The Adicts, Songs Of Praise

Crap, I can't review this without a cuppa tea in hand. That's better. This (their first) album opens with "England", which is just about as catchy as pump-yer-fist anti-authority beer punk gets without being officially oi. In fact, it's so catchy that by the time the second track came on warning bells were blaring. Released in 1982, token songs about revolt ("Viva La Revolution"), themselves and the necessity of carrying the torch ("Get Adicted", "Dynasty"), careful attention to appearance....FUCK! Isn't this exactly the sort of deluded tripe that killed punk in the first place? The posturing, the uniformity of sound that let the buzzards descend and ossification begin? Could I just as well be listening to The Exploited?

Well, no. What The Adicts do is bring the fun, and bring it with a fresh-faced excitement that they can't be faulted for. As you know, (lead singer) Monkey see (Dave Vanian hopping around in greasepaint on The Old Grey Whistle Test), Monkey do (competent and catchy punk a la first Damned album, only without guile). There's just nothing on this that could possibly rub you the wrong way. Brash, vital, alive. Tasty tidbit: this record was recorded and mixed in the space of twenty-four hours! Mad props!

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