Another Music in a Different Kitchen (Special Edition)

Another Music in a Different Kitchen (Special Edition)

One of the great things about ’70s punk rock is that it gave voice to the otherwise voiceless. Take the British band Buzzcocks and their singer and main songwriter Pete Shelley: an outcast bisexual kid who picked up a guitar and discovered he had an innate ability—born of frustration and passion—to write great songs. The resulting Buzzcocks tunes inspired art-school punks and songsmiths alike, from The Smiths to R.E.M. to Green Day, and made fans of Elton John and Robert Plant, among other superstars. One can’t listen to “Fiction Romance,” “Autonomy,” or the wondrous singles “I Don’t Mind” and “What Do I Get” and miss Shelley’s profound senses of sexual and personal detachment and longing amid all the chainsaw-guitar fun. Nor can one ignore Shelley’s un-macho screeds on teen atonement (“Orgasm Addict,” “Sixteen”) and grim life in Northern England (“Fast Cars”) and not want to bounce off walls. It’s deceptively smart fun. This expanded version of the band's 1978 debut album collects demos and singles from the period, a 1977 live show, and their first John Peel session.

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