I was 9
years old in 1977 (no, really!), and, punk completely passed me by. I remember the Silver Jubilee at a friends
house. I remember my Grandad dying the
year before, and, a holiday to America which allows a sense of irony. I don’t think the Americans really ever
understood punk (and don’t to this day – cue howls of derision from the
balcony). Ok, there were few, very few,
exceptions, but, their version of punk was ‘punk pop’ or New Wave. However good Rip Her To Shreds was, Debbie
Harry hasn’t got a punk bone in her body.
American punk heroes, Green Day, wouldn’t know punk if it jumped up and
slapped them around the face with a string of safety pins shouting “I’m punk,
I’m punk”. There, I finished my
rant. Steps down from soapbox.
So, what
does French punk offer us? Well on the
face of it, The Pelvis Douglas seem to have absorbed a lot of ‘real’ punk and
made a pretty good attempt at it. Sure,
they’ve also got some New Wave chucked in there, but, give them credit where
it’s due. This album is pretty darn
good.
Formed only
this year, The Pelvis Douglas release their debut eponymous album of 13 tracks
with the approval of the masses. Opener,
Chris Waddle (not a popular song title for many a Burnley FC fan) is full of
life. At less than two minutes it moves
along with finesse and a great guitar line.
A vocal like an express train and sounding more American than
French. Perinne Turiez has a powerful
riot grrrl voice that really carries the track along and straight into Let The
Water Run. Brash, bold and big sounding
there really is little time for breath.
Flying
Needles ignites after 6 seconds. This
four-piece sounding a little X Ray Spex.
Again a fairly catchy little affair.
You know you aren’t going to get any slow paced stuff from this
album. Great driving music in the form
of Change Of Mood with an early Blondie-esque New Wave sound. Over 13 tracks, you don’t get much more than
30 minutes, but, when music feels as good as this it really doesn’t
matter. My opinion is that you get to
hear the album again very quickly! West
Side Surf goes Ramones, Renegade a nod in the direction of The Damned. There’s plenty here to get you very
excited. Bathroom Door chugs along with
just guitar and vocal for more than half of the track before exploding and
Nation’s Fashion powers forward from the off.
There’s a
little more ‘American punk’ with Summer Red Wine, but don’t let that put you
off. The Pelvis Douglas seem to have the
knack of making very listenable, reasonably angry, noisy little tunes. Probably a great band live too – Vive La
France!
Published on Louder Than War 28/12/12 - http://louderthanwar.com/the-pelvis-douglas-the-pelvis-douglas-album-review/
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