The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
(Chiswick - 1979)
(Chiswick - 1979)
I'm a late bloomer for The Damned. Yeah, it's kind of embarrassing, but whatever. People talk so much shit about so many bands that it's hard to always check them all out. Then you finally get a hold of a Roxy Music album, throw it on and scratch your head wondering what the big fucking deal is. Plus a lot of "critically acclaimed" music is really, really terrible. Just look at Rolling Stone's top 500 albums of all time, I think at least five of the top ten are Beatles albums. What the fuck is that all about? I respect The Beatles, but I also fucking hate The Beatles. After a while you start ignoring what people are hot about and lo and behold you totally miss out on a sweet band like The Damned.
There are so many ways an album can go horribly wrong and become shit. Bands can get lucky on chance events as well. Intentional or not, they create those crazy quirks that give way to esoteric rock words like vibe, soul, funk, feel, balls, heavy et cetera ad infinitum.
'Machine Gun Etiquette' is what I would describe as a "perfect" album. It sounds good, it has sound elements particular to its time that don't come off as nostalgic or dated, the mix is good, the variety and composition of songs keeps it interesting throughout, the performance is neither sterile nor sloppy, it represents its influences without biting, it stands on its own out of context, and MOST IMPORTANTLY I could drink, fuck, drive or chill to it. Not all at the same time, of course.
Is it one of the greatest albums ever? No. But it is a perfect album. The two are vastly different yet not mutually exclusive and I hold both in very high regard. Catch my drift?
It's got more of an old-school rock vibe than a punk vibe throughout, with touches of The Doors and British acts from the 60's. I'll go as far as to say 'Machine Gun Etiquette' is a rock album before it is a punk album. Now that I really think about it, this one's quite reminiscent of another album I've featured in this column, TSOL's 'Beneath the Shadows.' It’s got attitude and introspection, but above all it’s a hell of a lot of fun. Being fun without being over the top or cheesy is way harder than one would think and The Damned pull it off. Again though, was it intentional? Who knows? Even if ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ is the greatest happy accident in the history of rock I will be spinning it again and again, with gusto, in the future.
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