Have you seen the recent political debate shows? For my sins and despite myself I’ve sat there shouting: “If these pricks are the best we’ve got!”
Basically, either this side of the Atlantic, or in America, or France ( I mean, Christ lads that’s a literal fascist you have there!) the world is going to hell in a blaze of right-wing, bollocks populism. It’s nasty, its shite and there must be an alternative.
Here comes Yobs – from Liverpool and if they aren’t quite the antidote to GB News, then at least they are documenting the times with all the bile they deserve.
“Yobs Theme” is nasty, about as unwelcoming as it gets. Strap in. Because the second song is called “Cyanide”. and singer Joey Ackland reckons “I think I know where you live”. Be afraid.
It gets worse from there. The chorus there on “Wasted” leaves you in no doubt.
What this fab four do is the total opposite of what the world’s first boyband did. This is Punk for people who like pleasuring themselves with sandpaper, or those who enjoy Swans and Godflesh if you want me to keep it clean.
“Shitty Eye” encourages you to stick a needle in it and there’s a hypnotic quality to “Plasticine”, but it sounds like a horrible maelstrom into a nightmare – and if “Fortune Teller” is supposed to start moshpits, then you probably wouldn’t take the job given that they’re offering to kill you.
“Head The Ball” is not the Match Of The Day theme (although it is more fun than most of the games for my lot) and if “Cemetery Man” has a melody it buries it deep – but it’s there. Imagine “Endless Nameless” by The Wildhearts and go from there, essentially.
Quite what Tito Puente would make of the song named after him, who knows? He might appreciate the experimentation. It’s like being beaten with concrete.
And if you’d like it summed up in one line, then I’ll give you this one: “I live a life of violence”. That’s how “Carpet Burns” goes and it sounds like it.
There’s a beauty here. Nasty, dystopian, violent, and whether you’re meant to enjoy it, as it goes, who knows? But you can file it under “uneasy listening” if you like.
Rating 8/10
