Buzzcocks: Irving Plaza, New York, NY (10/1/2016)

Manchester (Bolton), England's The Buzzcocks have been touring to celebrate the band's 40 anniversary. The band played Irving Plaza earlier this month, and by and large the show was a success. Given the longevity of the band (read: age) I wasn't expecting them to be so full of natural intensity. However the band gave credible, excellent readings of the majority of all the classics. The sound, as it generally always is at Irving Plaza was wonderful. It's still my favorite venue for rock shows in Manhattan.

Just a few songs in, it was crystal clear as to why they're the acknowledged pioneers of Pop Punk. The busy yet efficient drums parts, decidedly individual yet lovelorn lyrics, thoroughly melodic basslines, the crystalline crunch of the guitars and the harmony vocals of leaders Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley. Their brand of  Ramones wall of guitars with their own romantic concerns spawned the likes of The Descendants, Hüsker Dü, Green Day and Blink 182. 

The band performed a twenty-one song set in just over ninety-minutes. The classics "What Do I Get?", "I Don't Mind", "Ever Fallen In Love", "Promises", "Love You More", "Autonomy" and "Orgasm Addict" were all performed and sung-along-to-loudly by the crowd (whose ages seem to range from teenage to retiree). My favorite songs of the evening were "You Say You Don't Love Me", "Why She's A Girl From The Chainstore" and the sublime "Harmony In My Head". The best performance was the bands' trance-y "Moving Away From The Pulsebeat".

A great show from a legendary band. 

Magazine: Play (Virgin Records/1981)

Manchester's Magazine were one of the finest bands to come out of the post/punk movement. Forming in 1977 after leader Howard Devoto left The Buzzcocks, the band released three excellent albums on Virgin Records. In mid-1980, guitarist extraordinaire, the late-John McGeoch left the band to join Siouxsie & The Banshees. He was replaced by Robin Simon for the Correct Use Of Soap tour (he can also be seen with the band in their appearance in the film Urgh! A Music War). Considering Simon had big shoes to fill in replacing the ever-innovative McGeoch, he fares pretty well here. 


Recorded in late Summer of 1980 at Festival Hall in Melbourne, Australia opening for XTC, Play is something of a neat little sampler of sorts. It contains the classic Magazine cuts “Because You're Frightened”, “The Light Pours Out Of Me”, “Model Worker”, “Permafrost”, “A Song From Under The Floorboards” and their deconstructionist take on Sly And The Family Stone's “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”. The only glaring omission here is the classic debut single “Shot By Both Sides” (which was the band's only real UK hit). The band sounds in fine form and they certainly have more command than your average opening band.

 Recommended for fans of The Buzzcocks, post-punk and new wave.

 This is the video review: