The 1982 Listening Post - The Vibrators - Guilty

 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. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/guilty-alaska/997869952

The 1984 Listening Post - The Vibrators - Alaska 157

The Vibrators - Alaska 157

#153

June 15 1984

The Vibrators

Alaska 157

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

3-D Jesus

Jesus Always Lets You Down

Well, at least someone is trying to keep the Clash torch burning. 

I always want the Vibrators to be better. In the same way that I wish Buzzcocks were. Neither ever got as close to “Orgasm Addict” for me but that’s the kind of thing I expect from these bands. The songs are tight, terse and leave me wanting. 

Eventually bands like Ima Robot would bring this sound back for one album and write some catchy stuff but I feel like, as with them and Epoxies, they weren’t able to sustain that level for more than one set of songs. 

Right around “3-D Jesus”, The Vibrators belie their true nature. Sure, they’re “punk” but they’d just as soon be The Kinks, circa 1970. And I wish they followed that path a bit more ardently. The album is a lot more eclectic on the second half, if you make it that far. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/alaska-127/551507849

The 1983 Listening Post - Knox - Plutonium Express

Knox - Plutonium Express

#214
1983 Housekeeping
Knox
Plutonium Express
2.25 out of 5

Highlights:
Last Broken Heart

Was Knox the solo album for the lead singer of The Vibrators? That’s the best I can determine. You like Buzzcocks? This is for you. It’s angular and edgy, with the treble turned way up high and a parade snare that won’t quit at times.
The Lou Reed-y “One Time” is perfectly placed at the end of side one, almost guaranteeing the album be grabbed out of reflex and either flipped over or discarded wholly.
When he isn’t attempting a hook or a single, “Tired of Living with You” comes closest, he’s experimenting (Dream Factory) in a way that leaves no surprise that no one has ever heard of this album.
This is the kind of performer who dances on the edge of glam and New Wave and I am 100% sure that he would be produced by Butch Walker if he was 26 today.
I’ve heard better.