatest garage rock tracks of all time, some kind of ungodly combination of Captain Beefheart, The Cramps, and Texas boogie. Likewise, ‘Shake Some Action’ just about defines the genre of power pop. Of course those two are on this collection of the Groovies most stellar tracks, but there are 22 others and every one of them is solid. Capturing many of the legendary band’s best moments, from ’69’s Supersnazz to ’79’s Jumpin’ In The Night. Brian Greene


HARDIN & YORK The World’s Smallest Big Band Esoteric CD www.cherryred.co.uk


Give it up for Hardin&York, whose second album makes a welcome


reappearance with bonus tracks all over it. You all know that Eddie Hardin


replaced Steve Winwood in The Spencer Davis Group of course – a massive, Koko The Klown- sized pair of shoes to fill – but he kicked ass all over the place; give me With Their New Face On over Autumn ’66 any day. Hardin and SDG drummer York


had more chops than the meat counter at Sainsbury’s, and had no compunction whatsoever about flexing them to sensuous effect. You may find that Eddie’s Hammond organ impacts directly upon your own organ. Marco Rossi


THE ISLEY BROTHERS Givin’ It Back/Brother, Brother, Brother Evangeline CD www.evangaline.co.uk


The Brothers soldiered on into the seventies adding rock influences to their palette with gratifying results on this 2-on-1 CD. Neil Young, James Taylor, Carole King


and Bob Dylan songs are revamped into lengthy soulful tapestries. Songs as familiar as an old favourite t-shirt freshened up with the distinctive falsetto of Ron Isley and the emerging talent of younger brother Ernie, whose virtuous guitar playing sprinkled new life into the Brothers sound over the next decade. The lucid ‘It’s Too Late’ like many


of the featured tracks has a serene, autumnal calm about it as melodies gleam like rays of sunlight from between the cracks. The divine ‘Brother Brother’ sounds like it fell off the cutting floor from Marvin’s What’s Going


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