BUZZCOCKS – “Spiral Scratch” (Reissued 7″/CD)
I know when to complain about the canon, and I know when to shut up. If that seems a cop-out, too bad: if it wasn’t for Buzzcocks’ status as a Great Band we’d not have been blessed with the re-appearance of this EP, 9 minutes which equal their entire subsequent career and kill most other bands’ lifeworks dead. Listen to “Boredom” in the right mood and every good thing that’s ever happened in pop music finds an echo in it somewhere. Listen to “Boredom” in any mood and you hear one of the most perfect singles ever to exist – the two-note guitar solo is rightly famous, but the dead-stop beforehand, and Devoto’s sardonic “b-dum b-dum”, are even more life-giving. Own it: I could talk for ages about the thrill and chaos of it all, even after twenty-three years, but as I said, I know when to shut up. And so did they.