Too Much Anarchy In The UK
Punk. That bastard never dies, eh? It pops up once, it dies, it returns, and it buggers off once again. Annoyingly, it comes back a third time and little kids turn it into a hopelessly cute area of music, and it's made fun of by everyone. Should we be happy that Agent Blue have brought it back minus the "charms" of 90s Pogo Punk? The answer of course, is yes, thank God we don't have little punk rock princesses teeming everywhere - but punk will always be punk, and therefore, it'll always fail to impress me.
"Something Else", the 2nd single from Agent Blue - Stoke-On-Trent's answer to the punk legends Ramones - is your typical two minute affair that is full of absolutely no surprises. Actually, that's unfair, I admit there is one surprising thing on this track: the five second guitar-harmonic flourish that is really only a ramp to allow the Queens-Of-The-Stone-Age-esque guitar to roll its way into the song. Everything else is your generic punk - driving one note basslines, unimaginative drumparts, and a wavery vocalist. After that album from The Thermals, I've grown annoyingly used to using the term generic punk. Will I ever find a punk release that I can't call generic? Answers on an E-postcard to moi.