Buzzcocks

As the U.K.'s most infectious punks, the Buzzcocks may one day be forced to take the fall for every lame-ass pop-punk band this side of Blink-182. But the Buzzcocks' original blend of over-caffeinated pop and punk was always more adventurous than that. And more legitimately punk. While everyone from Hüsker...

By Ed Masley

July 20, 2006

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As the U.K.'s most infectious punks, the Buzzcocks may one day be forced to take the fall for every lame-ass pop-punk band this side of Blink-182. But the Buzzcocks' original blend of over-caffeinated pop and punk was always more adventurous than that. And more legitimately punk. While everyone from Hüsker Dü to Green Day and Graham Coxon has given nods to Singles Going Steady, the Buzzcocks' essential greatest hits collection, the band's studio albums are every bit as densely packed with moments of pure genius, from Another Music in Another Kitchen to A Different Kind of Tension, which kept the singles going steady with the song "I Believe." And never mind the bollocks, the Buzzcocks are still going strong three decades down the road from self-releasing Spiral Scratch — the birth of DIY? — with another surprisingly solid new album called Flat-Pack Philosophy. The sound is classic Buzzcocks — fuel-injected pop hooks, big guitars, and a reckless abandon kids half their age would have a hard time faking. As Buzzcocks vocalist/guitarist Steve Diggle was moved to remark, "There's a lot of bands citing Buzzcocks as an influence, which is always nice, but a lot of today's music is sexless. Buzzcocks, to me, has always been about putting sex in music."

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