Thursday, September 10, 2020

The 1980 Listening Post - Cockney Rejects - Greatest Hits Vol. II

 Cockney Rejects - Greatest Hits Vol. II


#350

September 30 1980
Cockney Rejects
Greatest Hits Vol. II
Genre: Oi with Metal
4.25 out of 5

Highlights:
Oi! Oi! Oi!
Hate in the City
The Rocker
Blockbuster


Requisite 80s Cover:
The Sweet’s “Blockbuster”. This closes the record. Which makes it a welcome treat instead of a harbinger that the rest of the record won’t match up. As much as they seem to be taking the piss out Glam, they seem to love it at the same time. It’s a fun bit of lunacy. 


This one feels different than that first Cockney Rejects album, released earlier this year. Maybe it’s the tyranny of the volume of music but I don’t get the same stoopid lunacy from this and, instead, it feels more aggressively powerful. It’s still got that remnants of Ramones going for it and the songs are as immediately forgettable as they have been all along. I should have listened to them back to back but, as I’ve said before, there is a limit to the number of Ramones one can listen to (and that’s about 17) before you just have to wash your palette. I believe the same thing would happen here. 
This time I am reminded of the best moments of The Clash (who I sorely miss at this point), with “Hate in the City” calling to mind “Career Opportunities” or “Remote Control” and, man, could we use some of that anger today. 
As much as I didn’t care for the first one, I really like this one, which suggests that maybe I need to go back and listen to that first one again. 
They seem to know that you are gonna get bored because just when i was ready to be done with them, they pulled out the hilarious (and highlight worthy) cover of Sweet’s “Blockbuster”. Cuz, when they shout “Wr just haven’t got a clue what to do!” you get the sense that it’s the truest statement in rock history.


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