The Adicts - 'And It Was So!' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Picture The Scene

2. Fucked Up World

3. Talking Shit

4. If You Want It

5. Gospel According To Me

6. Gimme Something To Do

7. Love Sick Baby

8. And It Was So!

9. Deja Vu

10. I Owe You

11. Wanna Be

12. You’ll Be The Death Of Me

If you don’t know who The Adicts are then this eclectic album would be a good introduction. The band’s image is based on ‘A Clockwork Orange’ which is obvious from the bright orange album artwork with a drawing of ‘Monkey’ the lead singers face on. The band have been around since the second tranche of the first wave of Punk. They play what I would class as ‘Blokey Punk’. So these lads are the real deal.

It is a mature album though with vocals, conveying cynicism, sarcasm, menace and sometimes just blokey banter. The drumming by Kid Dee drives the songs and is in places tribal, which is perfect for some Punk tracks. This is topped off with some fine riffs and fret work by the lead guitar played by Pete Dee.

This album has a lot of theatre, catchy melodic tracks, most of which are around the 3 minute mark. The 12 songs are not facsimiles of each other, they are varied with differing styles and subjects. The one thing they have in common is that they are melodic, in the main, they are catchy and all the band members compliment each other.

The album has a strong opening with one of the longer tracks at over 5 minutes. ‘Picture The Scene’ starts with a strong bass line which builds with what seems like a menacing whisper. This belies the fact that the song then develops into a somewhat Glam Rock track, with a catchy tune and obligatory hand clapping.

This may lull the listener into a false sense of security as the next track is a classic sub 3 minute Punk high energy number. As the title, ‘Fucked Up World’ suggests, this is not sugar coated and ends with what sounds like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion. Quite apt as this album is released, on the Nuclear Blast Label. It is a good excuse for a good old ‘swear up’ though. Later tracks ‘And It Was So’ and ‘Wanna Be’ follow the classic Punk formulae.

‘Talking Shit’ shows the band don’t take themselves too seriously. It starts and ends with the sounds of a pub, probably towards the end of the evening. You can guess the rest of the subject matter of this track.

‘If You Want It’ shows off Pete Dee’s skills with some nice Rock riffs, great fret work and the odd screaming guitar work. Coupled with a catchy chorus makes this a well rounded track.

‘The Gospel According To Me’, one of the strongest tracks on the album starts with a count in and frantic drumming. The band are very tight on this track and it works very well. This would be a gig favourite.

‘Gimme Something To Do’ is an equally strong track. Starting with tribal drumming that drives the song. There is nice chanting, always good for a crowd, and the song slows in the middle to rebuild, ending with reverb at the end.

‘Low Sick Baby’ together with ‘Déjà vu’ are very different but are the stand out tracks on this album for me. The former is more like a Rock song with strong guitar and mirroring vocals which seems like the love child of T Rex and early Bowie. The latter is a dark beguiling Rock n' Roll with disturbing undertones. The imposing 3 chord ending confirms this to the listener.

Again by complete contrast ‘ I Owe You’ is a real foot tapper with muted chords that is more akin to the music of the American Punk revival in the 90’s.

The ending of an album is as important as the beginning and this is where ‘And it was So’ is so clever. ‘You’ll Be The Death of Me’ is another theatrical number with more than a hint of tango. If a track had been written by the Addams family, this would be it. This is the second longest track, after the first track on the album and it ends with the whispered lyrics of the first song. So play this on loop and it never seems to end.

There is something for everyone on this album, and I suspect that if you asked 5 people to pick out their favourite track, you would get 5 different answers. The variance does not lead to any disjointedness, in fact the album plays best in sequence. ‘And It Was So!’ would make an ideal spine for a live set list and I suspect this band is best seen live. All the tracks are catchy and simple enough to get the crowd involved. With this in mind it could have been sub titled ‘Singalonga Droog’