Buzzcocks

Punk rock is a funny old beast. It’s getting on to over 30 years since the punk rock revolution hit and you would think that by now most of the original punks would be either dead or senior bank managers. But some of the original punk rockers are still very active and, dare I say it, “more punk” than the current bands that want to claim the inheritance.

Buzzcocks are a good example of the latter. The band that that tours Australia later this months has two of the original members Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle, and speaking to the latter from his London home convinced me that he is every bit as passionate about his music as he was back then.

This isn’t a reunion that is about making a quick buck from the legacy of a great band. Diggle is still a hungry musician and you get the sense that he’s always thinking that the next song might be “the one”.

“There’s quite a lot of songs of The Buzzcocks that I’m very proud of writing but I just think I’m blessed that I keep waking up in the morning and wanting to write new songs. It feels better than ever now. Ten years ago I might have thought I would take it easy with the songwriting but I’ve found its even more inspiring now.”

Diggle ia active on myspace and is currently recording another solo album in between touring with Buzzcocks. And there seems to be no sign of the demand for the band waning. As an example they find themselves on an All Tomorrows Parties Christmas bill alongside My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Bob Mould, Dirty Three, Swervedriver and That Petrol Emotion amongst others.

That’s a fair cross section of great and influential bands and for Diggle it’s a lot healthier playing with bands of that ilk that banging your head against the wall of popular music.

“There’s a few bands with guitars but not that many at the moment”, he explains. “Radio One is mainly playing electronic music at the moment. It‘s just pretty girls with electronic backing. They all look like lap dancers to me”.

Diggle casually mentions in our conversation that Liam Gallagher recently told him that Buzzcocks were the best singles band in the world. It’s a big statement but one that songs like Ever Fallen In Love, Orgasm Addict and Love You More partially support. But possibly what makes Buzzcocks legacy enduring is the fact that they actually seemed to think of as album as a body of work. Their first two albums Another Music In A Different Kitchen and Love Bites have both been performed in full in recent shows and they stand up well to scrutiny.

“It was the dawning of punk” recalls Diggle. “Our album and the Pistols album and the Clash album all came out around the same time and they changed peoples consciousness. People had to re-think what they thought about music and what was going on. Music became magical again. The first album was quite futuristic at the time. There was a lot going on there. We had the punk songs but we also had the album tracks. It was a lot more rounded and experimental”.
Having Diggle on the phone allowed me to clarify one of the great stories of Australian contemporary music history. For a long time it has been suggested that punk was actually born in Australia and that the Saints were around before the English bands like the Pistols, the Clash and Buzzcocks. Can Diggle shed any light on that timeline?

“I remember hearing that Saints record Stranded and thinking it was fantastic and that was before our album came out”, he states. “It was kinda weird. We had heard the Ramones in America and there was the Pistols, the Clash and ourselves here but before that you had The Saints. They were as inspirational as anything really and ahead of their time in a lot of ways. You can say it came from New York or it came from London or Manchester but it also came from Australia with The Saints. I cant remember where I heard that record but it was before we did ours”

The list of punk rock icons that are no longer around is well known but the list of those still active is somewhat less well publicised.

But for London audiences, sometimes surprising things happen.

“ A great moment for me was earlier this year at a benefit show for a friend of mine at a club in London”, explains Diggle.  “I played with my solo band, but I also ended up playing with Mick Jones and Glen Matlock. I had twenty minutes to learn Sex Pistols songs and Clash songs. We’d known each other for 30 years, but it was the first time that I’d played with either of those guys on stage. The audience were ecstatic”.

Wednesday 18th November, Coolangatta, The Cooly Bandroom
Thursday 19th November, Brisbane, The Zoo
Friday 20th November, Sydney, The Forum (The Entertainment Quarter)
Saturday 21st November, Melbourne, Corner Hotel
Sunday 22nd November, Hobart, Moorilla
Tuesday 24th November, The Gov, Adelaide
Wednesday 25th November, The Amplifier Perth

Buzzcocks Tour

In January 2009 Buzzcocks announced the ‘Another… Bites’ tour performing both their classic albums Another Music In A Different Kitchen and Love Bites in their entirety and selling out an entire UK tour.

That tour now moves to Australia. Original Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley & Steve Diggle will be joined by bassist Chris Remington and drummer Danny Farrant. The setlist will combine those two albums and other key tracks from the band.

In March 1978 the Buzzcocks released their debut album Another Music in a Different Kitchen and, in the process, created the template for pop-punk and a thousand imitators everywhere. Six months later, Buzzcocks released Love Bites the more progressive but equally infectious follow-up that reached #13 on the UK charts.

Between them the two albums contained some of the genuine classics of the punk-era including Orgasm Addict, What Do I Get, I Don’t Mind, Fast Cars, Get On Your Own, Sixteen Again, Moving Away From the Pulsebeat and the crossover anthem Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldnt’ve).

Emerging at the height of the punk era the band blended a range of influences – from Iggy & The Stooges to The Who, Small Faces, Mott the Hoople ­ which helped them to forge a sound that turned out to be more “pop” than punk.

Tickets for all shows are on-sale August 31st.

Wednesday 18th November
Coolangatta, The Cooly Bandroom

Thursday 19th November
Brisbane, The Zoo

Friday 20th November
Sydney, The Forum (The Entertainment Quarter) + Royal Headache

Saturday 21st November
Melbourne, Corner Hotel

Sunday 22nd November
Hobart, Moorilla

Tuesday 24th November
Perth, Amplifier Bar