When historians cast their eye back at the UK ’76 Punk Explosion, The Damned forever remain in the shadows of the Sex Pistols and Clash, with the former still intermittently raking in the filthy lucre, and the latter forever lauded by critics.
The Damned were, and remain, the perennial runts of the pack. Outcasts. But of course let’s not forget, unlike their contemporaries, The Damned, at their conception, didn’t have a svengali-like manager behind the scenes, pulling the strings and plotting outlandish cunning stunts to elevate their muse’s careers.
No, The Damned, they did it their way… and that’s why I’ve always admired them greatly, and have chartered their voyage for many a year. Their music was a huge influence on me. How can I ever forget November 23rd 1981, The Damned at Brighton Top Rank. My first gig. Monumental. Ack, I’m getting all misty eyed. That was, this is…
“So, Who’s Paranoid?” is a brand new 13 track album from The Damned, with Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible at the helm, and supported by a very solid crew, who’ve been on board now for a number of years. After a number of spins, I declare this, for the most part, to be a very decent album, containing pop-rocking jams, psychedelic wig-outs, and lashings of furious fretwork from ‘Sonic’ Sensible, marvellous.
Standouts for me are “Nation Fit for Heroes”, “Under the Wheels”, “A Danger to Yourself”, “Just Hanging”, “Nothing!” and the closing “Dark Asteroid” which culminates in 10+ minutes of spaced out cosmic overdrive, a lot of fun! Not so enjoyable were the Vanain-led ballads, notably “Since I Met You” and “Nature’s Dark Surprise“. A bit too mature even for my forty-something ears. And I did laugh at “Shallow Diamonds” which was clearly inspired by the film “Blood Diamond“… I’m sure De Beers would disagree that those valuable lumps of compressed carbon are about as much use as a candy bar! Ha!
Pete Craven