You should already be familiar with the Buzzcocks by now. Part of the Holy Trinity of UK Punk, the band has been putting out top-notch records for the past 30 years. That’s a long time. The weird thing is that none of this band’s classic material sounds dated—at all. Throw on the A Different Kind of Tension LP and listen. Those songs are just a relevant now as they were then. Maybe even more so.
2006 has been a big year for the Buzzers. They took home the Inspiration Award at the MOJO Awards, are currently embarked on a lengthy world tour, and, most importantly, released one of their finest records to date: Flat-Pack Philosophy.
Flat-Pack Philosophy actually caught me a bit off guard. While I liked the last, self-titled full-length, it just didn’t hold up against the band’s classic material. With this new record I had expected another solid release, but nothing that was gonna kick my butt. I mean, it’s hard to one-up a back-catalogue as impressive as theirs. Well, they did it.
The LP starts off with the title track and immediately hooks you in. It’s got the classic Buzzers rhythm and the balance between hard-hitting music and perfect pop hooks that made me fall in love with them in the first place.
"Wish I Never Loved You" starts off where "Ever Fallen in Love" finished and is full of all the "ohs, ahhs and ooos" of years past and wouldn’t be out of place as a bonus track on Singles Going Steady.
"Sell You Everything" is the next up and is one of my (two) favorite tracks on the record. Steve Diggle takes the lead on this one and it’s just as good (if not better) than anything he’s done before. I’ve listened to this song over and over. Before you can even catch your breath "Reconciliation" starts up. Easily one of the best songs the Buzzcocks have ever done. I could go through each track and say how much I love this record, but I’ll spare you! Let’s just say you’re a moron if you don’t go pick it up right now.
Similarly, the Flat-Pack tour is just as brilliant. The band plays a good portion of the new record (about 7 or 8 songs) with a ton of the classics mixed in. I think the band played for over an hour and a half at the Philly show, but it felt like maybe 10 minutes! Everyone was dancing, screaming along and just enjoying themselves! The band will be all over the US and I suggest you go see them. You won’t be disappointed.
Band Site: www.buzzcocks.com
Label Site: Cooking Vinyl