New Wave for the New Week #164

Combining hook-laden high-energy jangling guitar pop with a Punk Rock sneer and a boatload of irresistibly catchy choruses, The Buzzcocks appeared on the scene in the wake of The Sex Pistols' initial assault on UK eardrums in 1976.  The band was originally the creation of schoolmates Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley who, with bassist Steve Diggle and drummer John Maher, issued the 4-song 7-inch Spiral Scratch EP that year on their own New Hormones label, making them among the earliest of the  Punk crowd to take the independent release route.

Spiral Scratch's songs are sharp, abrasive, angular blurts that only begin to display what The Buzzcock's sound would evolve into; the highlight here is the leadoff track, "Boredom," which is everything a Punk Rock song should be: short, minimalist, snarky and intelligent ("Now I'm living in this ennui/But it doesn't suit me...").  The Devoto/Shelley pairing would not last long. Devoto was more interested in exploring electronic music, and shortly after this debut he left the band to form Magazine.

Pete Shelley took over the lead vocal duties, Steve Diggle moved from bass to guitar, and Steve Garvey joined on bass, and in short order the classic Buzzcocks lineup was in place.  Over the next three years The Buzzcocks would deliver three outstanding albums and a dozen or more ace singles for their new label, United Artists.  They differed from their contemporaries in Shelley's adenoidal yet melodic vocals and the use of Beatles-inspired harmonies.  Where the Punk crowd was going on about political and social injustices, The Buzzcocks were singing about paranoia, alienation and unrequited love - and scoring hit after hit in the UK while doing so.

Their first United Artists single, 1977's "Orgasm Addict," brought about controversy given its rather frank approach to its subject matter, but also sold very well despite just missing the UK Top 40.  The follow-up, "What Do I Get?," did make the Top 40, and The Buzzcocks were off on a great run. All three of their United Artists LPs (Another Music In A Different Kitchen, Love Bites, and A Different Kind Of Tension) have aged remarkably well and are strewn with classics like "Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Should'nt've?)," "Sixteen Again," "Fast Cars," "You Say You Don't Love Me," and so on; the band also scored with a handful of non-album singles including "Love You More," "Everybody's Happy Nowadays," and "Harmony In My Head."   In 1979, UA helpfully compiled all of the A and B sides of their singles into one album, Singles Going Steady. Essential.

As the 1980's kicked off, The Buzzcocks began slowing down.  The delivered three more singles, which were later compiled into a 12-inch EP, but Shelley soon left to pursue a solo career, Diggle and Maher moved on to form Flag Of Convenience, and The Buzzcocks were apparently done.  A decade later, there was enough interest in the band to reissue everything except for the original four Spiral Scratch tracks in a boxed set called Product.  Sales were surprisingly strong, and Shelley and Diggle started toying with the idea of a reunion.

By 1993, a regrouped Buzzcocks had their first new recorded material in more than ten years. Trade Test Transmissions kicked off a run of five more albums, including All Set, Modern, Buzzcocks, and Flat-Pack Philosophy, which all showed the band hadn't lost a step despite the lengthy layoff.  Songs like the incredible "Soul On A Rock" (from Modern) can be proudly filed alongside The Buzzcock's classic material.

For this return to NW4NW, I am happy to present two of The Buzzcock's best from their classic era, "What Do I Get?" and the utterly wonderful "I Don't Mind," as well as the more recent vintage "Soul On A Rock."  Enjoy!

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New Wave for the New Week #96 BONUS ENTRY! BY REQUEST!

[All throughout the month of November, all NW4NW entries will be based on requests made by you, dear readers. Because of the amount of requests coming in, there will often be more than one entry per week during this month - I recommend signing up for email alerts on the left-hand side of the screen so that you don't miss any of the fun! If you wish to make a request, you may do so either in the comments section of this post, on Twitter, or on the Facebook Fanpage. Don't be shy - tell me what band you want to see featured!]

If you do not already read Strange Reaction regularly, you need to start.  It is one of the best Punk Rock blogs going.  Scott and Mike E. know their stuff and regularly provide blistering podcasts, spot on record reviews, and stories of living the Life both back in the day and as older, wiser (?) adults. Recommended!  I was pleased, then, to see Scott from Strange Reaction throw his two cents in on All Request Month, and more than pleased when among his suggestions was Howard Devoto's second band, Magazine.

Devoto, who has been described as "Brian Eno on steroids," was the original lead singer for The Buzzcocks.  He left that band after recording their debut EP Spiral Scratch, hoping to push the envelope a little further musically than the pop-punk structure of The Buzzcocks would allow.  Recruiting John McGeoch, Barry Adamson and Dave Formula on guitar, bass and keyboards respectively, and with Martin Jackson momentarily manning the drumset (he'd soon be replaced by John Doyle), Magazine debuted in 1978 with the stunning "Shot By Both Sides."  a full album, Real Life, followed quickly on the heels of that single, and is an important artifact of the early Post-Punk sound.

Magazine's sound was both more melodic and more avant-garde than many of their contemporaries.  The music was heavily layered and claustrophobic, which perfectly supported Devoto's mildly paranoid and often melancholy lyrics.  At times being obtuse to the point of self-parody, Devoto's songs were nonetheless memorable, and Real Life reached the Top 30 on the UK album charts.

Their sophomore effort, Secondhand Daylight, saw the traditional guitar-and-bass sound being downplayed in favor of more keyboard-based material.  The material here is not entirely unlike early Public Image Ltd., although perhaps a bit more literate.  Not bad, but they still sounded like they were searching for their true voice - a voice they found with 1980's The Correct Use Of Soap.  With goodies like "Model Worker," "A Song From Under The Floorboards," and the contemporary non-album single "The Light Pours Out Of Me" (which was appended in the CD reissue), this was Magazine's masterpiece, as well as their best-selling record.

One more album would appear the following year, but Devoto decided to dissolve the band upon the release of Magic, Murder And The Weather.  The album showed a band that certainly was not running out of material (the single "About The Weather" ranks among the band's best work), but apparently Devoto didn't want to wait until the tank was empty to stop the car.  Two years later, in 1983, Devoto released Jerky Versions Of The Dream, a solo album that featured an outstanding single, "The Rainy Season," and then dropped out of the music world altogether to focus on his love of photography.

Devoto reunited the original line-up of Magazine in 2009 for a series of UK concerts, and rumor has it that there may just be some new material to come...

I thank Scott for his request, and offer two clips to fill it: First, Magazine debuting "Shot By Both Sides" on British TV in 1978, and then Devoto's solo clip for "The Rainy Season." Enjoy!