Cockney Rejects – Unforgiven
It's not often you get to review a band that helped spawn a music genre, in fact there are not many bands in existence who can claim to have achieved the feat. So, when I received the new record from veteran punk act Cockney Rejects, whose 1980 song 'Oi Oi Oi' lent it's name to the then upcoming 'street' subgenre of punk, I have to admit; I was pretty excited. However, I soon discovered that after numerous break-ups, reformations and hiatus', the 2007 Cockney Rejects line-up only retains vocalist Jeff Turner and guitarist Mick Geggus from their original 1979 incarnation. Doubt about the record had begun to form as I wondered to what degree the band could recapture the intensity of their 1980s work twenty-five years on and two members down.
Opening track, the eponymous anthem 'Cockney Reject' starts the album successfully enough. A solid rock number with a rousing group chorus, the track chugs along nicely before a pop-esque breakdown ruins the mood and begins to hint at what's to come. The rest of the album continues in this 'pop-esque' style, music that's somewhere between pub-rock, pop and punk, but far removed from the energetic street-punk the band made their name with.
'Unforgiven' is not necessarily a bad album, it's just not what I'd expect after giving the 'Rejects back-catalogue a whirl. Gone is the angry anti-authoritism of older tracks like 'Police Car' and 'War On The Terraces'; in comes dreary melodic solos, electronic guitar effects and breakdowns that would sound more at home in a Backstreet Boys record than that of punk legends. Songs like 'Fists of Fury,' 'Unforgiven' and 'Gonna Make You A Star' are particularly apt examples that emphasize the band's new poppy direction.
The album is not without it's highlights though. Title track 'Cockney Rejects' and the updated version of West Ham football club's anthem, 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles' provide both music that rocks and tentative links to the band's past, however such tracks are few and far between. Fair play to the members of the band if they've grown up and calmed down; it's their band and it's their choice, however I can't help but feel a little disappointed at the direction they've taken themselves in. If the group wanted to put out a mature sounding record, then perhaps they should have released it under a new name, and not used their old reputation to boost publicity? Just a thought.
Anyway, if you have never heard the Cockney Rejects before and are looking at this record with an open mind you may well find something to enjoy, however, if you are familiar with the 'Rejects then you, like me, may well find yourselves disappointed.