Review:

on 2011-03-12 CharlesMartel Said:

I suppose it doesn't get any better than this when it comes to pop varieties of punk. The Buzzcocks mixed British punk with male teenage angst. They sang songs of strange girls, absurd fantasies and twisted, bitter love. They played these songs at a hundred miles an hour and this just emphasised the panic inherent in teenage hormonal surges. There is no wonder that, even today, the Buzzcocks remain the epitome of powerpop.

It is odd then that this album, which comprises the A- and B-Sides from the band's early years, should have originally started out as a sampler for the American market. To those of us who grew up with the Buzzcocks and their ilk, there was no way that this could possibly have appealed to a wide enough cross-section of the American music buying public. This was quintessentially British in its outlook and stance and couldn't possibly have translated across the Atlantic except in the narrowest of musical interest zones. It did not. The Buzzcocks never took off in the States.

The world of the Buzzcocks was far removed from that of their contemporaries or their predecessors. Their contemporaries such as the Sex Pistols and the Clash were intent on using an anti-establishment pose (and yes, for the most part it was a pose) to make money off the establishment while slagging it off. Their predecessors were the great rock gods of the early seventies. Chauffeur-driven limos, private jets, piles of cocaine, barrels of whiskey and as many girls as your dick could stand up to in an evening was a world far removed from the realities of the Buzzcocks. In their world the establishment was a reality, not to be destroyed but to be worked around. In their world a beat up second hand '69 Capri which would fail its M.O.T., the odd spliff, a few pints of Courage Directors and hoping the plain girl you pulled at the club the night before would drop her knickers on the first date circumscribed the limits of your ambition.

What was quite amazing was that, in the UK, the Buzzcocks even managed to experience some minor chart success. Perhaps it was because the time was right, or perhaps it was the charts needed some punk to show they were still relevant to a youth increasingly turning away from the vapid offerings of the mainstream, and unlike many of their contemporaries, the Buzzcocks did not snarl, swear, spit, blaspheme or deride the monarchy. At least they did not by the time they started to gain commercial success - no radio station in the UK would have played "Oh Shit" or "Orgasm Addict".

The vocals are the leading edge of the success of the music. The slightly high-pitched, almost whining nasal twang of first Howard DeVoto and later Pete Shelley adds to the urgency. This is the voice of the teenager who fears being left behind and who cannot understand why; why the girls don't like him; why other boys bully him; why his parents don't understand or appreciate him; and why is growing up generally such all round shit. No job, no money, no prospects. That was the reality. And dreaming about the promise of eternal love or mourning over the reality of how it all went wrong was what it was all about.

All the classic singles are here, from the twisted "Orgasm Addict" to the plaintiff "Ever Fallen in Love". Music for a generation - my generation. This was powerpop at its best. Only "Talking in the Canteen" by the Moondogs would be better than this. Compare this with the sort of pathetic plagiarism such as McFly or Busted, both of whom are little more than boy bands with guitars, and you wonder what on earth has happened to teenagers today.
Rating: 8/10