The Vibrators - Guilty
January 1982
The Vibrators
Guilty
Genre: Punk Rock
3 out of 5
Requisite 80s Cover: A very punk fluent “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” with driving guitars and a steady beat and it isn’t even as punk as the Stones were 15 years before.
If you shoot yourself forward from 1982 and land 20 years later in the early 00s and “Get Free” by the Vines came on the radio, which it would have, you might forgive yourself for thinking…”Is this a Vibrators record?”. An edgy, guitar driven sound that lacerates when it feels up to it, exits as quickly as it arrived and is easily forgotten, The Vibrators put out this one after reforming and, honestly, it’s a sound that you can’t kill. It’s roots are in Rock n Roll, like Bad Religion’s and it’s best enjoyed in a tattoo parlor.
“Sleeping” is a good example of where some of Rock is heading, with it’s big, echoey sounds that forecast the likes of Love and Rockets and Lords of the New Church. The Vibrators are moving away from New Wave and Punk and this record is a good example of the nexus change that is happening in 1982.
Sadly, their roots show too much and they are unable to make it out of the pub so the album is hugely disjointed.
No comments:
Post a Comment